Domaine de Cassagnoles

Glen and Aiden cycled out to the Domaine de Cassagnoles to taste the wines and armagnacs. The rest of us went by car so we could transport our purchases back to Barrusclet. There are so many vineyards locally to visit, it can be difficult to choose which one. Life's tough when that is the hardest decision of the day.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Bike Hire in France

Stourbugs line up outside Barrusclet. Some guests borrowed our bikes as bike hire in France can be very expensive, and others transported their own bikes with them. There is plenty of storage for bikes in the barns. We have a selection of bikes that our guests are welcome to use at no charge.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Cycling holidays in France

September 2011
Glen stops for a breather and admires the view near Cassaigne in The Gers.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Eauze market

We arrive at the colourful market in Eauze. Every Thursday morning the streets are packed with stalls.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Tour de France 2011

Here come Stourbug ..... out for the day and enjoying the wonderful countryside around Barrusclet in The Gers.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Cycling holidays in France

Stourbug September 2011.

On our way to lunch at Fources.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Stourbugs in France

September 2011

Stourbugs on Tour

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

Late evening sun at Barrusclet.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

A lovely place to lunch, with far reaching views across the countryside.

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

July 2008

The tiles are on the wall in the main house shower. the limestone is really beautiful. You can see all sorts of fossils in the stone. Expensive, but gorgeous. I asked the man at the tile shop to show me something that looked like real stone. He either misunderstood my french, or he was very smart. Once he showed me the real thing I lost interest in tiles that only looked like real stone.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Tiling a kitchen floor in France

July 2008

The kitchen floor is done. It looks quite wonderful. After so many months of dust and dirt, I feel overwhelmed to see a room nearing completion.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Moving to France

There is furniture everywhere. It is going to look fantastic.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Moving to France

July 2008

All the furniture has arrived safely in France. It is so frustrating that I am not there to start making our home in France comfortable and even more beautiful.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Pool Filter

July 2008

Swimming pool plant is going in. Another step closer to happy sunny splashing around.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

July 2008

Look at that blue sky. Can't wait for the pool to be finished.

French farmhouse with swimming pool

July 2008

Stones are added around the polystyrene and concrete walls. Hopefully they will stop the mole coming through, as well as adding strength before the water goes in.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

floor tiling

July 2008

More progress. The floors are being tiled. What a relief to get rid of that bare concrete.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Swimming pool steps

July 2008

The steps are nearly done and the walls are ready to be filled with concrete. Hurry up ........ the summer is nearly here!

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

building a swimming pool

July 2008

All hands on deck. Matt is over there helping dad finish the pool.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Burke Brothers

July 2008

A good advert for Burke Brothers. they did a pretty good job.

Mark will be in France to meet them and help them unload. I can't wait to get over there and start unpacking. This is just soooooo exciting :-)
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Moving to France

July 2008

Lots of bed frames and mattresses ready to go. I was really lucky and got some beautiful bedroom furniture from a local bedroom shop that was closing down. 5 king size beds, and some massive french oak wardrobes. They will look fantastic!



Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Moving to France

July 2008

Lots of bed frames and mattresses ready to go. I was really lucky and got some beautiful bedroom furniture from a local bedroom shop that was closing down. 5 king size beds, and some massive french oak wardrobes. They will look fantastic!



Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Ebay Bargains

July 2008

I have been buying bargains from ebay and other places for the last few months. At last the time has come to ship it all to France. We can hardly move in the garage and the house. I have gathered enough to furnish the whole house. So glad I did this now, as although the removal is expensive, it would have taken me way too long to collect all this in France.


Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

swimming pool construction

June 2008

We have friends coming to visit for the summer. The pool is coming together, but will it be ready?

French Renovation Project

Originally we all thought a low doorway would be characterful. Once we had all cracked our heads on it, we changed our minds. Some 'new' stones have been added, and the height is raised.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Skiing in the Pyrenees 2009

Only two hours drive and we were skiing at Tourneboup. Not sure how you spell that, but it was a good day out. You could ski over to La Mongie. We stayed in a lovely chambre d'hote near Cauterets. We were not too keen on the skiing there, it was all too open and uninteresting.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Tulip Spring Bouquet

A spring bouquet of tulips at Barrusclet to cheer the day.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Sunflowers

Breakfast in the sunshine makes me smile ;-)

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

sand blasting

June 2008
The stones are being cleaned off and the mess and dust is terrific. It will be worth it though.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Renovating a french farmhouse

It is a slow and painstaking job knocking all the old render off and cleaning up the stones.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

June 2008

The house has been stripped back to the original stone. It is so lovely :-)
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Horse and Cart

This lovely knackered old cart was rotting in a pile of brambles outside. The farmer thought it was hilarious that I might want it. Not sure what to do with it now. It would take about 1000 busy lizzies to fill it and that would probably look a bit naff anyway. Any suggestions?
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

In the trenches

May 2008

More trenches, and more mud. Just when I thought we were clearing up, they dig up more things. What is it with men and their giant tonka toys?

That green/grey thing which is buried is part of the septic tank system. It is the grease trap.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

building a swimming pool

May 2008

The concrete has arrived to put a base down for the swimming pool. We should really count all the builders on and off site today. What is that funny bump on the bottom of the pool?

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

french country kitchen

May 2008

The Columbage kitchen wall is nearly finished. The rest of the room has a bit to go before it is reborn as our french country kitchen.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Renovation - plastering walls

May 2008

The plasterers have made a start. They have a machine that blasts the first coat on. They then tidy it up, and move on to the top coat. This is making a real difference to the feel of the house, especially where any red brick walls are getting covered up.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Farmhouse with Swimming Pool

May 2008

We had bettter get all the big holes dug out while we have the big machines on site. That is one hell of a big mole hill in the background. I obvioulsy am too tired to think of another descriptive word instead of big .... how about huge, gigantic, awesome, major,

massive?

It all worked out in the end. This is our awesome swimming pool.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Septic tank installation

May 2008

Ah ha. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the mess they are now making is digging trenches down to the fosse septic. This is an exact science in France, and they have told us exactly what we must do, and they are making regular checks to make sure we are doing it. This has to be done by the book!

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse renovation

May 2008

Yet more big plant on site. what are they going to trash next?
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Renovating a french farmhouse

May 2008

Our team are stripping off the old creppie/render and getting ready to re-point the stonework. What a mess this has created......again! We must love dust and rubble. Renovating a french farmhouse is a dirty business.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Farmhouse Renovation - Original sink under the window

This is not a great picture, but it does show a nice original feature of the house. There is a sink under the window made from a sloping piece of stone, with a little shelf either side. The water would flow directly out under the window when finished with.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French farmhouse to rent in South West France

Before photo taken in February 2007. After photo taken in the summer of 2010

It is hard to believe that we first saw Barrusclet four years ago on a cold, wet, winter day. WOW ! What a difference. How we love this place. We now rent our beautiful french home out for part of the year to holiday makers, house hunters, and groups of friends looking to enjoy the glorious french countryside.


Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Cycling holidays in France

January 2011

Ahead of our new rental season we have taken some more bikes over to Barrusclet. They are not new, but they are good quality and free for our guests to use whilst renting Barrusclet. We now have over ten adult bikes, and some children's bikes. Cycling through the countryside of South West France is a dream.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees