ON ARRIVAL

Welcome to Ty Mawr - we hope that you have a relaxing and memorable holiday in Brittany.

These notes will help you run the house during your stay.

The blue letterbox with the Number 10 marks the drive.

KEYS

For the majority of guests, the shutters will be open on arrival and entry will be through the main front door.

If the booking is at relatively short notice or if you have arranged to let yourselves into the property and the front of the house is shuttered, entry is through the back door.

The keys are engraved for ease of identification.

In addition to the house keys you have been given there is a key box in the kitchen just above the fire blanket where you will find a spare set of keys - please return these keys to the key box.

SHUTTERS

Most French families close the shutters at night and when they go out.

You may decide to close the shutters during the day if you wish to keep the interior cool.

Please close the shutters when you leave at the end of your holiday.

COOKING AND PREPARATION

We hope the weather will be pleasant enough for barbecues - you will find the barbecue and accessories in the garden play room. The barbecue must only be used in the open air and not in the play room.

There is a choice of equipment for cooking indoors. The kitchen has a multi-function microwave oven (full instructions in the separate booklet - in French).  If using it just to heat food use the “puissance” button and key in the amount of time you require then press “marche”.  If you would like to use the grill or convection functions, you will find the appropriate accessories in a cupboard below the sink in the kitchen. Do not use metallic items in the microwave.

There is a four burner gas hob in the kitchen.  The saucepans are kept in the cupboard just below the hob - additional pots and pans are in the carousel in the corner cupboard of the Utility room.

A full-size gas cooker is situated in the Utility room and both this and the hob uses
bottled gas. The gas cooker has an oven and a grill. The gas bottle for the kitchen hob is situated in the corner of the utility room. To turn on the gas, if this has not been done prior to your arrival, the bottle for the gas stove is in the cupboard to the right of the stove in the utility room. To turn on the gas to the hob, the bottle is in the corner of the utility room.

There is a second micro wave oven in the utility room, together with a slow cooker.

Utensils are in the utility room cupboards and equipment such as scales, mixing bowls, utensils and chopping boards are all in the utility room. All chopping boards can be washed in the dishwasher, which is in the kitchen. You will need FINISH (or similar) dishwasher tablets for the dishwashing machine.

SERVING MEALS

There is a small table and four chairs in the kitchen for casual meals.  Some crockery and cutlery is kept in the kitchen cupboards for this purpose.  Most serving dishes are in the kitchen cupboards.  The dinner service and place settings are kept in the Breton Buffet which is in the dining room.  You will find glasses in the upper section of the buffet. 
Various accessories such as cheese bells, glass bowls and place mats are in the buffet.

If you have an accidental breakage please try to replace like with like and inform us.

The dining table can be extended further to seat 14 people in comfort, if you are entertaining.

A small number of plastic plates are kept in the utility room for guests who may prefer their very young children not to use china.

For reasons of hygiene, babies’ bottles, feeding cups and children’s cutlery are not supplied.

A cabinet houses the television set, which has a satellite connection (mainly French and German with just a few programmes in English) and a digital receiver box.  On top of the cabinet is a selector that will respond to each piece of equipment being operated in turn (if set to automatic).  A range of popular videos and some DVDs in English and French for all age groups are on the shelves in the Library.  All supermarkets sell TV guides at the check out or you can buy them at a Bar Tabac or Maison de la Presse.  You will find
additional board games in the cupboards.

BEDDING

All beds required are supplied with linen.  If you are cold some supplementary throws or blankets can be found in the cupboards in each bed room and in the blanket box in bedroom 2.

BABY EQUIPMENT

A cot and a high chair is available on prior request for the children of our booked guests.

HEATING

There is electric central heating throughout the house.

If using the heating, please ensure the convector heaters are turned off when not required and at night (this form of heating is particularly expensive in France).

An insert fireplace in the salon and a Godin woodburning stove in the dining room.

LIGHTING

Almost all the bulbs throughout the house are low energy bulbs, but there are spare bulbs in one of the cupboards in the library.  You will find emergency candles in a kitchen draw.

CLEANING AND TIDYING

The under stairs cupboard in the kitchen houses a range of cleaning materials and
equipment.

Please leave the house clean and tidy and do let us know if the house is not in an acceptable condition when you arrive.

The washing machine is available for guests to use - please use a liquid or gel tablet which you put on top of the clothes in the machine.

There are three drying racks and a garden dryer, pegs, an iron and ironing board.

A launderette is situated near the traffic lights in the avenue Napoleon 1ere in the centre of Pontivy.

Please note that for reasons of hygiene we do not supply towels.

REFUSE COLLECTION

There is a swing bin in the Utility Room - Cuisine Arriere – for all non-recyclable items.

Please put any vegetable peelings etc in the green bucket at the back door and take it to one of the compost holders when full - they are near the old garage in the garden.

Bin liners for the swing bin are in the cleaning cupboard in the kitchen. Please tie the bag when full and take it to the Poubelle - the shared refuse bin at the corner of rue du marche aux femmes -it is emptied twice weekly by the Commune de Pontivy.

Re-cycling is expected throughout France. The bins are colour coded.  You will see them on all your journeys.  Card, paper, cans, bottles are all re-cyclable and must not be put in the general refuse bins.

There is a jar in the kitchen cupboard for plastic bottle tops.  Please add to our collection or leave them at the supermarket collection point - it is a fund-raising scheme for
charities.

WATER AND DRAINAGE

The water is metered.

The house is connected to mains drainage.

We must ask guests only to put toilet tissue into any of the toilets.
 

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