Les Jasses is about escape. The current owner gave up being a lawyer and came here to become an artist. The domaine sleeps 20 in comfort, grandeur and style; with huge bedrooms and bathrooms and beautiful living areas. Outside are terraces, gardens and a large private pool with views of the Pyrenees. The surrounding landscape is made up of pasture and woodland, with no close neighbours. Languedoc Roussillon is well known for its varied landscape and rural tranquility. At Les Jasses you can experience that peace and see the beauty of the region whilst relaxing in comfort and style. The area is perfect for hiking and cycling.
The set-up at Les Jasses is all about making you feel that you have arrived at a 'home-away-from-home'. We strive to make you as comfortable as possible during your stay, and we don't want to annoy you with a million regulations or house rules. We welcome children, and want you to be able to relax and enjoy your holiday the way you want to live it.
Les Jasses was once a convent - a place of contemplation for centuries - and still feels like a haven from the world. Three cars a day pass the end of the drive which leads to a landscape unchanged since Roman times. Despite the tranquility you will be within easy reach of airports, the Mediterranean coast, local monuments and tourist attractions. Montreal is the nearest village (7km) with shops, petrol, bakery, tennis courts and restaurant. Carcassonne airport (Salvaza) is 20 minutes away and Toulouse (Blagnac) an hour.
The house is the residence of well known artist Anthony Murphy and holds a varied art collection gathered over a lifetime. The house is furnished with antiques, art and books. On the ground floor there is tiled entrance hall large enough to roller skate in. Next to it is the drawing-room separated from the hall by large double doors. This is a good place to read or doze; and also leads out onto the terrace so the room is full of light. The house holds a decent library of English, French and Russian literature. There is even a Pushkin dictionary!
On the other side of the hall through an archway there is the kitchen and further on, through yet more double doors, there is the room with television. We have many DVD's for adults and children which you can borrow.
A stone spiral staircase leads up to the first and second floors. Here are eight double bedrooms four of which have their own private bathroom; one children's bedroom with four single beds; and one bedroom with a single. The house sleeps a maximum of twenty with ease. (Please note, one of the large double bedrooms is a walk through to an ensuite double bedroom. This room is huge, and is perfect for older children and adults.)
Domaine des Jasses is in a Natura 2000 park; an EU scheduled conservation area of outstanding beauty. The domain is double aspect throughout. Look out from one window and you can see for forty miles; look out of the window opposite and you can see for a further forty miles.
The grounds, including gardens, surrounding fields and wood, comprise 28 acres in total. The meadows hold many rare orchids.
The swimming pool is a tiled pool measuring 15.5 metres X 5 metres and 2 metres deep at the deep end. There are steps and a shallow end. There is a shelf all the way round the edge of the deep end for resting on. There is a pool alarm. At one end stands a small octagonal pool house for changing. A Cretan mosaic of an octopus lies at the foot of the pool steps.
The great fortress of Carassonne Cite is twenty minutes away. Its fairy tale towers and crenellations the fantasy castle of most children. The Cité de Carcassonne runs a major cultural festival from July through August. Rock concerts, jousting, fireworks – you name it they do it .
For the more contemplative there are the ancient medieval Abbeys of Frontfroide, Lagrasse, Alet-les-Bains and then in Toulouse the sublime St Sernin all in pink brick. Albi is not far.
There is a Carolingian church by the roadside on the way to Montolieu, the famous 'Village des Livres' (which attempts to emulate the Hay-on-Wye 'book town' in the UK). There are countless antiquarian bookshops, and several restaurants in this vibrant and pretty village. On the way to Montolieu you would cross the Canal du Midi which stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Louis XIV had it dug to move his fleet more freely. You can hire boats or cycle the tow path for miles under the shade of the giant Plane trees.
The Mediterranean beaches are less than an hour away where you can sail and surf in Gruissan. Collioure a little further south is where Matisse and Derain lived and worked as a young men.
Towards Perpignan the Sigean safari park has - amongst other thrills – lions, rhinos and flamingos.
We look forward to meeting you.
