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Join our family home in the countryside close to the French Alps in Chasselay, France

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Hello! we are a family with 2 children: 8yo and 1½. We all live in a big house in the country close to the French Alps, near Chasselay, Isère.

    Anne is a hiking guide and kinesiologist.
    Hugo is a electronics engineer and works near Grenoble. He also takes care of a few sheep - with his sheepdog Ottis
    Our dynamic son and daughter are living with us, Florimond loves trains and nature, and his sister Capucine explores everything and is a great observer.

    The house is big so we try to have other housemates sharing the same views and willing to involve themselves in household and outdoor activities.
    So there are: Walter, developing water management solutions for agriculture.
    Serge, retired and helping a lot around the house.

    We have a few animals : 1 dog, 5 cats and many sheep. And also hens for delicious eggs!

    We are not a commercial farm but we try to be self-sufficient for vegetables and, in the future, fruits 😃. That's a lot of work in the garden! We use the permaculture as much as possible and are always learning/experimenting new possibilities. In the evening we share meals and share the work in the garden, house maintenance and chores. So when we're several, it's not a total community life, nor a mere shared-rent, it's something in between 😃

    Children are greatly welcome, as long as we can get organized, and Florimond would be delighted to meet new friends of his age.

    We might also be interested in extending the workaway as "au pair" if everything goes well alltogether - but not as initial contact.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Babysitting and creative play
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We live in a good place to hike in the hills, close to the mountains.
    We can exchange about hiking, kinesiology, engineering, organic gardening, breeding sheep, DIY building...

    It's far from town, but there is often someone to go to St Marcellin, or even sometimes Grenoble, and we can drive with you to the mountains for a hike together.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    All year long, we need help with organic gardening: we grow potatoes, zucchinis, carrots, tomatoes, beans, onions, cabbages, leeks, squashes, turnips, radishes, parsnip, ... DIY garden improvements and weeding is often necessary too. Of course, when time is ripe, there is harvesting of vegetables and fruits to do. We try to make preserves when too much food has to be harvested.

    The help in the garden is our main need, it may be tiring and it needs a little motivation to dirty your hands 😀

    We also took back some pieces of land around the house, that were left to turn to brushes, and we have to fence them for the sheep, and clean parts of it. That can be quite physical!

    Other kinds of help needed:

    Help for general maintenance of the house: cleaning, cooking, DIY works like painting shutters, …

    Wood gathering, cutting and moving to its storage for the fireplace.

    And sometimes, babysitting our children when we need to work. Florimond is 8 years old. Loves trains, dinosaurs and dinotrains. Capucine is already walking at full speed and she is willing to talk.
    Some English lessons for Florimond could be part of working time - andanyway we'd always be glad if you tried to speak to both in your mother tongue 😃

    If you have any special skills let us know!

    NB : from mid-spring to end summer, depending on the temperature, we prefer to work outside early in the morning and at the end of the afternoon

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    French: Fluent
    German: Intermediate
    English: Intermediate

    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

    Accommodation

    We live in a big home (on the picture) with 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and dry toilets (only).

    The kitchen and bathrooms, the living room are collective.
    For one who'd want to play music, we have a small electrical keyboard and a guitar.

    We like to cook good and organic food, with a responsible consumption of meat, and scare industrial food. We’re also used to welcome vegetarian people. We take turns in preparing the meals. We eat all together. Food is of course included in your stay, if our "food habits" suit you; alcohol and caviar are not included, but we will be happy to share a beer with you.

    Workawayers are also expected to take part in usual little household chores like cleaning and cooking, like each housemate does. For us it seems natural. If you want to share your own typical dishes, you're greatly welcome. Even if you are not the cook of the day, it's nice to give some help for cooking. We will be happy to learn new recipes!

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    HOW TO COME HERE
    Whilst we are not expecting you to cross oceans on a rawing boat, we'd appreciate if you came to our place from Europ by train, bus or shared car rather than planes. How you travel is part of the journey.

    Please note that we are near Chasselay in the Isère department (zip code 38470), NOT the Chasselay close to Lyon 😃
    Closest train stations are St Marcellin or Vinay.


    WHAT SHOULD YOU BRING?

    Long pants, and long sleeved vest or shirt, that are somewhat resistant, some activities may involves bushes or brambles. So even in summer, it’s good to have one set. Even for carrying wood, it’s more comfortable.
    Good shoes, that have some grip and wouldn’t mind some earth on it. In mid season, and if you have some room in your luggage, Wellington boots may be useful in the garden, yet not mandatory.
    From May to September, a cap or hat may prove really useful, or even necessary.
    A swimsuit if you like to swim, there’s a small lake nearby at 20 minutes walk, and we regularly go to another lake in summer, or in a swimming pool in other seasons.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We have a limited internet bandwidth.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    We have space for a camper van if necessary.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Please tell us if you have pets. Absolute confidence of good behaviour with the animals on the farm - dog, cats, cow, sheep and hens - is required.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 247326418664

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