Terrace loop
Up between the vines, along the top wall, down past the press house. Flat enough for anyone and best at sunset.
Grounds
A working slope rather than a garden. You are free to walk all of it, swim in the pond, take what is ripe from the walled garden, and stay out of the way of the tractor.
The pond
Spring-fed, lined with stone, and about twenty metres long. It sits below the lower terrace where the old irrigation tank used to be. The water is cold until late June and pleasant from July to September.
There is no lifeguard and no shallow end at the far side. Children swim with an adult in the water, and nobody swims after dark. Towels are in the press house porch.
The walled garden
Three-quarters of what the cellar cooks comes out of it. Guests are welcome to walk in it, pick tomatoes, herbs, and soft fruit for their own cottage, and ask the gardener anything. She is there most mornings and enjoys the questions.
Two things we ask: take what you will actually eat, and leave the espaliered pears alone until September, when they are worth waiting for.
Walking
Chapel path
Out of the top gate to the ruined chapel and back down the far side. Shade most of the way.
Down to Aubrelle
The old cart track into town, returning by the lane. Twelve minutes down, twenty back, and worth doing in daylight once before you do it at night.
Working seasons
This is a farm, and for about eight weeks a year it behaves like one. Pruning runs through January and February, tying and trimming from April, and harvest lands in the last week of September or the first of October.
Guests who want to join in are welcome to. There is no charge and no obligation, the work starts early, and you will be fed properly at eleven. Guests who want nothing to do with it will barely notice, apart from the tractor.
During harvest the yard is busy with vehicles from six in the morning. If you are a light sleeper, ask for the lower terrace or come at another time of year.