Maison de Verger

Purpose made private holiday apartment in entire 1st floor of our home with own access via external stairs. 10 mins level walk to Mirepoix medieval centre. 5 mins walk to supermarket. Comfortable and well equipped living/kitchen with UK freesat TV. Large and cosy double bedroom with balcony. Further smaller bedroom. Airy modern shower room. Sole use of 1st floor sun terrace. Shared use (with owners) of 100m garden and private pool by individual arrangement to ensure complete privacy for guests. We are a retired professional couple who fell in love with this beautiful area about 5 years ago. In 2015 we bought our French house with the intention of making a separate apartment for guests so that our family, friends and others could share what we love here. The work took until early 2017 and we have tried to do everything to the highest of standards including using original art from our collection to make the place interesting and attractive. It's easy to find, on the road heading South out of Mirepoix. Access is via an external staircase from the off road parking area to the sun terrace then into a hallway. The rear facing living room/ kitchen with lovely views over the garden and local hills is very well equipped with flat screen TV receiving full UK and Irish Freesat channels, a quality CD and DVD player, and a comfortable sofa and chair. The extensive kitchen equipment includes a four zone induction hob, microwave and a full size oven. There is a quality 160cm bed in the double bedroom and we also have a double aspect smaller second bedroom with a quality 90cm bed. We can therefore accommodate a couple who may not want to share a bed or a couple and a third person. Both bedrooms have lots of drawers and clothes hanging space. The spacious shower room was completely renovated in 2016 with new sanitary ware and wall and floor tiles. There is a washing machine housed in a cupboard in the shower room. There is fast, free WiFi throughout the apartment. Our south facing 100m garden used to be an orchard (verger) and while it gets the sun all day the remaining cherry, plum, apple, pear and fig trees give welcome shade. We built our pool, deck and pool house in 2016. The pool area is very private and not visible from the house. The pool is heated by a solar heater from May onwards to a temperature of about 26 degrees C. From around mid June the sun alone is sufficient to maintain a temperature of around 30 degrees C. It is 1.2 metres deep, set partially into the ground. The large deck is great for sunbathing and eating al fresco and is equipped with an electric awning to give easily variable amounts of shade. The spacious pool house started life as a 9 metre 5th wheel caravan and has a fully equipped kitchen with full size fridge-freezer, a table and bench, a sofa and reclining chair, a hifi with internal and external speakers and Freeview TV and radio. At the end of the garden under the shade of 60 foot Acacia trees runs the Countirou, a small tributary of the river Hers. Added on the 1st of October 2017 ; this is the end of our first season as holiday hosts. It has been a very enjoyable experience and we have met some really lovely, interesting people who have left the very positive feedback in the reviews at the foot of our listing. We have had further kind things said about us in our guest book and on other online sites which we would like to share here: Anna;" ...we are already missing your lovely apartment. The only downside to staying here is that no Airbnb in the future will be as good!." Peter; "The gite was beautifully appointed, spotlessly clean with lovely artistic touches. Everything was there to make our stay perfect. Great thought has been given to everything in the apartment." Richard; " The apartment was stunning, the location was perfect and we were made to feel so welcome. Our stay exceeded all expectations. Thank you for your hospitality and readiness to make sure we had everything we needed" Val; ".......superbly appointed and decorated, very clean and comfortable with thoughtful touches.....Dave and Carolyn are delightful hosts who went the extra mile to make sure we had everything we needed.....everything you could possibly need in the kitchen and an entertaining, personal 'guide to'......" Beverley; "Well done on the decor. A wonderfully appointed place to stay and enjoy. The pool is just right and so is the welcome and information...." Eilis; "Dave and Carolyn are such a warm, cheerful and welcoming couple. We will be back! Irene; "The gite is amazing with every home comfort you could wish for and even more on top!.......fantastic hosts - going the extra mile to make sure we had a very pleasant and happy stay. The Gite is exceptional - superbly decorated and in very good taste. Exceptionally clean throughout with all the rooms airy and light. All in all, it certainly exceeded our (Website hidden by Airbnb) outstanding place to stay." Carole; "......we took full advantage of the swimming pool and it's terrace which is an ideal corner for relaxing in total privacy! We will have very good memories of our stay in Mirepoix" Thank you so much, all of you, for your appreciation and in some cases, parting gifts! We genuinely hope to meet you all again soon. Our guests have sole use of the first floor apartment and sun terrace and shared use, with us, of the garden and pool. We live in the ground floor and have a private outside space next to our living room .The pool area is very private and we want our guests to be able to enjoy it in total privacy so we tailor our use of the pool around our guest's needs. If you want a day lazing around the pool that's OK, we'll use it when you go off exploring. Its just a case of keeping everyone informed, so it can be enjoyed to the full. We live here, so of course we tend to be around. We understand that some people will want more help and information than others so we will be available as you need us, without being obtrusive. Mirepoix is one of the most beautiful and best preserved medieval towns in France with its unique square of wooden "couverts". Its a lively place from Easter to Christmas with over 20 restaurants of all types, bars and independant shops. The local Mairie organises many colourful and interesting events during the summer and its bustling Monday market is a must. The immediate surrounding countryside is of wooded rolling hills with some very pretty walks. A little further away are charming villages and towns , vineyards of course and the coast and Pyrennees are just over an hour's drive away. Carcassonne with its Unesco heritage Cite is 40 minutes drive from here. This is Cathar country and there are two ruined Cathar castles less than half an hour away. If your taste is for somthing even older then there is prehistoric cave art at Tarascon, less than an hour away. This is a great area for outdoor leisure activities. Lac de Montbel, south west France's largest watersports lake is 15 minutes away and offers swimming and all types of boating. The river Ariege has several reaches for canoeing and white water rafting as well as Teleski between Foix and Tarascon under an hour away. There are a number of riding centres within easy reach too who can organise horseback rides of between an hour or so to long distance treks over many days. The 48 km voie verte starts a 5 minute walk from the apartment for use by walkers and cyclists. It ends at Lavelenet, taking in lovely countryside and very pretty villages along the way. There are three excellent 18-hole golf courses within an hour's drive and there is even a very experienced guy who lives in Mirepoix offering tandem paracending over the foothills of the Pyrennees. Our house is a 10 minute level walk to the medieval centre with a large supermarket and independant bakery half way there. Mirepoix is 40 minutes easy drive from Carcassonne airport which is served by Ryanair from a number of UK and European airports. The much larger airport at Toulouse is about an hour away. Mirepoix has no rail station but is served by buses. We have two small quiet dogs who like people but often not other dogs, so we regret that we must have a no pets policy. They do not have access to the apartment. (Website hidden by Airbnb) The original house stairs lead down from the apartment hall way with a door at the bottom for mutual privacy. The fact that these stairs are unguarded makes the apartment unsafe for young children. (Website hidden by Airbnb) We are situated in a quiet residential area so we would expect consideration to be shown to our neighbours, especially around noise after 11pm