France
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This is us. Our little nest in a big world. On the edge of a sweet French hamlet, in a green valley. Phil is based here most of the year. Then Vanessa, her young son Eli, and our parents often come for a break from the UK when they can. Phil will be here to greet you. The others you will likely meet during your stay.
This is a small community hamlet of mixed French/English speakers and to nurture good community relations we regularly socialise together. You won't just be with our family but will be a part of the hamlet too. And beyond the hamlet... you will be part of our wider community of lovely people (you get to meet most of them at either the Sunday market or the local beer brewery). Social life here is very busy. Friends are passing through every day...
The setup is over two houses, with gardens, woodland and fields. We have a large barn used as a workshop/store; a herb garden, a large vegetable garden, a berry patch, ducks, geese, a dog and all the visiting wildlife (boar, deer, badgers).
The work right now is establishing systems and putting in basic infrastructure. There is a lot of work to do but it is varied and we do it to our rhythm.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Animal Care
Art Projects
We love having adventures and you would be welcome to join us on our adventures.
Caving: I am currently exploring the Cthulhu cave - its a 27km fault of incredible rock.
Climbing: Loads around here. We are members of the local indoor wall too.
Exploring: Every Thursday we do a full day trek. (unless its raining then we go to the spa :)
Our region is home to Rennes-les-Chateaux (origin of the Dan Brown Da Vinci code)
Bugarach (the famed UFO mountain)
Alet-Les-Bains (Where Nostradamus lived)
Cathar legends of buried treasure
and much more!
There are isolated valleys, swimming in rivers and lakes, dancing and relaxing in hot springs. The landscape here is pretty wild. And when we are not adventuring in search of lost treasure, we will be having BBQ's in the sunshine. The valley has alot of parties/events in good weather that we participate in (incase you wondered about our costumes in the photos - thats not our every day dress)
We are a pretty mix-European bunch with plenty to share and learn from eachother.
We have various projects on the go and so there are opportunities for you to do lots of different things.
Gardens
1. Building stone raised beds.
2. Making compost tea and other healthy brews.
3. Weeding, weeding, weeding.
4. Building a small open top water tank with concrete and stone and then beside it a little dam in our stream so the ducks can bathe.
5. Building a new structure to support the water tanks in the garden
Fowl
1. Occasional mucking out the coop and feeding/watering.
2. Egg collecting
3. We have some ducklings that need daily care
Woodworking
1. Gates to construct and install
2. Fencing to be checked and mended if needed
Camp Field
1. Building a compost toilet
2. Cleaning up the field to use as a camping ground
3. Removal of barbed wire
Vehicle Restoration
The Landrover Defender 'Wolf' is getting new body panels. You can help me figure out how to re-assemble it.
Events
1. We need to sort out and catalogue our props and objects that we use for party deco/events
2. Party planned for August 15th - deco needed to be built and general set up of equipment as well as running the bar.
General
Right now we have some horses on site which need daily checking on. They love escaping from their field :)
The Yurt also needs regular cleaning (its also one of our accomodation offers)
Anika (my daughter) is home schooled. Some of the classes are in the house, Others are elsewhere. If you have a special skill that you would like to share then if Anika is interested, we can run a class. She is 11 years old. Im thinking like Spanish language, or Manga drawing. Or Archery. We have a few Mongolian style bows of differnet sizes. She is also into cooking. Teach her a dish :)
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
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Accommodation in a comfortable, small mobile home converted from an old Russian army radio communications truck We took the truck on a road trip into West Africa a few years ago. Now it is stationed on the edge of a field looking into the sunrise. It has one double bed, lights, a fridge, sink and radiator and is suitable for a couple. Phil's house has a shared bathroom and there is also a separate WC in the near house. The second house (Vanessa, Parents) is currently lodging a friend from London.
All your meals are with the family and you have open access to the kitchen in Phil's house plus WiFi (unfortunately there is as yet no signal in the Zil). The Zil has a gas stove so you can also cook in private if you feel the need.
If you are vegetarian/vegan or have special dietary requirements (or you don't like our cooking!) you are welcome to prepare your own meals in our kitchen with the ingredients we have available. I can do vegetarian cooking (mainly curries and Italian) and if your vegan I am up for experimenting a little more :)
For food - we can provide you ingredients for you to make your breakfast in the Zil (or joinj us). I can provide the Lunch which is our main meal. And then in the evening we tend to snack on leftovers or cook up something quick.
If you have your own camper it is possible to find you parking space.
Sometimes the yurt is also available. It is located a short walk out of the hamlet.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Our connection is very fast - indoors only. For example a previous guets was an online English teacher and used the connection for video teaching. No problem. However, the study is not always available - in which case we need to find a quiet space. Some notice is therefore needed to make arrangements.
We have a flat grass field with decent access. There is no power on site. We are in the process of building a compost toilet on site. The field is sheltered and has a stream running down on side of it. It gets plenty of sunshine. It has limited phone reception and no wifi. It is 5 minutes from the house.
More than two
5 heures par jour max, 5 j/sem.
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