Help us with renovations in a small village near Carcassonne, France

Details

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  Description

  Update: From now on, Longer stays are preferred (4-12 weeks). This is an ideal host home for part-time digital nomads or a person writing a book or embarked on another such personal project.
  
  We are a couple of international artists (Laury is a sculptor, she is French but was raised in the USA for 6 years and her mother was Dutch - while Joe is a professional freelance videographer and is an American with dual citizenship with Great Britain).
  
  UPDATE APRIL 2023
  We're not going to re-write the description, but in truth, most of the renovation work is done. There are still small projects (painting for example, a bit of stone work and other 'punch list' items. Nothing major). The news, however is our house is on the market (we want to downsize but move to another place in Chalabre). Therefore there is more emphasis on cleaning (it's a BIG house), window washing, dog walking and--who knows--at some point maybe even packing in readiness for a move.
  
  In two old French houses we run rooms, and also Art Projects from time to time, and we continue to need help with some renovations!
  
  We can use help with every day living tasks such as cleaning this vast place / cooking / dog walking, and occasionally with house/dog/cat sitting.
  
  We have renovated three places: a small townhouse, plus a ruin, plus a big 20 room French "Maison de Maitre" in a medieval town in the Southwest of France. We have worked to a high standard with as many Eco features as we could which requires enthusiastic volunteers. Part of the bigger house is 18th century - the other part is 14th century.
  
  Thanks to fantastic Workaways (some of whom have returned again and again) the 14th century portion of the house was completed and the 18th century portion is now 98% finished. There's a picture below of the attic during the early days. Now it is all done and has become one of our favourite places in both the houses--it has two bedrooms, a movie room, bathroom, kitchenette and an Italian walk-in shower. It is also the usual residence of our workaways, though there are other rooms in the house for workaways, guests and family.
  
  What was in ruin is an old stone Forge (1652) inside a private walled garden with an attached 18th century wood structure house that will be gutted and re-done from the top down. The Forge portion was the first phase of the project and is now rapidly moving toward completion. The pictures show and give you an idea of the type of work which we have done in the past, in addition to electrical, framing, flooring, plastering ,etc., includes a lot of stone work and rendering which is quite fun and satisfying work. Now there are just a few snagging bits to finish (a bit of woodwork, some painting). We always teach volunteers how to do things so previous experience is welcome but not required.
  
  Although we can also accommodate single people, the work is ideal for a Workaway couple to help keep this place tidy and to continue various easy tasks such as stone restoration work at the Old Forge-- finishing the cleaning up and re-pointing some of the stone walls of the Forge courtyard. In the summer you'll be able to gorge yourself with table grapes off the 100 year old grapevine that lines the Forge wall. This is a long-term project, so the longer you can stay, the better!
  
  Though our profile states a minimum of two weeks, our preference is for long stays, meaning a month or preferably more. Some of our workaways have stayed months at a time and returned later for further stays. This is, of course, after a trial period to confirm we have chosen the right Workaways and you have chosen the right Host!
  
  So much to do and all of it fun and interesting! We love to share with you our love of the area and its culture.
  
  Bags of atmosphere and tons of opportunities to explore the surrounding area: vineyards, lakes, Cathar Castles, Pyrenees (skiing nearby in winter), Roman baths... Our small town of Chalabre is 45 minutes from the walled city of Carcassonne, 45 minutes from Foix, 90 minutes from Toulouse as well as the Mediterranean and Andorra, and just 3 hours from Barcelona. The village of Chalabre is not large (one baker, two butchers, three greengrocers, a pharmacy, two cafes, one hotel/restaurant) and has no train service, just one bus in and out to Limoux (but we are happy to come pick you up and drop you off from another nearby train station such as Pamiers).
  
  We are warm, friendly hosts who love to work hard and also love to play. There is so much for you to do here in your spare time: great walking and bicycling on the Voie Verte, exploring the Cathar Way, hiking in the mountains, canoeing, swimming in lakes, playing tennis in the local inexpensive tennis courts (we have rackets and you can find someone locally to play with unless you can tempt Joe), internet-surfing, ambling around local "vide greniers" (the equivalent of car boot sales = literally "empty your attic fairs"), etc.
  
