The house has lots of wood… so there are a few things to help, just in case something does happen. There are of course fire-alarms, fire extinguishers on each floor and a fire blanket in the kitchen.

A basic first aid kit and masks can be found in a brown box labelled “First Aid” in the blue cupboard, closest to the window in the room with the wood burning stove.

Here you will find a list of doctors, opticians and dentists in and around St Foy le Grande.

There are a number in St Foy, plus one in Gensac. Pharmacies are usually open from Monday to Saturday, between 9:00 and 20:00 hrs. Being closed on Sundays and public holidays, however, there will always be at least one in each area that provides out-of-hours service (service de garde).

With luck, you will not need to go to a hospital. Should you need to however, here are the nearest, starting with St Foy Le Grande, which sadly does not have a good reputation, but emergency is open 24 hours.

There are a number of petrol stations in St Foy le Grande and one in Pessac. If you are returning a car to Bordeaux airport, we also have a top tip for you.

These days, people pay mostly by credit card and most places accept these. There are however, a few important exceptions which may require cash such as night markets or even the day markets. So where to find cash and how to avoid those CC fees!

There are a number of options. Our recommendation for food is of course the markets but there is a local Lidl and Spar plus a large L’Eclerc supermarket nearby.

At Magnolia we basically recycle everything, but what goes where and when does the waste get collected?

All the toilets, showers and sinks plus dish-washer are all connected to our “Fosse-Sceptique” which is located underneath the main drive next to the well. We have a few rules… please nothing other that toilet paper!