Help us create our little better world with DIY and our permaculture garden in Les Vosges, France

Details

• 

  Description

  Hi everyone !  My name is Maria, I am Flemish, 56 years old,  and a bit less than 2 years ago I bought a property in France, Les Vosges, in a very small, charming town in an idyllic area, and I have been living here permanently ever since.
  
  
  The intention is to live closer to nature, as sustainable as possible and more in connection with ourselves and others. For me, living my dream is creating a house for spirituality, personal growth and natural health and also being part of the New World by opening the gates to the principles of Anastacia and the creation of family properties. My hope is that It could become a little better world, integrated in the French countryside, in connection with the local French community. 
  
  My sense of passion is fueled when I can unite and inspire people, experience deeper connections, make our shared space cosy and life fun, see faith and love grow and create the opportunities to relax and make this all happen.
  
  My strong belief is that everyone on this planet matters. That everyone and everything has their role in a bigger picture and can influence it to make a positive change. I would be very grateful to be able to inspire people and to give them the opportunities they seek.
  
  We are at the very beginning, but I allow myself to dream big, because the universe is asking for change.  I believe in a society where we can once again feel more connected; with each other, with nature, and within ourselves. I live my path with an open mind and with the wise words of Gandhi : Be the change you want to see in the world.
  
  For now, I live here with my buddy Maurice, a very sweet dog and world champion footballer, and two kittens who chose our house to stay, Willy and Fred. Furthermore, one of my sons, Arne, 32 years old, is helping out here a great deal of his time. He travels between Belgium and France, is surching his way to be a part of the worldwide change and devotes himself to gardening and making music. He and his girlfriend Emma are planning on building a little sustainable home on our land nearby, and he began recently with hives of honeybees.
  Besides being a very warm young man with his heart in the right place, Arne is also all about music and a self-made man in all sorts of ways. He loves permaculture gardening, the mountains, cold swims, cycling (practical and technical), makes the most delicious bread and knows everything about tea! Unfortunately he is also an expert punsman ;-).
  
  We love preserving our home grown fruit and vegetables, baking our own sourdough bread and have a vegetarian / vegan, mainly organic, healthy, creative kitchen, brewing kombucha and kefir and even wine. We enjoy sharing our meals, taking our time for breakfast or lunch, conversations and socializing, having a fire in the garden,... The door is always open to friends. Music and darts are played, and tea rituals are held.
  
  And as much as we like socializing, we like the peace and quiet around here and time off to reload and being able to stay connected within.
  The beautiful quiet area is perfect for walking and cycling, in forests and on the road, for swimming in nature ...  We enjoy the hills and diverse landscape of the low Vosges, and are just a stone's throw away from the magical power of the higher Vosges.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  There is plenty of  free time, we like being flexible and respect everyone’s time, ours and yours.  We love sharing experiences and dreams, philosophy and conversations around the campfire, making music together, sharing spirituality and extensive meals.
  Arne is a professional musician and when he is here he can teach you to enjoy your guitar even more. With great passion he will also initiate you in tea ceremonies and share his knowledge of permaculture.
  I am at home with foot reflexology, massage, healthy nutrition and consciousness development. Furthermore, we can exchange language skills.
  This place is low in radiation, very relaxing and is located in a beautiful area that you can, off course, explore freely. It is therefore also perfect if you just like peace and quiet.

• 

  Projects involving children

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

• 

  Help

  A lot of work has already been done in the short time that I have been living here. Mainly cleaning up the attics and buildings, furnishing the house and some structural work such as renovation of roofs. The garden has already partly been taken care of, a greenhouse has been set up, and a start has been made on a vegetable garden. The guest house is being made ready to receive guests and it would be nice to start a food forest in a separate field. We would like to give some other animals a home,  and we want to opt for a naturally purifying reed bed.
  
  There is work for a lot of talent. Of course there is more renovation to be done, including plumbing, electricity works, painting, carpentry etc, but there is also enough work in the garden too. You could help, when the timing is correct, with the start-up of the food forest, building shelters etc, and also smaller tasks such as cutting and storing wood and mowing, further emptying attics and the community space, building a sun-heated outdoor shower, compost toilets and making a book-and-stuff exchange cupboard. All this work will of course be spread out over time. We also encourage you to share with us your experience or expertise to help us shape our plans even further. Because the project is still very young, everyone can help create to their heart's content.

• 

  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Dutch: Fluent
  English: Intermediate
  French: Intermediate
  German: Beginner
  Spanish: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  I studied one year of Spanish and I love the language. Would love to improve.
• 

  Accommodation

  We have a separate guesthouse witch is connected to the main house. A lot of the facilities are shared, but there is also a separate living room and kitchen available so everyone can have time on its own when needed. A separate bathroom is under construction. The one in the main house is old but has everything we need. You can choose a private or shared room (when free) and / or it is possible to camp. There is also a very nice spot to stay in a camper. Bed linen can be provided. There is Wi-Fi in the main house during the day (that we want to convert into a more “plugin” system), but the plug goes out at night to limit radiation during the night's rest. For the same reason we strongly try to prevent using 4G, which works very poorly here anyway. We hold mostly joint meals where everyone lends a hand.
  
  update, since march '23 there is less availability in the guesthouse at the moment. For each stay we have to look individually at what is possible.

• 

  What else ...

  Enough to see or do around here, but we still have to explore most of the area ourselves. The nearest towns where you can take the train is Epinal, Vittel (both 30 min) and Remiremont (45min). Also Nancy but that is already 1h15 from here.
  
  We expect you to share our values, witch means no meat, sustainable attitude, limit use of data and mobile phone, no drugs or overconsumption of alcohol. We keep this area smokingfree.

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

• 

  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

• 

  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week, or as we mutually agree

Feedback (3)