This property is in the countryside, where we are regaled by the sounds of nature, and agriculture more or less constantly. There is complete quiet, sometimes, but often there are the sounds of chickens, owls, hawks, crows and many more birds, crickets, frogs, cows, sheep, dogs, and sometimes tractors, planes, and military jets from the airbase 1.5 hrs away in Mont de Marsan.
These are the wonderful sounds of life here. We invite you to bathe in their delights.
The countryside has its dangers:
There are delightful, but potentially hazardous open, unfenced bodies of water on our property: Two beautiful ponds, a small creek and a large swimming pool. Please take care, particularly if you are visiting us with children.
There are also wild animals that we have no control over, including but not limited to, wild boar, dangerous caterpillars, snakes, toads, tortoises, newts, spiders, bats, owls, bees etc. It is exceptionally rare to see one, so I would count myself lucky if i did, but don’t touch! There are also mosquitos… sorry.
The ground is not level… although we do our best to maintain paths and lawns, these surfaces are often not regular, they can be uneven and have lumps bumps and holes. Please watch your step.
There are an abundance of very beautiful and some quite unusual plants on our grounds, for you to enjoy, but many of our perimeter hedges are composed of plants with thorns: rose, blackthorn, thistle and hawthorn. These do tend to poke and scratch if you get too close.
There are also some stinging nettles and perhaps some poisonous plants. (I haven’t nibbled them all, so I don’t really know for sure), but a good rule of thumb is if you don’t know for certain that it is edible, please don’t eat it. With this in mind, we encourage our guests to please not forage for wild mushrooms.
Weather:
The weather here is often lovely, but it is true that sometimes it is too cold, and sometimes it is too warm, sometimes it rains, (please), and sometimes it doesn’t. This is the flow of our glorious, but perhaps slightly damaged planet. We pray for it.
Ceiling Heights:
Medieval buildings are beautiful, and sturdy and enchanting, but sometimes that charm comes at the expense of modern building standards. For example: The Old Bakery has two doorways that might perhaps be better suited to people of medieval builds, and those of us, with ‘taller’ statures have to remember to duck at the right moments.
Droughts and Water Shortages:
Due to local and nation wide droughts and water shortages, the grasses and plants get very dry and extremely flammable towards the end of summer. We ask you to keep this in mind when you BBQ or use the fire pit. We also ask that you not use open flames in August and September. No fire pits or bonfires, no candles or flame torches, and please take special care with your cigarette ends particularly towards the end of summer.