Domaine De Cazalas
Domaine De Cazalas, 32290 Castelnavet, Gers
Sleeps 10
"Domaine de Cazalas"
The Location And Setting
Situated on the ancient pilgrims' route to Compostela, and owned by an English family, "Domaine de Cazalas" is an elegant 19th century Manor House standing at the end of a long drive in 55 hectares (140 acres) of magnificent rolling countryside. It is surrounded by vineyards, fields and woods, and has a totally peaceful atmosphere. Stretching along the horizon 100 kms to the south lie the formidable Pyrénées, whilst the landscape is dotted with picturesque villages (many of them fortified in the Hundred Years' War and known as 'bastides'), ancient churches, and other distinctive buildings of all shapes and sizes.
"Domaine de Cazalas" is 1½ kms from the hamlet of Castelnavet whose only apparent commercial activity is a small "affaire" which makes superb apple-and-armagnac tarts to order (called 'croustades') - a regional speciality. 6 kms to the west lies the large village of Aignan which has a supermarket and other shopping facilities and a number of restaurants - plus a bull-ring (although fights are confined to the Easter festivities!). The Domaine is half-way between the enchanting small towns of Vic-Fézensac and Plaisance, on the borders of the famed armagnac region, and 45 kms west of Auch, the departmental capital of the Gers.
The international airport of Toulouse (called Blagnac) is 120 kms to the east, whilst there are small international airports at Pau and Biarritz. The express train, the TGV, stops at Toulouse and Agen. At Toulouse you can also load your car aboard a train, and travel with it overnight to Calais (and vice versa, of course).
"Domaine de Cazalas" as seen from the top of the Drive
The House
"Cazalas" is 3-storeyed, the attic floor used only for storage.
The majority of the rooms on the ground and the first floors are spacious and cool, and all have tiled floors, or wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Loggia
The Library
Ground Floor
- The double front doors open into a wide, high-ceilinged HALL running from the front to the rear of the house. Off the hall are (to the left):
- Double doors opening into the L-shaped Library. With comfortable sofas and armchairs, a fireplace, and windows on 2 sides.
- The summer Dining Room with a table seating 10, a monumental fireplace, and windows on 2 sides.
The Sitting Room
And to the right:
- Double doors open into the sitting room. With comfortable sofas, a fireplace, a large-screen satellite and terrestrial TV, and a DVD player (but no DVD's).
- The kitchen with a 4-ring gas hob, an electric oven, a fridge/freezer, a dishwasher, a microwave, a toaster etc.
The Kitchen
- The winter dining room with a table seating 8, a monumental fireplace, a beamed ceiling, and a CD player/radio.
- A door from the winter dining room leads to the loggia which is open on one side and provides a shaded seating area at one end and a breakfast/lunch/dining area at the other. Nearby is the charcoal/wood-fired barbecue.
NB Please be very careful when using this barbecue. Fires are a constant threat in the warmer months.
- At the rear of the loggia is the utility room with a washing machine and a clothes dryer, an ironing board and an iron, a second fridge/freezer, and a bar football table which can be moved outside.
Off the utility room is:
- A shower room with a W.C.
First Floor
An attractive, wooden spiral staircase ascends to:
- A wide passage which runs the width of the house and mirrors the HALL below. At its eastern end French windows open onto the small balcony above the front doors.
To the left of the staircase are:
- Bedroom 1, looking west. With a 4'6" width double bed, a single divan, and a (blocked) fireplace.
- Ensuite bathroom. With a bath, an overhead shower at one end, and a W.C.
The Summer Dining Room
- Bedroom 2, looking west. With two 3ft single beds which can be zipped together, and a (blocked) fireplace.
- Bathroom 2, looking west. With a bath, a bidet and a W.C.
Opposite the top of the staircase is:
- Bedroom 3. With a small double bed and a single bed.
To the right of the staircase are:
- Bedroom 4, looking east. With 2 single beds, and a (blocked) fireplace.
