Overall: The villa is just as we expected. The pictures posted on rentvillas.com were very accurate!Definitely should speak French to get around. Very helpful.I'm the only French-speaking person in the family, so we did OK.A car with GPS is a "must"The English couple, the local managers, are very nice and helpful with nice suggestions for restaurants and places to visitWe had a wonderful time driving around visiting chateaux, Lourdes, Toulouse, and San Sebastian in Spain. Went to the town Pau, a 45 min drive, to watch the Tour de France going by, very exciting! Plenty of things to do in 2 weeks! Brochures of places to visit are available at the villa, very handy. Enjoyed Most: 1. Clean bathrooms and nice bedrooms, mattresses were in good shape plenty of towels.2. Kitchen is sufficient Tupperwares are available for packing food for picnic or leftovers. Plenty of different size dishes, cups and glasses.3. Hair dryer and iron are provided, so less things to pack.4. TV has English Cable so you don't have to watch French TV.5. Phone calls within France are free. Enjoyed Least: TV is very small. But it's better than none.Having a laundry dryer would be nice. Editor's Note: A large flat screen TV and dryer have been installed. September, 2013 Surrounding Area: The front yard is well kept and nice looking.A bit inconvenient to get out of the car to open/close the front gate. But no big deal. Nearby Events or Locales: Vic en Bigorre is the nearest town (15-minute drive), with 3 grocery stores, Intermarche, Leader Price, and Carrefour. They close earlier than U.S. stores, 7:00 pm Mon-Fri, and 1:00 pm on Sat-Sun. Tips or Restaurants: 1. Must have a car with GPS and unlimited mlieage. We used AVIS, and got a Ford Focus using Diesel. Decent car.2. Reusable grocery bags for grocery. They charge for bags.3. Bring/buy laundry detergent, shampoo, etc.4. More restaurants to choose from in Tarbes - 30 min drive. In small town, most restaurants are only open for dinner, but there are always sandwich shops.5. Rent a car with Diesel instead of regular gas, since it is less expensive.6. Bring umbrellas and/or raincoats! It rained quite a bit in July.7. Most American credit/debit cards don't work at Gas Station, stores. However, you can get cash from Some ATMs. It's easier that way. Directions: GPS works. The given directions from the voucher is from Toulouse, and we drove from Paris.