La Bourdette
09350 Daumazan-sur-Arize, Ariège-Pyrénées
Sleeps 18
Please click here to view the 2012 rental rates, or see below for further information
"La Bourdette".
The Location
This south-facing Manor House stands in 20 hectares (50 acres) of totally unspoilt, rolling, wooded farmland, with distant views of the Pyrénées, and surrounded by a large, colourful garden with a variety of mature trees.
There are basic shopping facilities at Daumazan-sur-Arize (2 kms), including 2 'boulangeries', whilst at Montesquieu-Volvestre (7 kms) there is a wider variety of shops including a bakery which will deliver on a daily basis by prior arrangement. It's 22 and 40 kms respectively from the market towns of Carbonne and St Girons, and 65 kms (45 minutes' drive) from Toulouse's Blagnac international airport. Carcassonne airport (which has some international flights) is 100 kms. The nearest entry to the autoroute (the A64/E80) is 20 kms. The super-fast train, the TGV, stops at Toulouse.
The Property
This splendid property has been restored, furnished and equipped to a very high standard.
Electronically-operated entrance gates open off a quiet country road into the magnificent drive, lined by huge plane trees, with ample parking space near the house. The front doors lead to the large, limestone-flagged:
- ENTRANCE HALL. With a wood-burning fireplace, and large windows overlooking the drive.
The Entrance Hall.
A door on the right of the Hall opens into:
- The SITTING ROOM. With comfortable sofas, a wood-burning fireplace, and a wide-screen satellite TV with a DVD player. French windows on 2 sides open onto Terraces.
The Sitting Room.
A wooden spiral staircase ascends from the Hall to the First Floor.
Off this staircase is a W.C. with a wash basin.
First Floor
On the right at the top of the stairs is:
- BEDROOM 1. With a 6 ft four-poster bed, and windows looking south.
Bedroom 1.
- En suite SHOWER ROOM 1. With a W.C. and a bidet.
- BEDROOM 2. With a 6 ft double bed, and a full-length 3 ft single bed. Windows looking south.
Bedroom 2.
- BEDROOM 3. With four full-length 3 ft single beds.
- En Suite BATHROOM 1. With a bath, a shower and a W.C.
- BEDROOM 4. With a 6 ft four-poster bed.
Bedroom 4.
Opposite this Bedroom is:
- BATHROOM 2. A large room with a bath and an overhead shower, a bidet and a W.C.
Bathroom 2.
Stairs off the Kitchen ascend to:
- BEDROOM 5. With a 6 ft double bed, and a child's bed.
- BATHROOM 3. With a bath, a walk-in shower, and a W.C.
- BEDROOM 6. (The Children's Bedroom). 4 beds (all full-length), i.e. 2 single beds and 2 bunk beds.
- BATHROOM 4. With a bath, a walk-in shower, and a W.C.
Bedroom 5.
Stairs from the First Floor ascend to the Loft which is unused, and is kept locked.
A door on the left of the Hall opens into:
The spacious, beamed, DINING AREA / KITCHEN.
- The Dining Area has a table seating 12, a second table seating 4, and a large, wood-burning fireplace. In one corner is a desk with a desk-top computer, a printer, a fax, a scanner, and WiFi/Broadband internet access. French windows open onto the gravelled area at the front of the house.
- The very well-equipped KITCHEN. It has a huge cooker/range with a gas and an electric oven, a griddle, a hot plate, and 7 gas rings. There is also a small drinks fridge, a dishwasher, a microwave, a massive toaster, a magimix, a large liquidiser, cafetières etc.
The Dining Area.
- A Bose CD player/radio/stereo system with iPod input and lots of CDs.
- Off the Kitchen is the UTILITY ROOM. With a large fridge/freezer/ice-maker, plus a second freezer, 2 washing machines, a separate tumble dryer, an ironing board and an iron.
A door opens from the Kitchen onto a flagged seating area, off which is the vine-shaded Dining Terrace with a table seating 14.
The Kitchen.