  Training provided for any tasks we ask you to do - strong arms and a willingness to work and play hard are all you need! We have a zero drugs tolerance - but we love a glass of wine most days at the end of the day. We expect you to pay your share of wine if you drink more than one (but the first glass of a work day evening is on us!)
  
  And yes, we have fibre internet access which reaches most rooms in the house. It works mostly everywhere, including on the sunny terrace. We also have a movie room with Amazon Prime.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will be around people from all nationalities (we have Russian, English, Belgian, Irish, Dutch, American, Australian and German neighbours in this small town as well as of course many FRENCH people!!!! :)
  
  We both love to share our skills (our own artforms sculpture and video, and also our knowledge of renovations work). You might also learn to cook in different ways than you are familiar with (Laury's style of cooking is very international with a French base).
  
  Driving on the right hand side of the road might be an experience for some of you!
  
  Learning the way of life of international people living in the midst of a small French town will also be an experience in itself.

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  Help

  We are flexible as to working hours - and we believe the best way forward with any offer to volunteer is to take it on an individual basis. If you are happy to work long hours for a number of days and then take a long break of several days - that's fine. If you'd rather work shorter days and go off exploring every day that is fine too.
  
  Really your schedule will be up to you - provided it is fair to us to accommodate and feed you in exchange for the work you put in.
  
  We need a lot of elbow work (depending on when you come, there is demolition, wallpaper removal/stripping, insulation, carpentry, joinery, electrical work, painting and decorating, stonework, and cleaning at all phases). Please be aware it's best if you have work shoes that can protect your toes and one set of clothes that can get ruined (by plaster, paint, etc.). We have some spare clothing if necessary but not spare work shoes.
  
  We also welcome help with creating meals, walking the two dogs, etc.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Beginner
  Chinese (Mandarin): Beginner

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  Accommodation

  The house is HUGE.... Not a good place for anyone allergic to cats /dogs or for dust allergy sufferers as renovations do imply dust and some demolition, and then the clean-up of building materials. You will have your own room. There is good fibre driven wi-fi and mobile phone signal (but only some mobile networks work here), and hot water for showers or baths...!
  
  How to travel here:? You can arrive by bicycle, by car, by plane (closest airports are Carcassonne, followed by Toulouse) or by train (not to Chalabre directly) to stations in the nearby towns listed in order of closeness: Limoux, Pamiers, Carcassonne, Foix.
  
  The only public transport to and from Chalabre is to Limoux twice a day - which is why as hosts we will encourage you to tag along with us to some of the lovely spots around us (whether for recreation or for shopping, etc.).

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  What else ...

  In your time off you can hike around the area, or if you have your own car or we trust you with ours or you just tag along with us you can visit Mirepoix, Limoux, Carcassonne, Foix, Toulouse, Ax-les-Thermes (skiing and also Roman Baths all year), Andorra, Barcelona, or go and dip your feet in the Mediterranean. (Re car, as long as you have a few years driving experience, a driving license and we feel we can trust your driving, you can borrow our car).
  
  We expect you to work hard and then enjoy yourself a lot too - and we will go out of our way to make the latter happen. We eat fresh food and will feed you well. We also love to drink good wine / beer and laugh and relax. Within a few hundred metres of the house you are out in the open countryside in the foothills of the Pyrennees: mountain walking, biking, lake swimming, horsebackriding, skiiing are all available depending on the season, your budget and your stamina.
  
  We have a beautiful private terrace--actually the 3 storey ruin of a former house where the walls still stand. It's really quite interesting...you walk from the 17th century house on the square through to the next 14th century house onto the ruins of the next one, our terrace where we usually eat in the summer months.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  Good fibre internet connection and own desk in room or in library

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  Space for parking camper vans

  A van can be parked in many places around the village for free.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  A well-behaved dog that is friendly to our cats would be welcome.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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