France
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Hello there !
We are a young couple living in a beautiful place, in the middle of nature, just next to the border between France (Alsace) and Switzerland. We moved here from Paris after a long travel from France to Japan by bike from 2011 to 2013. We changed our way of life from engineer and financial management in Paris to this life "in the middle of nowhere", as people say, and are very happy of that ! One last thing : we now have a baby called Lou ! :)
The goal of our project is to build a peaceful place with sustainable behaviours, good food and peace of mind. The place is jut perfect for that, as you can see on the pictures. Forest is all around, wild animals feel safe here and come very close, and nature grows everywhere.
At the moment, we are running a hotel in the main house, and we use the big barn to make events (music festivals, dance and other workshops, weddings), and we develop the flower farm and vegetable garden with permaculture in mind. There's a wood workshop too in order to build everything we need, with the wood from the forest.
We have connections with some associations around here to make repair cafes, local exchange and other transitional projects, but unfortunately we don't have time to be everywhere !
We can speak French of course, good English, Italian, Russian, and we learn Japanese but aren't able to have a talk with Japanese people yet !
If you have more question, just ask us or come here ! :)
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Anytime you stay with people you learn something ! We did it a lot in our 2 year trip, everyday, with so many different people ! We like to share experience and are looking forward to hear yours !
The place is huge, and we have a lot of projects !
** Who are we looking for ? **
We are relaxed people and hard-worker at the same time, because we consider that our tasks are not really "work", we like to do them.
We would like to host people in this idea : we want people that are really interested in what we're doing here and eager to help in building such a place.
We like pro-active people, who can do stuff around without asking for everything. There's plenty of different tasks that can be done, depending on the weather, state of mind of the day or personal preferences.
We give a lot of liberty for volunteers to have creative ideas and help us find good solutions, we believe it's much better for everyone ! This doesn't mean we won't be with you while working, we just want people to be inventive and help us with their skills, not only with their hands ! We like the idea of self-organization, it can take some time to find a place but then people feel much more comfortable !
[please have a look at our calendar below to see when we host volunteers !]
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ Gardening and construction works *️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
The farm is getting bigger and bigger. We are growing flowers and vegetables. There's a flower farm and a vegetable garden. We try to be self sufficient for us and volunteers with the vegetable garden. There's always work in the fields !
We'll need to build some building for the farm, maybe next year.
** Music festivals **
We had to cancel both of our festivals, maybe next year !
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️Life !*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
And many other things : bees, project to have some chickens (the place is still to build), we want to plant many trees (november and march), grow flowers, build wooden furniture, create new projects, enjoying life, doing aikido in our dojo etc.
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: Intermediate
Japanese: Beginner
Russian: Beginner
We have a dedicated place for volunteers and friends altogether, with kitchen and bathroom. Sometimes we'll eat at our place, sometimes at your place, we'll see !
Winter in Alsace is a very cold : take warm clothes !
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️Our calendar for 2021*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
We can host people from the 22nd of March until the 15th of April.
We'll have some work outside in the flower farm : planting hundreds of perenials, building some 'leaving fences' with Salix, weeding, preparing the beds for the coming direct seedings. And in the greenhouse : finishing the greenhouse and arrange platforms, seeding, taking care dayly of the seedlings, taking pictures and writing articles about the process.
We'll probably do other things like building walls, cuting wood, weeding again.
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️About the place*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
Our place is a very remote one. Don't expect to find any city, any shop or places to visit ! First village (140 people, no shop) is 3km away. First shop is 12km away! Here you can find nature, animals, flowers, open sky. You can hike in the forest, go biking, relax in the old castle from the 12th century 300m away, and so on.
Some people were not looking for that and I think they were a little disappointed so that's why I write it here.
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️How to come*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
Transportation : we are far from everywhere ! Going to our place can be tricky, but it's part why it's so beautiful : by the way it's a great opportunity to meet nice people by hitch hiking !
Coming here by yourself is the first great challenge.
- If you want to come by train you can come to Vendlincourt in Switzerland, 7km from our place.
- If you come from France, you can take a train to Altkirch or Delle and then bus to Ferrette, Oberlarg, or hitch hike from Delle or Saint Louis : just head up to Ferrette then Oberlarg, our village.
Try to come close to our place, then we can pick you up by car !
See you soon !
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
This host can provide space for campervans.
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
More than two
As you want! maximum 25 hours, 5 days a week
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