La Ville au Tady is very much our second home, rather than a commercial holiday home. We hope you find it to be comfortable and homely, and trust that you will treat it with care. In return, we undertake to provide you with a characterful, clean and comfortable cottage we are proud of.
We feel very lucky to own such a beautiful old house, and invite you to share it when we are not holidaying there ourselves.
We believe there is an ethical dimension to owning a second home. We price our weeks reasonably and aim to have the cottage occupied for as many weeks of the year as possible. In this way we can help contribute to the local economy by employing our caretaker and generate income for local businesses. We will reduce our prices for late availability rather than remain empty.
Weekly Rental Rates
Year
Season
Low Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Mid Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct
High Jul, Aug
Christmas & New Year per week
2010
£275
£375
£595
£450
2011
£295
£395
£625
£475
General Booking Information
The normal changeover day is Saturday when departing guests should leave by 10am and new guests arrive after 4pm.
Off-season short breaks may be available, and can be flexible for changeover day, length of stay and price (minimum stay 3 nights). Please contact us for details.
Bookings which span different seasons will be charged pro-rata for each night.
All electricity, gas, water, heating, logs, internet access and cleaning is included in the price.
We ask you to provide your own towels, tea-towels, bed sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases. If this is not possible, we may be able to arrange for towels and bedding at additional cost, please enquire.
For the benefit of all guests, we do not allow pets and the cottage is non-smoking.
Guests will be asked to leave a £100 security deposit for damage or excessive cleaning. Guests are asked to leave the cottage in a reasonable state of cleanliness, or an extra cleaning charge may be necessary.
You can check live availability using the link on the right, which will take you straight to the calandar.
For the benefit of all guests, we do not allow pets and the cottage is non-smoking.
To Make a Booking
Check your dates are available with the on-line calendar.
Complete the enquiry form to confirm your requested dates are still avaialable. We usually respond to all emails within 24hrs. If you have not heard from us within 24hrs, please phone as there will almost certainly be a problem with your email spam filter.
We will hold your provisional booking for 7 days.
We will email you a booking form and terms & conditions. Return your deposit and signed booking form within 7 days.
Your booking will be confirmed. Don't forget to book your ferry if required (we can offer up to 10% off Brittany Ferries normal rates).
6 weeks before your holiday send the balance of payment & deposit. We will then send a travel pack containing key details, directions, and cottage information.
Enjoy your
holiday!
How to Pay
We accept payment in a number of different ways.
UK cheque in GB Pounds.
Euros via IBAN/SWIFT bank transfer.
UK or intenational bank transfer.
PayPal in GB Pounds (3.4% fees in Europe/3.9% fees outside Europe).
Moneybookers transfer (no charges).
Moneygram.
Guests wishing to pay via international bank transfer, Paypal, or Moneygram will be responsible for paying the fees.
House Notes
A full information pack will be found in the longère. These notes are intended to answer some of the questions that will assist in planning your visit. If there is anything else you would like clarifying, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Beds 1 x double bed in Master Bedroom (140x190) 2 x single beds in Goose Bedroom (80x190) 2 x single beds Guest Bedroom (90x190) 1 x double sofa bed in TV Lounge (137x137 so suitable for small children only). 1 x folding single bed (can be used in any of the bedrooms). Maximum capacity is 7 persons (plus cot). Duvets and pillows are provided, along with extra blankets. Please bring bed sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, towels and tea-towels. (Summer weight and winter weight double duvet provided).
Bicycles Three adult mountain bikes, child's mountain bike, trail-a-bike and child's bike seat are available for your use free of charge, and are stored in the stone outbuilding in the garden. Alternatively, bring your own bikes, or hire them locally, to explore the quiet countryside lanes and marked cycle trails.
Books/Guides There is a small library of paperbacks, novels, and local interest books available for you to read in the TV Lounge. You will also find a good selection of Brittany Guides e.g. Michelin, Rough Guide, AA, Lonely Planet, Eyewitness, Hachette, Cadogan. We have the local maps from IGN, which is the French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey: > 1:25:000 Ideal for walking (Series Blue 0919E Josselin). > 1:100:000 Ideal for cycling (Carte de Promenade Lorient & Vannes). > Tourist maps for exploring the area by car - Gulfe du Morbihan & Belle-Ile 1:60:000. > Rivieres & Oceanes Bretagne Sud 1:80:000. We have a well stocked tourist information file containing leaflets on local attractions. We also provide dictionaries in French/English and Breton/English - French & Breton are very different! Further guidance can be sought at Josselin's excellent Tourist Information Office, which is open all year.
