400-year-old stone house in medieval village in Gard

The medieval village of Durfort et St. Martin de Sossenac is on the
southern slope of the Cevennes
Mountains. The region is extremely beautiful and culturally rich. The
mountains are full of well
marked hiking, biking and riding trails and scenic roads like La
Corniche des Cevennes. Vineyards,
gardens and olive groves dot the landscape. Nearby villages like
Anduze, Sauve, St. Hippolyte du
Fort, Sommieres, and Uzes have open air markets offering superb
local produce, wines, cheeses and
crafts. Nearby rivers like the Herault, Gardon and Vis afford ample
opportunities for swimming,
fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Other local attractions include Roman
ruins like Le Pont du Gard and
natural wonders like Le Cirque de Navacelles and La Petite Camargue.
The village itself, a national historic monument, is utterly
peaceful and serene. The population is only 750, of whom no more than
half are ever in residence.
Nearly every house is stone and every street narrow. Rose and
wisteria vines adorn the facades. At
night the silence and darkness are complete, and the sky is filled
with stars. Local amenities
include a general store, library, and restaurants. A supermarket
and other stores and restaurants are just 10 km away. Nïmes and
Montpellier are 40 km; the
Mediterranean, 50 km.

The house is situated on a one-car-wide street that dates to the
twelfth century. It is beautifully
renovated and restored and furnished largely with local antiques. It
is a village house with four
stories, each about 4x18 meters. At ground level are a restored
vaulted cave with a digital piano
and a sofa bed, a half bath, and a laundry with a washer and dryer.
On the second level at the front
is a modern eat-in kitchen with an antique long table; at the back is
a living area with a leather
sofa, antique coffee table, two antique leather chairs, an antique
armoire, and glass doors giving
onto a terrace and a walled garden planted with olive, fig,
pomegranate, rosemary, oleander, rose,
clematis and lavender; on the terrace is a marble topped dining table
and a barbecue. An open wooden
spiral stair in the center of the second level leads to a third level
with two large bedrooms with
double beds and a full bath with shower tub. Another stair in the
back bedroom leads to a mezzanine
with a large (120 cm wide) single bed and glass doors giving onto a
roof terrace with a wicker table
and chairs, a bed of herbs and a commanding view of the village and
surrounding countryside. The
ceilings are four meters high throughout; on the second level the
beams are exposed. The walls are
plastered stone (except in the cave where the stone is exposed); the
floors, terra cotta tile.

Hiking and biking in the mountains, swimming in rivers and the sea,
piano playing in the cave, CD
and radio listening and reading in the salon, eating and drinking at
the family table, star gazing
on the roof terrace, tasting wine at local wineries, eating at local
restaurants, visiting art
galleries, shopping, visiting local attractions like La Bambouseraie,
Le Cirque de Navacelles, La
Corniche des Cevennes, La Petite Camargue, Le Pont des Camisards, Le
Pont du Gard, La Maison Carree,
Les Gorges du Tarn, Les Grandes Causses, Anduze, Sauve, St. Hippolyte
du Fort, St. Jean du Gard,
Ganges, Sommieres, Uzes, Ales, Nïmes, Montpellier, Arles, Avignon,
Marseille...

600 euros/week
Minimum stay: 1 week
Maximum stay: 1 month
Volume discounts: 10% for 3 weeks; 20% for 4 weeks