Please click on the attached link and print the attached house notes to take with you. They are replicated at the foot of this page .......

House Notes

Welcome to Gatenia.

There are many activities to suit all tastes, from the sedentary to the active and exciting; fishing, walking, canyoning, kayaking, or just watching the birds of prey that guard this heart of the mountains. A Pyrenean gave traces its way through the valley of the Saison; at times peaceful, at others a raging torrent.

The people of La Soule are quiet yet friendly. Once they take you into to their confidence , you have a warm and generous friend-  tres sympa! They have their own music, language and dancing to maintain their local traditions. The shepherds of this pastoral paradise are off to the mountains with their sheep for the summer- making the local Brebis cheese in their huts for sale on return to the valley. In October the males of the pays leave their wives for a month’s shooting in the hides that are dotted around the countryside.

Les Souletins and Licqois look forward to showing you their way of life. They have sustained la joie de vivre des montagnards  whilst keeping up with the real benefits of civilisation. It’s a secret and a mystery to be shared. Not a lot of people know how peaceful  are these paths!

The accommodation sleeps 4-6 with three bedrooms. It is self catering with a bar restaurant within half a mile.Advice in English is available from this hotel, Chez Bouchet.The local town ,Tardets, is five kilometres away with all necessary services. Occupants should provide their own linen as there is no managing agent.

When you first arrive:

1. Open all the shutters and fix them back.
2. Turn on the hot water fuse (green blob on the fuse   box on the stairs)
3. Keys to the shed and garage are on the hook by the scullery door.

When you leave:

1. Turn off the hot water fuse on the stairs.   
2. Put all your rubbish in the bin opposite and the bottles in the bottle bank beside the Marie in the village.
3. Close all the shutters and lock the two doors upstairs into the garden.
4. Return the key

      House Notes

Here are a few helpful hints to get you started…

      1. Electricity.

We leave it on because of the freezer.  However in case of a power failure, there are two circuit boxes and they are found half way up the first flight of stairs. One is the new system for the top floor; the other is for the older system and bathroom. If there is a power failure you may have to turn on the switches on both boxes.

       2.Hot Water

On arrival, switch the fuse for the hot water on the fuse box. It is the switch with the green blob marked underneath.
Take care, the water gets very It takes a little while to heat the cylinder so do this as soon as you arrive.  We leave the water on at source all year. Switch off about twelve hours prior to departure.

3.  Keys

To open the shed and garage you will find an assortment of keys on the key ring in the kitchen. You are welcome to use any of the garden furniture.  Our garage is the first one up the slope at the end of the garden. There are more chairs and a big table in the garage or in the shed.

4.   Rubbish and flies

The green wheely bin for refuse you will have already seen across the road from the front door. There is a bottle bank near the Mairie in Licq. There is a variety of weapons of mass destruction under the sink to counteract flies. A peace treaty and an exclusion zone ( cordon sanitaire)some times works. The beaded entrance curtain does help .

5.   Shutters

 Please open the windows and let the fresh air circulate as much as possible, but make sure the shutters are fixed back.  It can suddenly start to rain quite hard in the summer and the wind gets up. Bear this in mind when you go off for a hike and take your cagoule! Just leave the shutters locked when you leave in the summer as this help to keep the house aired and is quite safe. If it is very hot please shut the shutters down stairs to avoid the heat getting in. Humidity downstairs is a real problem when the hot air gets in from outside and hits the walls that face the hillside.

Upstairs in through lounge,  PLEASE  KEEP THE VELUX CLOSED WHEN YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. Flash floods and storms do occur!

       6.Bathroom and Shower

Please keep the little window over the bath downstairs open after you have had a bath/shower. It helps to keep the condensation at bay. No unnatural solids down the loo; we are not on main drains. Please no bleach either, as it kills the little worms in our cesspit!

The shower room upstairs is vulnerable to shock storms( we have had a flood there last summer). PLEASE NOTE AND KEEP THE VELUX(s) CLOSED WHEN YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. The shower curtain will avoid excess water on the floor- please keep inside the shower area.

           7.Parking
We have the right to park on the slope outside our garage. However it is a bit tricky to back in up the slope, so we tend to park in one of the nearby lay-bys. The tarmac gets sticky in times of hot weather. Please be careful NOT to tread black tar into the house! BEWARE OF THE TRAFFIC.

            8. Shopping

There are two mini markets in Tardets. We generally use ”Casino”.

 Monday is market day and well worth a visit.  The local farmers bring in their produce. We recommend the sheep’s cheese, Brebis, eaten with cherry jam! Duck is also a regional speciality.  
Casino also stocks the beer that is made down the road at the brewery in Licq. It is called “Akerbeltz”. You can do “the brewery tour” in Licq  some days.

For major shopping there is a LeClerc in Oloron (not difficult to find, its on the rocade near the blue gated Lindt factory on the road to Pau- a must for the kids of all ages( Willy Wonka‘s chocolate heaven!).

A medium shop can be done in the Intermarche in Aramits -this is half the distance.

Also Mauleon has a good selection of shops especially Laguna and a set of tourist shops in the square in front of the fronton (pelota court).

Bread can be bought in the snack bar on the bridge in Licq; It’s called Alfitcha and serves as a depot de pain.

 9. Cries for help

The locals are really friendly. Drink at the Bar des Touristes, this lubricates most of your troubles and Arnaud Petit ( who speaks English will give you advice on most subjects). Call us when desperate and we will point you in the direction of local support as appropriate. Ce n’est pas grave?

Ÿ  Enjoy our house

Ÿ  Please replace things as you would expect to find them

Ÿ  Please let us know of any breakages before you go!

Ÿ  Richard and Sheila Jefferies  0044 1483 811543