Relax in our country cottage with large garden !
Introduction
Hi we are a french/english couple who live in a small cottage on a large piece of land 3 kms from a village with cafe and superette. The countryside is very mediterranean with olive and cypress trees dotting the landscape. We love the outdoors and walking and biking tracks start at our front door. We both work ( I am a real estate agent and Remi is a nurse ) and with our two dogs and a land turtle ( who lives freely in part of the garden but requires feeding lettuce and chopped up tomatoes twice daily) it is difficult to get away. We are hoping to find someone who will look after Walter our pug, nearly 14 yrs ( almost blind ) and Willow a spaniel 16 years so every now and then we can have a holiday. Walter requires his eyes cleaning once a day but other than that no other specific medical problems. Our dogs are used to lots of love and attention and as we have a big garden they like spending time outside exploring. Our dogs are older now so do not require walking outside the property they are happy to walk around the large garden and explore a few times a day. Our property is fully and securely fenced with electric gates at the entrance so once the gates are closed the dogs can go everywhere and do their thing. Walter can no longer walk down stairs so needs to be carried down the five steps into the garden so the sitter will be required to be able to lift him ( 10kgs )but he can walk back up the stairs himself. In general because of their age our dogs like getting up early, eating then going for a tour around the garden and they bed down about 9am to sleep for the day. As long as you get home around 3.30 to 4pm to take them out again that is fine. If you are home Willow our spaniel will go in and out during the day but even if you are home Walter will sleep all day on the sofa. The house is fully air conditioned ( our area gets very hot into the high 30's regularly )and they are happy with the air -con on and will sleep until around 3.30pm-4pm then start waking up to go out and do a garden tour. Our garden is also the perfect place for humans to read a great book and relax! Sometimes we take the dogs on holiday and it might just be Trotinette our large land turtle to feed once or twice a day. She roams freely in the small fenced garden infront of the house and likes a couple of plates of lettuce and vegetables per day. She is very affectionate and follows us and the dogs around the garden and likes having her shell rubbed. Early evening she finds a bush and buries herself underneath for the night. We also have a vegetable patch which May to September requires watering once a day. It takes me about 15 minutes. Of course our house sitter/s are welcome to eat whatever is in season around the garden. Our house is small and cosy and the veranda has large picture windows onto the garden and the Pyrenées mountains in the distance. For sitters there are lots of restaurants within 5 to 10 minutes car drive and it takes about 20 minutes to walk down to the café in our local village which also serves food. There is also a post office, well stocked mini village supermarket and excellent baker. Other villages that are within 10 minutes drive are Pepieux, La Liviniere, Felines, Azille and Olonzac. ( Olonzac has a huge regional produce market every Tuesday ). The swimming lake at Jouarres is 10 minutes by car. The french cities of Carcassonne and Narbonne are both about 35 minutes car drive away.
Show more...Home & location
Our home is a one bedroom comfortably furnished cottage situated in a large garden 3kms from the nearest village which has a café and superette. The salon has a large screen television with prime and netflix and a large comfy 3 seater sofa and is airconditioned. This is our SNUG and the dogs beds are in here as well! There is also a veranda room with sitting area and dining table which has views onto the 'small garden' with the Pyrenées mountains in the distance. The bedroom has a king size bed ( 180cms). There is a new bathroom with walk in shower. A kitchen is off the veranda and the kitchen is a basic country kitchen, Gaz hobs, electric oven, large american fridge freezer. Lots of plates and glassware! No dishwasher! Outdoors we have numerous sitting areas and the 'small garden' leads through an arch in the hedge into the 'big' garden where there is lots of space, old olive trees and many cyprus trees as well as different sitting areas and a gaz barbeque. The entire garden is fenced ( dog proof ) so the dogs can wander everywhere and entrance onto the property is by electric gates. We are in a quiet and safe neighbourhood and there is very little traffic passing our property. Walking and biking tracks start at our gate and this area is very popular with cyclists. After our local village of Siran ( 34210 ) 3kms away there are many other villages with their various restaurants and cafes within 10 to 15 minutes drive and the swimming lake at jouarres is less than 10 minutes away by car if you enjoy an early morning swim. We are surrounded by beautiful countryside and scenic villages and the cities of Carcassonne (with La Cité the largest fortified castle in Europe )and Narbonne are 35 minutes drive away.
Show more...Responsibilities
For the period 14th September to the 3rd October we are looking for someone to take care of our turtle , the dogs are coming with us on holiday. Trotinette our turtle has a huge personality and requires feeding in the morning around 9am ( lettuce and tomatoes) then in the evening around 7pm she likes to have the gate opened to the large garden where she is fed her evening meal and likes to eat grass, dandelions and flowers. In the large garden she needs to be supervised so sitting in the garden with her so she is within eye sight is required. We usually do this while having a glass of wine !After an hour she can be taken back to the small garden which is completely turtle proof and she can be left to her own devices. Normally after eating in the morning at 9am she will sleep until around 7pm. If it is a cloudy or rainy day she may not get up at all but this is rare in our region. She likes interacting with people and having her shell rubbed and her head stroked.
Show more...Meet the pets
Walter
14 years
Willow
13 years
Trotinette
30 years
robert
