We had a lovely couple of days with Laurent and Marivani and regret not staying a bit longer! We got there by using very frequent local buses from Campo Grange's rodoviario (which is about an hour away from Rio by an efficient BRT bus network - amazingly this bus company has its own buslane on the motorway, so never gets stuck in traffic!). Nevertheless, it was so nice to get to our air-conditioned room (the first one in our journey in Brazil's Costa Verde) after the bus and a heat of the walk from it. The house was very easy to find at the end of the main beach in the village (Praia Grange), about 5 minutes walk from the bus stop - Laurent provided us very detailed information on how to reach them. Marivani and Laurent are lovely and generous hosts and Laurent makes the best caipirinhas in Brazil (or at least the very best ones I tried in Brazil)! Marivani speaks French and Portugese and Laurent speaks the same, as well as English. So was easy from the language point of view. On our last evening they hosted a house party to which we were very generously invited together with their brazilian and french friends and colleagues - it was a fantastic outdoor apero with caipirinhas, on one of their many terraces. We have also been offered a ride to their local shopping mall when they went there - Marivani being brazilian is a very confident driver! Laurent made lovely breakfasts with fried eggs in the morning as well as bread, cereal, and gorgeous freshly squized juices - we had pineapple and guava. With our short stay we did not have a chance to enjoy lounging aound on the terraces and their swimming pool, but all was very nice and inviting. The local beach was also good with nice white sand and quite placide with no heavy waves and warm water (great for children too). We also had a hike to a more wild beach, which took about an hour each way, Praia Perigoso - also sandy with some shade and bigger waves, from where you could see Barra de Tijuca. I would have loved to visit famous landscape architect Burle Marx's house and gardens nearby, but did not manage to book a visit in advance (but it maybe easier to arrange at a weekend or ask Laurent in advance for an advice!), as well as large lagune through which you can glide on standup boards with grace, but it would have to be the next time! We felt very welcomed and were treated the same as their long-standing french friend who was visiting them alongside us. Our trip from Barra de Guaratiba to Rio was straightforward to Rio's bus station Alvorada. So if you visiting Rio and want some rest from the busy city, peaceful and relaxed Gurratiba is nearby with wonderful Marivani and Laurent to host you!