Children/babies Plastic tableware is provided (plates, cups, cutlery). High-chair & quality cot with mattress are available, but please bring your own bedding. Baby bath and child's toilet step provided. We provide a travel stair gate for use at the top of the stairs in the main cottage, but it is not possible to fit a gate to the bottom of the stairs due to the nature of the staircase. As the dormer windows are low level we have fitted window locks, and provide a key to remove the restriction if required. A fire guard is provided. A number of board games, balls, and garden games are available for your use. A selection of children’s films on DVD are available in the TV Lounge.
Electricity The standard voltage in France is 220 Volts AC, 50Hz. Any electrical appliance normally used for a different voltage must have dual voltage compatibility (most modern electric shavers and other electrical appliances do). The standard plug is the two round prongs type. Adapters to convert English plugs to fit French electrical sockets are available in the cottage, together with an English 4-way adapter.
Garden There is fenced garden to the front, right-hand side and rear of the cottage. The garden extends to the rear for several hundred meters, and this naturalised area would be ideal for children to play, explore, and let off steam. Provided are a front garden bench, hardwood table and six chairs in the front garden, plastic table and six chairs on the rear gravel terrace, 2 relaxer chairs, 2 sun-loungers, wrought-iron garden table and 4 chairs under the fruit trees. Charcoal barbeque, garden games box, two childs tree swings, chair hammock and full sized hammock.
Heating The main lounge, TV Lounge, kitchen, and second bathroom are covered by thermostatic radiators. Bedrooms are covered by convector heaters. There is a large wood burning stove in the main lounge and supply of logs.
Household Essentials We aim to provide all the basic essentials that you would wish to find, and don't want to have to bring along on a holiday, e.g. handwash, toilet paper, washing-up liquid, dishwasher tablets, matches, firelighters, dish clothes, cleaning materials, bin bags, washing powder. We also try to provide some extras, subject to restocking - e.g. tea-light candles, serviettes, children's straws, kitchen foil, cling film, plastic food bags, salt & pepper mills, coffee filter papers, olive oil & wine vinegar, and a few herbs - or pick fresh ones from the garden!
Kitchen Gas cooker powered by bottled gas (spare bottle kept at property) and electric oven. Fridge, freezer, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, iron & ironing board, electric kettle, coffee maker, cafetiere, toaster, whisk, blender, electronic weighing scales. All pots, pans, cooking utensils, crockery, glassware & cutlery provided for up to 8 persons. A good quality set of knives are provided. There is a large outside clothes drying line in the rear garden and an indoor clothes drying rack.
Parking The country lane outside the property serves just three properties, so is very quiet, you are just as likely to see a tractor as a car. There is off-road parking for two cars on the front drive. Further off road parking on the grass in the front garden is also available. It is also possible to park larger vehicles off the road on a grass verge to the front of the cottage (e.g. motor caravan).
Rubbish The rubbish is not collected from the front door in rural areas of France, as it would be far too time consuming to serve the dozens of rural hamlets that exist. Instead, the Town Council provide large roadside waste containers and each householder takes their own bags to that point. Ours are situated a short walk from the cottage. We ask guests to cooperate with this system, and do things 'the French way'!
Water We have mains water connected to the cottage. All mains water supplies in France are metered, so please try to ensure that water is conserved, and help keep rental prices down!
Water heating There are two separate and independent electric water heating systems. One covers the kitchen and Family Bathroom and the other covers the Guest Bathroom. A timer turns the main water heating on at night to take advantage of the economy rate electricity. The guest bathroom water heating is switched on at the bathroom wall. If the cottage has not been previously ocuupied, you may need to wait for the water to heat up on the first night.
Waste Water Like most rural French properties, the hamlet does not have mains drainage. This means that all waste water (both kitchen and toilet) is sent to an underground septic tank in the garden. The waste water filters off down the garden through an underground gravel bed. It is essential that only toilet paper is flushed down the toilets and all other items are disposed of in the bins provided.
Wildlife This is the French countryside, so expect a bit of wildlife. We have spotted an Adder at the bottom of the garden - but these are essentially non-aggressive shy creatures who will avoid contact, but wearing stout shoes in the longer grass would be a sensible precaution. Common lizards often bask on the warm stonework of the south facing front of the cottage, and field mice take advantage of the free wheat and sweetcorn in the surrounding fields. It is not unusual to find a large frog hopping around the garden or on the doorstep. The area has many types of birds of prey, with buzzards, kestrels and owls being spotted from our garden. You may hear owls calling at night. In spring, swallows nest under the roof. At dusk you can sit on the front bench and watch bats perform acrobatic displays in the air. In autumn, a red squirrel likes to stash our walnuts and hazelnuts in various places around the garden, and return at regular intervals to eat them!