The Garden
An attractive garden surrounds the house, and has extensive lawns and flower beds, plus a wide variety of shrubs and trees. It's flanked by fields and rolling hills.
There's a badminton/volleyball net, a trampoline, 2 hammocks, and a specially laid out "BOULODROME" ("boules" pitch).
A shaded Terrace in the middle of the garden has tables and chairs and a brick-built, gas-fired barbecue. Nearby is a small open-sided, tented "pavilion".
- 100 metres from the house is the flood-lit, state-of-the art TENNIS COURT with a practice wall at one end.
The flood-lit Tennis Court.
NB. Near the Tennis Court, and 80 metres from the house is a partly walled pond. Young children should be watched when nearby.
- The L-shaped, filtered, flood-lit, alarmed, heated SWIMMING
POOL. (The Pool's saline content - roughly the
strength of human tears - helps to keep the water crystal-clear, thus
preventing possible eye and ear infections).
The Pool is 18 metres (58 ft) in length, 7.5 metres (24 ft) at the base of the "L", and 5 metres (16 ft) at its upper end. Very wide steps descend to the shallow end (1 metre, or 39 ins), sloping to a deeper area at the other end (2 metres, or 7 ft). There is a wide, safety shelf at a depth of 60cms (2 ft) running round 2 sides of the Pool.
There are 12 sun beds, a number of tables and chairs, and several large sun umbrellas.
NB 1. The Pool is shallow at one end and adult chest height at the other. No diving is therefore permitted.
The Swimming Pool with the Pool House in the background.
NB 2. Please close and tie all sun umbrellas at night and on windy days - they are easily blown over, and are expensive to mend/replace.
THE POOL HOUSE
- The magnificent 2-storey POOL HOUSE stands at the near end of the Pool.
Ground Floor:
- The spacious GAMES ROOM. With table tennis, table football, and a large fridge/freezer/ice-maker.
This Games Room opens onto a covered Terrace, 8 metres (25 ft) from the edge of the Pool.
- Off this Terrace is a SHOWER ROOM. With a washbasin and a W.C.
The Games Room.
First Floor:
- Accessed from the Games Room by a spiral staircase, and comprising:
- A SITTING ROOM. Comfortable sofas, plus an armchair and bean-bags surround the wide-screen TV and DVD player (with lots of DVDs). There is also a CD player, as well as WiFi /Broadband internet access.
- BEDROOM 7. With a 6 ft double bed. Its Shower Room (with a washbasin and a W.C.) is on the Ground Floor.
- A wall of French windows open onto a DINING TERRACE overlooking the pool (also accessed via an outside staircase).
The First Floor of the Pool House.
Other Facilities and Information
- Unless otherwise agreed, there should not be more than 18 people staying in the house at any one time.
- Tenants will be met on arrival, and will be shown how everything works, both inside and out.
- There is a telephone system, plus WiFi/Broadband internet access in both the Main House and the Pool House.
- Bed linen, bath and pool towels are provided free of charge, and will be changed on a weekly basis.
- Ghyslaine is the excellent non-resident caretaker. She speaks good English, and
will meet tenants, and show them around, both inside and outside. Yana
is her deputy, and is the cleaner for 3 hours per day on 3 days per
week (paid for by the owners). Between them (and also at the owners'
expense) they maintain the swimming pool and the garden.
Any additional hours of housework should be agreed direct with Ghyslaine, and be paid to her by tenants at Euros 12 per hour.
Bedroom 7. (Located in the Pool House).
- There is a baby chair which can be fixed to a dining table.
- The owners' insurance policy requires that all doors are
locked, and that all windows as well as the shutters at the rear of the
Pool House are closed when tenants are away from the property.
The electronically-operated entrance gates should also be closed whenever tenants leave the property for whatever reason.
They will be provided with remote controls to open and close both the Pool House shutters and the entrance gates. NB. These remote controls are both expensive and difficult to replace if damaged or mislaid.
The vine-shaded Dining Terrace outside the Kitchen.
