Welcome to Sambuget!
Washer/dryer
The washing machine and dryer are in the cellar that’s accessible from the stairs in the summer kitchen. They both work, although they have their individual traits. The washer is new and it is straightforward to use. The machine stops and starts when pressing "marche/arret".) The dryer works with the timer dial, but gets upset if you don’t clean the lint screen (in the bottom of the door) after each use. Running washer and dryer simultaneously will, in most cases, cause a power overload and trip the main electricity.
Kitchen
The fridge/freezer will be unplugged when you arrive. Plug it in and set the temperature dial to 6 for a couple of hours and then back to around 3. When you leave, please empty it, set the dial to 0 and unplug it again. The dishwasher is a little old but works ok. (2013, it seems to get stuck and may no longer be working, give it a try) If you want to give it a try, detergent, etc. should be under the sink. Please take with you or throw out any food items since there might not be other visitors (other than ants) for quite a while. The top left-hand element of the stove does not work. To get the bottom double one burn, turn the appropriate dial past ‘12’ (but not all the way to‘0’) and then set the desired temperature. The oven works fine but looks as if it is on its last legs - which it is. It'll get replaced with the rest of the kitchen when we get to it - it's on the list :-)
Bathroom
Everything OK except the shower drain tends to get clogged easily – there should be a plunger around somewhere. There is a small leak in the corner, normally not more than a tiny puddle after taking a shower. We have tried to fix it, but …
Bedroom
Has an en-suite – everything works as you'd expect.
Telephone
A source of eternal mystery to us and France Telecom - generally its working no problem but..... If there is a storm you should unplug it. If you don't it tends to stop working for in-coming calls although it will work for out-going. Generally the only solution (if you want incoming calls) it to replace it. Cora usually has a cheap one for 8Euro.
In addition, when you arrive it should be unplugged - sometimes, if you plug it in, there seems to be some residual 'charge' in the system and it stops working. Solution is to open the bottom draw, dig out the old clunky telephone, plug that in, wait and then plug the normal one back in - don't ask us why!
Cell phones also work - you can get a weak France Inter signal, a Brugyues signal and occasionally one other. Outside the house, eg on terrace its great, but inside the walls are too thick so you have to stand near a window.
Fireplace
Works perfectly (don’t forget to open the chimney vent when making a fire). Wood should be piled up by the fire, in the summer kitchen and on the steps just above the terrace. If not, there is more in a huge pile in the driveway next to the fig tree. To empty the ash pan you have to slightly lift the grate and wiggle the pan out.
Terrace/stone steps
Since the lighting down from the garage to the house doesn’t work (unless someone has figured out how to fix it by the time you read this), please don’t forget to have a torch handy in your car or at the top of the steps where you park for times when you return after dark – and it does go completely and utterly dark here! The stone steps get extremely slippery (especially the bit along the house wall) after rain or in autumn when leaves and grapes fall.
The terrace light work fine if it gets dark in the eve. Light switch just inside the entrance door.
Shopping and towns/villages near by
Most shops are closed from 12 to 2 or 3 PM. Many bakeries are open on Sunday but closed on Monday.
The nearest villages with (limited) shopping facilities are Chamborigaud and Genohlac, both about 25-30 min drive away.
Genohlac is by far the nicer one. It has a couple of bakeries, a butcher, a few small cafes/restaurants, a post office, a newsagent and a helpful tourism office. There is a nice little market every Saturday morning. In 2012 they built a small supermarket on the main road at the top of the village and the newsagent and pharmacy moved up there. There is also a small hardware store in the main village near the mayor's office.
Collet de Deze (20mins), down on the main road has a post office, bar, bakery and small store.
Viala is smaller, but also very nice and has a bakery, a pharmacy, and a market on Friday mornings. It has a great resturant which does excellent regional food. Le-Pont-de-Montvert is also a lovely village with a bakery, a butcher’s, two cafes (one of which does great ice cream in summer), a restaurant and a pharmacy.