- Bedroom 5, looking east. With two 3ft single beds which can be zipped together, and a (blocked) fireplace.
- Ensuite Bathroom. With a bath and an overhead shower, and a W.C.
The Grounds
"Cazalas" is east-facing, stands in a garden of nearly a hectare (2 acres) and is surrounded by a fine variety of trees - oak, copper beech, cedar of Lebanon, plum and fig to name but a few.
Bedroom 5
- On its southern side is the sheltered, heated, fenced, filtered Swimming Pool (11 x 5 metres; 2.5 metres at the deep end, shelving to 1 metre at the shallow end, and accessed by wide, Roman steps). There are floodlights both inside the pool and on the side of the house facing it, plus a good range of pool furniture. The trees on one side of the pool provide welcome shade.
NB Please switch off all floodlighting and other outside lights before retiring at night.
The "gardienne" (caretaker), Mme Françoise Penon (who speaks excellent English), lives in a cottage about 50 metres from the house, near some attractive (and largely unused) outbuildings. One of the latter provides ample undercover parking space, whilst its gravel floor is frequently used as a 'boules' pitch - the 'boules' are kept in the house.
In the valley at the foot of the property - and about 500 metres from the house - is a fairly large lake.
Other Facilities And Information
- Unless otherwise agreed, there should not be more than 10 people (including children and babies) staying at "Domaine de Cazalas" at any one time.
- The owners' insurance policy requires that all windows and outside doors are secured when tenants are away from the property.
- Bed linen, bath and pool towels are provided free of charge, and will be changed by Françoise on a weekly basis.
- Françoise is also employed by the owners to clean the house (including the bathrooms and the kitchen) and to tidy bedrooms whenever possible on 5 days per week for 2 hours per day. She should be paid directly by tenants at Euros 10 per hour for any agreed extra hours of work.
In addition, she looks after the pool and the garden, and is paid to do so by the owners. - Tenants should advise both Françoise and Anglo French Properties Ltd at the end of each rental of any losses, breakages or damages. This is in lieu of an inventory.
- Françoise can arrange babysitting if needed, although tenants are requested to give Anglo French Properties as much prior warning of this requirement as possible. As long as sufficient notice is given, a part-time cook can probably also be provided. Both the babysitter's and the cook's wage will be the tenants' responsibility, and will be ascertained in advance should they so wish.
- The house has a telephone and a fax. Computers can be plugged into the telephone socket, although an adaptor may be required.
- It is centrally heated throughout.
- There are fans in all bedrooms, and hair-dryers in most.
- There is a cot with bedding, and a high chair.
- "Domaine de Cazalas" has a most useful folder listing telephone numbers of the local doctor, dentist, hairdresser, etc, plus facts on shopping, restaurants and markets in the immediate vicinity. It has details on the area's festivals and fairs, its sporting, cultural and recreational activities, and much else. Françoise is also a source of much helpful information.
- There is an indoor and an outdoor tennis court at Aignan, both of which can be floodlit. Information is contained in the folder as above.
- There is an extensive English-language library, plus a number of puzzles and board games, as well as packs of playing cards.
- There are 18-hole golf courses (both 40 minutes' drive) at Golf de Guinlet outside Eauze (which also has tennis, a pool, and a good restaurant), and at Golf d'Auch Embats close to Auch. The best is probably Golf du Chateau de Pallanne - the course surrounds the fine, eponymous 18th century Chateau. Details are in the folder as above.
- This is a landscape of lakes and rivers, offering swimming, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, wind-surfing, water-skiing, river excursions and fishing in abundance. For young children, some of the nearby lakes have patrolled sandy beaches, slides and café facilities. Details are in the information folder.
- Adults' and children's bicycles can be hired in Aignan
- There are magnificent walks in all directions, including 'randonées' (organised rambles) from and around the local villages. Further afield are the Pyrénées where hiking and walking (and climbing) can be as exhilarating and as challenging as one could possibly desire.
Wildlife abounds in the surrounding countryside, whilst the Pyrénées are the habitat of some of Europe's rarest creatures - the bearded vulture (the lammergeier), the eagle owl, the lynx and the brown bear to name but four.
The Winter Dining Room
- This is the land of "bastides", the fortified villages and small towns built by both the English and the French from the late 12th century onwards, and to which the local population fled in troubled times.
- Here too, are some of France's most remarkable towns:
Auch, with its beautiful cathedral boasting some of Europe's finest Renaissance stained glass.
Pau, a retreat of the British middle/upper classes in Victorian and Edwardian times, with its spa, its Anglican church, the oldest golf club on the continent of Europe and, at one time, its pack of fox hounds whose most dashing Master was surely "Colonel Burnaby of the Blues".
Lourdes, the goal of tens of thousands of pilgrims each year.
Lupiac and its privately-owned Chateau de Castelmore in which Charles de Batz was born (on whom Alexandre Dumas modelled the legendary d'Artagnan).
Marciac, with its acclaimed international jazz festival every August; Vic-Fézensac and its Latin American music spectacular at the end of each July, and Mirande which has a lively Country and Western music week earlier in July.
Biarritz, the seaside resort which rivalled Monte Carlo in the latter half of the 19th century.
And many others, of course. - For those willing to make the 1½ hour journey, the seemingly endless and arrow-straight coastline between Arcachon and Biarritz offers some of the finest (and least crowded) beaches and sand dunes in Europe.
- There are stables near Aignan offering pony trekking, as well as riding in the surrounding forests. Other similar establishments are to be found at Plaisance and on the road to Nogaro. There are race meetings at Auch, at Vic-Fézensac, as well as at the spa town of Castera-Verduzan where there is also a casino.
- 'Courses Landaises', the bloodless version of the 'corrida' (where horned cows replace fighting bulls and acrobats take the place of 'matadors') are held at weekends in many local towns and villages. Spanish-style bullfights (where the bulls are killed) are held in Vic-Fézensac and in Aignan, and elsewhere in the region.
- Gastronomy is a very serious affair in the Gers, and features foie gras, magret de canard, fresh water fish of many kinds, some excellent local wines and, of course, armagnac. Both Gelas, the wine merchants in Vic-Fézensac, and the co-operative in Aignan stock a wide variety of such wines and armagnacs, whilst many growers encourage both visits and sampling - and on-the-spot purchases, of course.
- The local airport at Nogaro offers light aircraft flights for a bird's-eye view of the countryside.
The Rents In 2008
| Month | Price |
|---|---|
| Saturday 21st June - Saturday 28th June | £2,090 per week |
| Saturday 28th June - Saturday 6th September | £3,200 per week |
An additional £55 per week will be charged to heat the Pool should tenants so request. Any such charge will be deducted from the Booking and Security Deposit (see below).
In principle, and unless otherwise agreed, all lets will be for a minimum of 1 week, and will begin and end on a Saturday. However, there may be occasions when the period of availability is less than 1 week, and/or the start or ending date is not a Saturday.
Tenants should arrive as soon as possible after 5 pm on the commencement day (not earlier), and should leave by 10 am on the agreed day of departure. They will be met on arrival by the caretaker.
The Deposit
A deposit of 25% of the rent will be payable to Anglo French Properties Ltd on signing a Rental Agreement, with the balance to be paid 6 weeks prior to the commencement of the tenancy.
The Booking And Security Deposit
A Booking and Security Deposit of £350 will also be payable to Anglo French Properties Ltd on signing a Rental Agreement. This will secure the booking and will cover (a) the cost of telephone and fax calls made during the tenancy, (b) the cost of replacing/making good any losses, breakages and/or damages incurred during the rental, (c) the cost of pool heating if required (see above), and (d) the cost of any exceptional cleaning work which may be required at the end of the tenancy.
This Booking and Security Deposit will be refunded (less any deductions as outlined above) within 8 weeks of the conclusion of the tenancy.
Bedroom 2
