May take pets - please enquire Suitable for children Not suitable for elderly or infirm No smoking at this property Self-catering
Home description
Le Mas de Piol was created recently by the owners on the site of a sloping hillside Olive Grove. Most of the Olives survive, and are a key feature of the leafy green garden of about 1 acre.
Around the infinity pool, there are plenty of wooden sunbeds and steamers to relax in, and a wonderful shady "au-vent" to eat outside even when the sun is at its highest (the pool can be heated at £150 pw extra cost, but this is only necessary in the "shoulder" months).
If you are feeling energetic, there is a Boules pitch, new Table Tennis with all the kit, badminton and water polo. Tennis is readily available about 15 mins away, and riding, gliding, skiing (60mins), lake and sea watersports are nearby.
The sea is only just over 30mins away, and the Gorges du Verdon, and dozens of exquisite Provençal villages are within very easy reach... not to mention excellent vineyards, restaurants, and local markets.
Inside, the house has five elegantly-decorated and individually-styled bedrooms (each with its own private bath or shower room and loo), and a vast central room, with massive oak beams, which remains astonishingly cool, even in high Summer and with its grand fireplace and underfloor heating throughout, very cosy in Winter. The kitchen is in Provencal style, but fitted with every new electrical equipment you could want.
From the terrace to Mt Piol (Hence name of house)
Sunshine, shade, greenery and the pool
By the pool....
Lunch is ready in the au-vent.
To see more photos please visit http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/67681
The Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur / Var region
Claviers is located in a most beautiful unspoilt part of the Var. We chose to build our house here, because we fell in love with its "Cezanne" view of the roof tiles of Claviers, tucked into the folds of green mountains. The area is still very much "real Provence", and lunch in the local restaurants are still €11, plus €5 for a pichet of Rose! Every square has a cafe/bar under Plane trees for you to cool off.
If you ever tire of the tranquillity, there are many options open to you: you can go to the impressive new Four Seasons Golf resort, 20 minutes away for a cocktail or sophisticated "International" cuisine, or you can take off for the elegance of Cannes, Antibes, Ste Maxime or Theoule sur Mer. We go to Cannes(40 minutes) in particular with its great sea food restaurants, not to mention the buzz of a fun-loving city. Then there is of course St Tropez - we have a favourite beach restaurant there (60mins away, if you set off early).
Fayence, Seillans, Draguignan, Callas all have top-rated restaurants as well, and the vineyards in the nearby Esclans valley are now producing wines that sell in the US for over $100! (We tend to buy the 5 litre boxes of Rose for €15, however, which we think are excellent for everyday consumption)
Claviers area
Whilst it does get pretty hot in the Var in mid-summer, Claviers is at 450m, so there is plenty of leafy greenery about to protect you as you wander through the village, or enjoy one of the two restaurants and bars! This also means that at night it never feels stifling.There is a small general store (excellent ham!) and a Boulangerie, where most inner needs can be met.
In addition, on Saturday morning you can buy a few local goodies at the tiny village market, but Callas (4km away) has a much bigger, and very buzzy, market twice a week, as does Fayence (20mins), and famously of course, St Tropez.
Claviers was the regional headquarters of the Maquis in WW2, so look out for the monument to the resistance. Usually at the weekend there is a concert or an "aioli" either in Claviers or one of the neighbouring villages, such as Bargemon or Callas (both about 5k), and in the Summer there are regular concerts from Baroque to Jazz.
A tasting tour of the local vineyards is always fun and a trip to the Gorges du Verdon is amazing. You will see why they call them "The Grand Canyon of Europe". Also there is pretty good skiing at Les Greoulieres(70 minutes), top-class gliding at Fayence (20 minutes), and a choice of Golf courses within 30 minutes.
Children never seem to tire of the Lac St Cassien (30mins) with safe swimming, pedalos, ice creams and the rest....
How to get there
There is a choice of budget airlines across the UK flying to Nice (about 55 minutes away), but Toulon (60 minutes) and Marseilles (75 minutes), even Nimes and Avignon are also easy alternatives.
Train is increasingly popular with a TGV station at Les Arcs (25 mins), and Motorail to Frejus (35 minutes).
The drive across France from Calais, Caen or Le Havre can be great fun and a mini-holiday in its own right. We are more than happy to advise on good value stopovers- and vineyards- on the way.
Car hire at any of the Railway stations or airports is very uncomplicated, and we ourselves always book with Car Hire 3000, who are both reliable and always very competitively priced.
