Great opportunity to housesit, learn French, and care for my animals in Normandy, France

France

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Host rating
Feedback
3
Last activity
12/01/2022
Reply rate
75.0 %
Average reply time:
within 2 days
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Availability

2022

Min stay requested: 1 month or more

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What's this?

Details

Description
I am the owner and Director of a French Language school here in Normandy. I live in the country about 40 minutes from the school and have a huge garden, horses, dogs and cats. I have to travel a lot for the business so would love some consistent dog and horse and cat sitters who would like to learn or improve their French, who like the country and can drive.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Elderly Companionship
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Help
If you have a car/can drive and would like to learn French and spend a minimum of 6 months looking after my house and animals when I am away (usually a maximum of 3 weeks at a time)-In return, on top of your board and lodging you can have some lessons at my school French in Normandy free of charge the school also teaches online.
Help is
general gardening and maintenance
vegetable gardening
pool maintenance
yard and box cleaning (horses)
walking dogs
chatting to my mum (91 but very bright) and if i am away cooking for her
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
This host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Bathroom and private bedroom in house. Shared bathroom if other visitors arrive until further bathroom is finished.
What else ...
Normandy is a great place to visit. It s the birthplace of Impressionism. Paris is just an hour away by train and our local station has free parking. Rouen is a marvellous city as is Caen , Le Havre and then there is a wealth of delightful country towns, chateaux and markets to explore.

This is a good opportunity for someone who would like to live in France and have a truly French experience as St Christophe village is in the depths of the Normandy countryside. The nearest shop is 6klm.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
Can host digital nomads
I work online daily
Space for parking camper vans
plenty of space
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Dog sitting so feeding morning and evening, walks etc when I am away. Help in the garden and around the house and just basic common sense cleaning in a shared hosue situation. I am happy to cook if I am there as it is one of my hobbies but always keen

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Feedback left by and about host (3)

12/12/2021

Left by Workawayer (Miguel) for host

When I moved from Italy to France, I had the intention to be familiar with another culture and learn a new language. I was looking for a calm place where to focus on a writing project too. The choise couldn’t have been better. I came for the summer and I felt so well here that I decided to come back again, after my workaway experience of one month… read more in Paris.

Elleri is a very generous and gentle woman, full of those little gestures that make life nicer for everybody around her. Here, the art of hospitality remains. This is an always wellcoming home, with colleages, family, friend and old-workawayers coming and going. She has had a wide life experience and she can say that she has really travelled around the world. Although she is from welsh origin, she speaks a perfect french, after so many years leaving in France. I was offered to do online classes in her accademy, combining my voluntary tasks with the learning of the language.

She has been very flexible with my timetable. It has been up to me to decide how to fullfil my duties. The task are easy. Keep the swimming-pool in good conditions, some orchard, some gardening and taking care of the animals. She has two dogs (gentleman Lucky and youthful Toby), 5 cats (grampa Ben, kitten Keddy, nice ladies Four and Five and the Moriarty of food robbery-clever schemer-evil genius-James Bond’s villain... Bill). She has three horses too. Caid, Isis and Lalo. Each of them with its own personality. I has been my first experience with horses, and a very interesting one. In fact, one of my best memories of this summer is going in the sunset to the upper meadow, whistle to call them and come back to the stables with the three horses trotting around me.

In the house lives also Elleri’s mother, Wendy. With her I have been able to practise my english. She is a very cultured and intelectually active person. We have talked about literature, history, her travels, her life experiences... A real bonus for my time here. We usually watch a Netflix’s documentary after lunch and we have much enjoyed our time together.

Elleri’s house is in the middle of the nature, surrounded by trees and meadows. There are many paths to walk around and now, in autumn, with the forests red yellow and green, is even more relaxing. It’s a perfect place for cycling (in the house there are two bycicles). Here I have fond the perfect place to focus on my writing project. There is a great library in the house and the section about traveling, is really amazing. I have never got bored. In this time I have been able to visit Rouen, Mount Saint-Michele, Evreux, Lisieux, Omagagh Beach, Honfleur, Deaville… I could even join the village trip to the forest to go for mushrooms and I went chez Brigitte, her neighbourgh and friend, to make cider with her. One of the things I have more liked about Elleri is her habit of not taking the direct path to places, strolling with the car around the norman countryside, visiting little villages and enjoying the landscape.

Perfect time the time in this home . Real focus , such a good use of time, meeting interesting people, listening to good stories, sightseeing… Perfect place to leave behind any stress. Every day we have dinner together (now, in the autumn with the fireplace on) and watch a film. Elleri is an excellent cook, with so many recipes that she has learnt in her journeys around the world. Always with a good glass of wine. Perfect end for the perfect days I have lived here.

Long comment... but this home deserves a long one. This has been one of my best experiences as a workawayer. I reccomend you to come, mainly is you want to go out of the rat race of everyday life, search yourself or focus on a project you’d love to pursue. I know I will be back, as many other long-term voluntaries do. I feel that after such a great time here, I am part of this home and this family.

(Excellent )

27/02/2019

Left by Workawayer (Daniel) for host

I would highly recommend volunteering with the hostess, I stayed 3 months in this beautiful sight, in the lovely Normandy.
I not just made a lot of progress with my French level, as well as became a very good friend with Eleri. She has lovely dogs, cats and horses wich are great distractions and specially for those animal lovers.
I will always… read more

(Excellent )

16/01/2019

Left by Workawayer (Emma) for host

My experience with Eleri at her place was really good. Only when the time goes by you really realize how much you learned.
At the beginning I was expecting to do some work and then it changed because of the needs and my skills and we two were flexible and it worked good. She is someone that looks after you and that you can talk to and the French… read more

(Excellent )

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