Creating an arts centre and enjoying life in a beautiful village Sauveterre de Bearn, France

Details

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  Description

  Hello, I have a arts project in SW France, clearing out and renovation of an old , very old in parts! building which used to be a Ham Factory, and making into artist studios and residence for a non profit and the community. It's in a very beautiful village, with views of the Pyrenees Mountains, mild climate and a river to swim or kayak in.
  Workaway people will stay in the house which is already fixed up in very comfortable/lux bedrooms with showers en suite. I can house up to 4 or 5 people to make it fun!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will participate in the life of a small French village. It's very friendly here, there is a start up place just outside of the village which has workshops with all kinds of tools to learn to use, for free, ncluding a 3-D printer etc. and quite a few young people with eco projects etc around. There are about 150 families which are English speaking too, and we are an hour from Spain. There are some sports facilities, including kayak and tennis clubs... pelota and rugby/soccer etc. My project is an arts project and I will be holding workhops and having artists in residence working here for a few weeks at a time on their own projects. I also have a concert grand piano and want to host more music events. Musicians also very welcome. I'm a fan of Brazilian music and I sing it... so guitarists also welcome. It's a very beautiful village, on the Camino de Santiago, with a river to swim in and Medieval buildings all around.

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  Help

  I'm looking for people to help clear the building, maybe with some building skills ( building , plumbing, ) would be great, or carpentry etc. but not necessarily, some of the tasks are just clearing out old stuff from the building, and separating to recycle and dump etc. and or cooking skills to feed those who are working on the building this winter. Preparing and improving current residential building, searching for recycled materials, and on a different note helping with the social media side of things and getting things going with admin.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Polish: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  I'm learning Spanish, and happy to learn to speak better!
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  Accommodation

  I can offer your own very comfortable bedroom with shower en suite, and a separate kitchen if needed. My plan is to share cooking , I personally love to cook but I'm also prefer to have those who would like to cook. There are local shops and the local produce is good. I'm mostly vegetarian, but not 100% at times I feel like some meat. There is a second kitchen and I may make another one, so people can be independent if needing some space/alone time. I have high speed internet !!

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  What else ...

  There are buses to the local towns, Orthez, Salies and St Palais, trains to the coast and also a bus from St Palais to Bayonne. . The beaches are about 45 mins to an hour away, and the mountains about the same. There are also ride shares and group chats in the village for joint projects and activities. I am an artist and singer, so far the past two years I've been restoring and decorating my residential building and now I want to work on the second building, which is the old Ham Factory. To make artist studios and maybe a few bedrooms too. Start working with the community. I have had 3 workshops so far, with artist coming from all over the world with teachers mostly from the US. I want to leave a building in the future to and for artists, owned by them.

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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

  High speed internet available

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  Space for parking camper vans

  I can park a like a large Peugeot Boxer van, H2L3 approx

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  Can possibly accept pets

  I have a dog and a cat which are very friendly, I can't have animals which risk damaging beautiful furniture

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week plus participation in cooking and normal household things etc if here