Looking for friendly people to help on our garden and/or around the house in Lot et Garonne, Aquitaine, France

Details

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  Description

  We are a small English-speaking family living in rural SW France. Our property is just over 1 hectare, set in the middle of hazelnut plantations, sunflower, and cornfields, and the surrounding area is a popular holiday destination in summer.
  
  My husband has his own publishing business and works from home and I work in a nearby village, which is why we need help to maintain the property.
  
  Apart from a very active 11-year-old girl, we have a vocal fat cat and 4 donkeys which we share with our friendly neighbors. We have been here 7 years and are slowly making our mark on the property. Our house is about 50 years old and is split into 2, each with its own bedrooms, living space, kitchen, and outdoor spaces, which we feel makes it ideal for work-aways to stay with us.
  
  We have recently moved down into the bottom part of the house that we have just finished renovating and use two of the upstairs bedrooms as offices.
  
  This leaves a lot of the upstairs area for you, this includes a large bedroom, an equipped kitchen, and three other living rooms (one could be used as another bedroom for a traveling family. Upstairs there is also a toilet and a separate shower room that would be yours to use. You would also have a nice shady garden area at the front of the house where we often like to have BBQs on hot summer days but would be your own private garden to use during your stay with us.
  
  We are pretty easygoing and like to enjoy the space we have. We are not experts in anything in regards to smallholding but enjoy giving it our best. We also try our best to recycle what we have and use no chemicals on the land.
  
  Our French is not great but we can get by. Thus if you are a native French speaker with a little English, perhaps we could teach each other! My daughter goes to the local school and so speaks French much better than us. To improve my french I try and voluntarily help the community as much as I can.
  
  My husband is an active cyclist and is a member of the local cycling team. If you like cycling this is a great part of the world to visit.
  
  We are looking for a person, couple, or even a small family to help with odd jobs around the house and property, this would or could include general gardening, small DIY projects (we have a plan to build a small deck off the back of the property this summer), or you could even help with cleaning or meal preparation - we are open to suggestions.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Visitors with us will get to experience rural life in South West France. It would be a great experience for anyone who wants to experience the more simple things in life and perhaps take some time away from the rat race. Even though we don't speak fluent French, we are in a community of mostly French, and thus depending on your interests there are many opportunities for you to practice/improve your French should you wish. Or perhaps you are French, in this case we could help you improve your English, whilst you help us improve our French.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Recently our giant barn/grange which we had been letting out to the previous owners, once again become "ours" adding to our workload. This area needs to be cleared up removing what is in it and perhaps making improving areas that are falling apart.
  Fencing also needs to be done, pruning, gardening, hedge cutting, and getting the veggie patch up and going again. Most of the help is not really skilled just needs an extra pair of hands or two to get it moving along.
  
  As a small project, we are building some small decking out at the back of the house on a slope to the pool and thus would welcome any help with this.
  
  We would also consider a family and would be happy for someone to help around the house with either cleaning or meal preparation for both our families.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Afrikaans: Beginner
  French: Beginner
  Dutch: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  We are native English speakers and speak a little French, but would like to learn more
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  Accommodation

  Large bedroom, separate kitchen, a shower room, and a separate toilet. There are also three large living areas (one can easily be used as another bedroom for an older child) There is a small private garden area which would be yours during your stay with us.

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  What else ...

  During your free time you could roam the area freely (bikes present, or bring your own car or campervan). Our local village which is busy all year round is only 5 minutes away. Market day is every Saturday and is very busy. We would happily share all the information that we know about the area and all the best places to explore. Bergerac is the nearest city (35 mins) and from there you can go canoeing or take a train to other parts of France (Bordeaux is only 1.5 hours away by train) or even fly to other parts of France as they have a small airport.

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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

  We have a good fiber internet connection and my husband works from home, where he runs an online publishing business, so I guess you could call him a "digital nomad" thus we would be more than happy to host other like-minded people, indeed this could perhaps be a very beneficial exchange for us both in terms of being able to bounce ideas off each other and he is always on the lookout for inspiration as well as good copywriters, developers, etc.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a very large garden (too large) which is the main reason we are looking for a work-away and so yes, we have plenty of room to accommodate a camper van - indeed there is are a number of place that I have always thought would make ideal campsites!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, but happy to be flexible to allow more time for you to explore

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