If you need more than just a baguette or some smaller items, Florac (about 45 min drive) is your best bet. It has a real supermarket (although not a Hypermarche or Geant), several bakeries and restaurants, a few hairdressers, a bank with an ATM, an outdoor shop where you can rent bikes and kayaks, a tourist information in the castle, some very nice little shops that sell pottery, local gifts, basic household items, a couple of newsagents and even an Internet café (run by a friendly Englishman). The small town is very lively, especially in the summer months, and is a nice place to hang out, have a café and relax. If you get a chance, eat at the ‘source du pecheur’ which is an excellent restaurant.
Florac is also the gateway to the Gorde du Tarn which is woth visiting and considered the main town for the parc national du cevennes. So definitely worth a visit and the best 'tourist services' location around.
In case you want to do some more serious shopping or see a movie, Ales (50mins) is the place. It is an older industrial town with all facilities, including a giant supermarket (CORA), DIY shops, lots of big stores on the ring-road, a town center with lots of shops, cafes, and a covered market (open Mon-Fri until midday).
Monpellier and Nimes are easy to get to – drive down to Ales and then follow signs for Nimes. To get to Montpellier, take the route to Nimes and then the autoroute to Montpellier, its quicker than than the direct road from Ales to Montpellier. There are good beaches around Aignes Mort. Follow the autoroute down to Pepignon and Barcelone (about 4 hours) if you want to venture further afield.
Outdoor stuff
During the summer there is kayaks, mountain biking etc in the ‘Gorge du Tarn’ (starts just north of Florac) which is a stunning gorge – start in Florac and head to St Enimie - it’s lovely, and then down the gorge. Alternatively, good swimming can be found in the ‘Valle du Luech – (drive down to Chamborigaud and follow signs for Besseges’) . You can also swim in the local streams if there’s water about, or head down to Collet De Deze and swim anywhere between there and Florac. If you head up and over to Le Pont De Montvert there as a few nice places to swim in the tarn – including a nice picnic spot on the left.
The area is riddled with hiking trials – just head up from our place to the ridge road (route de cretes) and you’ll see lots of hiking trails including the GR44B hich connects you to the major routes in the park. If you’re looking for something a little more energetic then drive up to Mont Lozere and there is excellent hiking up there. There is horse riding just round nearby, look for the signs for ‘Ballade au Cheval’. The tourist info in the castle in Florac has all the info.
Local info and emergencies
In the top drawer of the sideboard in the main room you’ll find a purple, spiral-bound booklet with the most important phone numbers (incl. doctors, electricity company, etc.) as well as many maps and a several guidebooks. The telephone should be working at all times (the local France Telecom man advised strongly against using it during thunderstorms J )
Our mailbox is next to the garage, just under the road. Monsieur le facteur comes Mon-Sat around midday. If you want to send letters, there is a mailbox just up the road (right from our postbox) about 10m on the right. It gets emptied Mon through Friday. Please bring in any mail and leave it in an obvious place.
Garbage
Garbage needs to be taken up to the Sambuget "main" road. Either turn left from our drive, drive up past the old chruch towards the route du crete and you'll see a couple of bins just after the church and old school (now a gite), Alternatively you can turn right and drive through Sambuget and on for about 3.5km. Shortly before the junction of the Sambuget road with the main road up on the ridge (route des cretes) there are two more containers.
Internet
There is a laptop on the desk upstairs. It has a 3G dongle attached. There are instructions for using it on the desk. If it hasn't been used for a while the 3G dongle account will need topping up (see instructions). If it hasn't been used for ages then the 3G account may have been suspended. That requires a visit to Orange in Ales which is a world of pain. (France Telecom has changed its name to orange, but haven't got around to changing its mindset, it's like the 1970's all over again!)
If you are very desperate, there is an old sony laptop kicking around that has a telephone line connector and you can dialup for a 33k bps connection (remember those)-Make sure the telephone line is plugged into the laptop and then click on the ‘shortcut to wanadoo’ icon on the desktop. Click OK and it should connect automatically. The dialup is ‘pay as you go’ so don’t leave it connected unnecessarily!