We have been here as a family since 2003 & started letting the property as an exclusive holiday home rental in 2004. 
Living on site enables us to keep the grounds & property maintained to a high standard.
The property is well known locally as previous owners have included a colonel in the French secret service & a French television star who used it as his private retreat.
People here are friendly & relaxed & most work in one or other of the main local industries which are agriculture, forestry & tourism. Shops tend to shut for a two hour lunch break & the pace of life is slow. There are fast food restaurants but most people prefer to find somewhere they can linger over their courses, even in the middle of the day.
We are situated about 4km from the pretty village of Ygos which has all the basic shops; butcher, baker, post office, hairdresser, chemist, grocer etc, as well as a doctor & a dentist. It also has a little Sunday morning market where you can sometimes buy live chickens from the poultry farmer. Morcenx is about 15km from us & has supermarkets, cafés, cinema, banks & a bustling Saturday morning market. Mont de Marsan which is also about 15km is the main town of the area & has several markets during the week, restaurants, bars, hospitals & larger shopping centres.as well as a bull ring, golf club & an interesting old town.
The climate is lovely all year round. The seasons are distinct & there are no hard extremes of weather. Spring comes early & has long, bright days with the occasional warm downpour to water the garden. Generally when it rains, it rains. But when it stops, the skies clear, the sun comes out & puddles disappear immediately into the sandy soil without a trace. Summer is hot & long, with lots of sunshine & lasts well into October. If it rains it usually comes overnight when it might follow a spectacular short sharp burst of thunder & lightning. Autumn is mild & gentle & the forest takes on a whole new image as the trees change into their russet & gold hues & the squirrels get busy collecting up the acorns & sweet chestnuts that lie strewn across the ground. Blackberry bushes hold full plump fruits ready to be made into homemade jam & mushrooms of all shape & size appear. Even Winter is pleasant with many days when the sun shines in a clear blue pollution-free sky while the air is crisp & clean.
The road systems are good & well marked & traffic is light. On the whole life in this part of the world is stress free & wonderful, but don't take my word for it come & see for yourself.