- There are ceiling fans in all Bedrooms other than in Bedroom 6 (the Children's Room) which is air conditioned.
- This is an all-the-year-round house, and is centrally-heated throughout.
- There are a number of English language books.
- There is an Information Folder containing a list of important names and telephone numbers - doctors, dentists, plumbers, electricians, pool maintenance etc. This Folder also has details of recommended local shops, restaurants, markets (and their days of opening), cultural and sporting activities, plus many other suggestions on what to do and where to go in the vicinity, as well as a selection of maps and brochures.
- In summer, there's a medieval fair in Foix, a classic music festival in St Lizier, and international folk dancing in St Girons.
- There are prehistoric caves at Tarascon, and ancient cave drawings at Niaux.
- Provided sufficient notice is given, a part-time cook and/or a babysitter can probably be provided. His/her/their wage/s will be the tenants' responsibility, and can be ascertained in advance should tenants so wish.
- Tenants should advise Anglo French Properties Ltd at the end of each rental of any breakages, losses and/or damages. This is in lieu of an inventory.
- The 18-hole Golf de l'Ariège is near the pretty village of La Bastide-de-Sérou (20 kms).
- Although the fascinating caves of the Grotte du Mas d'Azil (10 kms) are "drive-through", they can also be visited on foot.
- This is excellent bicycling country, with a dedicated trail from the house to the next door village of La Bastide de Besplas, and on into the surrounding countryside. Bicycles can be hired in the nearby village of Daumazan-sur-Ariège.
The Pool House's Dining Terrace.
- There are fine walks in many directions. Marked pedestrian and mountain-biking trails lead to the upper heights of the Pyrénées where chamois, genets and even lynxes and brown bears are to be found.
- Trout streams abound in these mountains, dropping down to rivers much favoured by kayakers can canoeists.
- A nearby livery stable offers riding lessons as well as trekking in the surrounding countryside.
- The Lac de Mondèly (20 kms) offers good, fresh-water swimming, and has a basic café on its shore. There are several restaurants within 10 minutes' drive.
- The nearest local vineyard encourages tastings and on-the-spot purchases. Visits should be arranged in advance – details are in the Information Folder.
- There is ski-ing in the Pyrénées (90 minutes' drive) in most years from January to March, making a day's ski-ing very possible. A recommended resort is Luchon.
- Outings to Toulouse (45 minutes) are highly recommended - it has many fine art galleries, museums and restaurants - and excellent shopping. Its Old Town with its rose-pink façades (therefore known as the 'Ville Rose') is particularly attractive.
- There are a number of pretty villages in the surrounding area. An outstanding example is Carla Bayle, standing on the top of a hill, with fine views of the Pyrénées, and boasting several interesting art galleries and shops.
- Near Carla-Bayle is a very popular children's "treetops" adventure centre.
The tree-lined Drive leading to the House.
The Rents In 2012
| Month | Price |
|---|---|
| October to April | £3,800 per week |
| May, June and September | £4,350 per week |
| July and August | £4,900 per week |
NB. Unless otherwise agreed, all rentals will be for a minimum
of one week, and will begin and end on a Saturday.
Tenants should arrive as soon as possible after 5pm on the commencement day, and
should leave by 10am on the agreed day of departure. They will be met on arrival at "La Bourdette".
If so, please click the flags to go to our Enquiry/Booking Form
Payment
A deposit of 25% of the rent will be payable to Anglo French Properties Ltd on signing the Rental Agreement, with the 75% balance to be paid 6 weeks prior to the commencement of the tenancy.
The Booking And Security Deposit
A Booking and Security Deposit of £500 will also be payable to Anglo French Properties Ltd on signing this Rental Agreement. This will secure the booking and will cover (a) the cost of telephone calls made during the tenancy, (b) the cost of replacing/making good any losses, breakages and/or damages incurred during the rental, and (c) any exceptional cleaning work which may be required at the end of the tenancy. It will be refunded (less any deductions as outlined above) within 8 weeks of the conclusion of the tenancy.
