Address

We are less than a mile away from the village of Pont-St-Mamet (or Pont-Saint-Mamet), part of the commune of Douville and off the N21 between the towns of Bergerac (25 mins away by car) and Périgueux (35 mins away). In case you are wondering, we are just inside the Perigord Pourpre (or the Purple Perigord).

 

Our actual address for deliveries is:
Château de la Forge (or Chateau de la Forge)
Lieu dit La Forge, Pont-St-Mamet
Douville 24140
FRANCE
 

… and that is how we appear on Google Maps. That said, water and electricity companies think of us as La Forge Est.
 

The closest international airports are in Bergerac (Aéroport Bergerac Dordogne Périgord) just 25 mins drive away and Bordeaux (Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport) 1hr and 20 minutes away (and most of it on the motorway).

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Check-in and check-out times

Check-in time is 4pm (16:00 in the afternoon) and the check-out time is 11am (11:00 in the morning). That will give us the minimum time we need to get the château ready for our next guests. Please coordinate with our property manager, Anita Mistry, to confirm arrivate time and secure access to the property.
 

Access to the property: the keys!

On arrival, Anita will be there to welcome and hand you the keys. On the day of departure, and unless agreed otherwise with Anita, please make sure all doors are locked and please leave the keys under the doormat just outside the entrance door to the library/TV room (on the west terrace facing the swimming pool).
 

Anita will give you a keyring with two keys. The first one opens the main door (facing North) while the second key opens the kitchen door (facing North as well). Additionally, there are two additional keys for the French doors facing west and providing direct access to the
swimming pool. These keys are always hanging from the curtain’s tie back hooks on either side of each door. Please make sure they are still there after you leave.

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Access to the East terrace from the dining room is operated with an internal latch (no key needed). Please do make sure that the doors facing East and West are properly secured particularly on windy or rainy days, as otherwise these doors can be blown open by the wind and water would flood the house causing damage.
 

Rubbish collection and recycling

The rubbish collection system in rural France is different from that in urban areas. Our commune has stopped door-to-door rubbish collection and has a compulsory self-service system with lots of rules and recycling requirements. To make your stay easier, we will dispose the rubbish / recycling items at the end of your stay.

However, we kindly ask your help to separate household waste from recyclable items including glass and plastic bottles, food packaging (cleaned of food waste), other plastics, paper and cardboards. In order to comply with this system, we have three labelled containers in the pantry (next to the kitchen) for recyclable items.

• Cardboard/paper … including paper packaging as long as it is not contaminated with food.

• Glass … mostly glass bottles and jars.

• Plastic packages and cans … plastic bottles, plastic packaging, sprays, cans, etc.

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For household general waste, we have two indoor bins (in the kitchen and pantry respectively), and two outside bins (in the gap between the main door and the kitchen door facing North). We also have smaller bathroom and vanity disposal bag bins for each bedroom on the first floor. We kindly ask you to empty all the general waste and bedroom waste and put them in the outside bins before you leave
the property. This is important health & safety requirement introduced by the French government over the last couple of years and we hope to have your cooperation.

Bathroom / washing sink etiquette!

We have to highlight the infamous septic tanks of rural France, don’t we? These tanks are much more fragile than the main sewage in towns and cities. To avoid problems with the septic tanks, we kindly remind you NOT to flush anything other than toilet paper down the loo. Equally, please do NOT throw any solid waste down the sinks.
 

Fridge / Freezer
Please kindly empty fridge and freezer completely when you leave the property.

Electricity / Switchboard

The property has been completely rewired in 2018. The general switchboard is located in the pantry with clear labels, albeit handwritten in a floral French way. We are still trying to decipher them ourselves! Despite the relatively remote location of the estate, we have never had any serious problems with power supply. That said, strong summer storms may occasionally disrupt the supply of electricity (and internet) temporarily. Restoration is normally swift (often within the hour).
 

Water supply (and water management)

The water in this part of France is very hard (with a high mineral content). However, we have installed a water softener (located in the pantry) and it is safe to drink. We have never had any issues with water supply so far, but do let Anita know should you encounter any.
 

Internet / Wi-fi

There is an Orange Box located in the pantry (next to the switchboard) that provide both access to the internet throughout the house as well as French TV channels in the library / TV room. In order to boost the signal, we have placed several wi-fi signal boosters (one in the library, one in Beynac and one in the landing upstairs next to room Belvès) in order to cover all the rooms in the house. The passwords to access the internet through each of the boosters are as follows:

• Livebox-4326: pNrUEmjnGC4jphyGCd

• Metronic_AP: 9C0EB3CE

• Metronic_AP (2): 9C0A73D2

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In case of connectivity problems, the best solution is to reset (or to unplug and to plug again) the Orange Box in the pantry and wait a few minutes for the Box to reconnect. Extreme weather – storms or just hard rainfall – do affect and/or reduce the connectivity here in France. Unfortunately, the only solution is patience when this happens!
 

A few other house rules

• There is a strict no-smoking policy inside the property.

• We regrertfully can’t accept pets into the property.

• Please do check with us before hand in case you want to organise any special events in the house or the surrounding grounds.

• Diving into the swimming is dangerous and is strictly prohibited.

• We’d kindly ask you to leave all kitchen-ware and table-ware washed and clean.

• We have left 2 bath towels, 2 smaller face towels and 2 pool towels (the colourful ones) in each room. Please use only the pool towels in the swimming pool area.

• For safety reasons, do not enter private and off-limit areas (as described in the next few sections), and strictly follow the advice with regards to the river, the canal or the out-buildings.

• Finally, please do not light any fires inside the château (i.e. in the fireplaces) nor in the grounds around the château.

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