US soldier, note, in French holiday cottage (4)
I believe the answer is:
gite
'holiday cottage' is the definition.
(type of holiday house in French)
'us soldier note' is the wordplay.
'us soldier' becomes 'gi' (I've seen this in other clues).
'note' becomes 'te' (**).
'gi'+'te'='GITE'
'in french' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gite that I've seen before include "French holiday house" , "French holiday home" , "Furnished holiday house in France" .)