Nearest Travel Links
Airport:
Nice: 70 km
Railway:
Les Arcs: 25 km
Ferry:
Caen/Le Havre: 1100 km
Activities near Claviers
Sports: Tennis in town Watersports Waterpark Horse Riding Golf within 30 mins drive Fishing
Great for: Walking holidays Rural / countryside retreats
Facilities
Luxuries:
Log fire, Internet access, DVD player, Private outdoor pool (heated)
General:
Central heating, Air conditioning, TV, CD player, Telephone, Table tennis, Satellite TV, Wi-fi available
Bedrooms (5), Bathrooms (5), En suite (5), WCs (1)
Furniture:
Single beds (4), Double beds (3), Cots (2), Dining seating for 14, Lounge seating for 10, Sleeps maximum of 10
Other:
Linen and towels provided.
Outdoors:
Balcony / Terrace, Private garden, BBQ
Access:
Parking space
Further details indoors: The 5 bedrooms can be all doubles or can be laid out as 3 doubles, plus 2 x 2 singles, as you require. Each bedroom has en suite loo and bath or shower. All linen and towels are supplied and are mainly White Company or similar quality. In addition, there is plenty of room for the two cots available.
Satellite TV gives the full UK Freeview service, plus French TV. Excellent DVD and CD library. FREE use of telephone to landlines worldwide (and free even to mobiles in USA/Canada), with very fast Broadband, inc. wi-fi.
The kitchen is newly equipped with range cooker (gas rings/electric oven), large fridge, Siemens dishwasher, toaster, kettle, coffee machine, smoothie maker etc. Behind the kitchen is the fully-equipped laundry room which also has an additional very large fridge freezer and large capacity 8kg washing machine. We make a point of leaving for each new renter a 5litre box of the best local Rose in the fridge.
Claire or Karine are available to come and cook and clean up for you on most evenings. Let us know if you need one of them.
Magali comes in every Saturday to do the cleaning, at our expense; if you want her more often we can arrange that for you.
Further details outdoors: The large infinity pool is the centrepiece for much activity, although that often means no more than simply relaxing!... the gardens are cleverly laid out, with plenty of quiet terraces and corners to hide away for a snooze or a read after lunch.
There is also a Summer kitchen with a fridge for your cold drinks on the Pool level. Plus a loo. For the active, there is a Boules pitch, Badminton, new Table tennis table etc., kit for water polo etc, and plenty of excellent if quite steep walks.
There is a brilliant new Weber gas barbecue, right next to the au-vent, and we find in the Summer that we tend to do most of our cooking on that.
It is possible to cope fine with up to four cars, but we recommend that you leave any more than two cars on the "higher" parking area.
You will get a visit at least once a week from Patrick to look after the pool, and Fiona will appear from time to time to keep the garden in order.
Further details
We ask for 50% of the rental at the time of booking, and the remainder 6 weeks before the rental starts. We prefer that the rental is paid by electronic transfer.
We also ask for a returnable £400 cheque against damages, but we hope to be able to continue never to use any of this.
Conditions
The property is built on a slope, so we do not really think it is suitable for the seriously infirm. Having said that, several 85+ guests have coped fine, but they were all pretty agile!
As for children, we have had plenty of them of all ages and sizes, without any problems at all. Usually, a well-behaved dog is not a problem....our own black Labrador loves it there!
Rental rates
Rental prices originally quoted in: British £
Convert to:
Period
From
To
Weekly
Nightly rate
Minimum stay
Weekday
Weekend
Oct-April 2009/10
13 Nov 09
1 May 10
2200£2,200
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0-
1 Week
May-June 2010
1 May 10
26 Jun 10
2400£2,400
0-
0-
1 Week
High Season 2010
26 Jun 10
4 Sep 10
2750£2,750
0-
0-
2 Weeks
21
NB: Prices may be subject to change at the advertiser's discretion.
Please note that changeover day is Saturday, so the preferred time of arrival is 4pm on Saturday afternoon until 10am on Saturday of departure.
We have to do this to make sure that the house is cleaned and fully prepared for each renter.
If this presents you with a problem, please let us know, and we will do our best to sort things out!
We prefer to have all funds transferred electronically if possible, and we accept all major currencies.
The pool is heated, if required, but we have to ask an aditional €250 per week for this service; the good news is that it is only really necessary in April/May and October/November!
Guestbook for Le Mas de Piol
....." We loved the villa, and Claviers is so charming and welcoming"......."We were so happy that we did not want to leave!"......"thankyou for the gift of a 5 litres of Rose in the fridge. It was much appreciated" 2007
....."We have just spent the most magnificent 3 weeks in your beautiful house in this very special place" Dublin, June 2008
........"we were knocked out by the wonderful facilities. The house and fantastic views have ben superb" Notting Hill, July 2008.
......."Enjoyed our wonderful week in your beautiful Provencal house. We will be back." Sydney, July 2008
....."The house is perfect, and the view unbeatable". Herts, Aug 2008
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