Join our team, make lasting friendships and experience village life in Montagnieu, France

Details

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  Description

  This place hosts guests for seminars, training and healing. We welcome companies and organisations who strive for increased economic and social solidarity. We also provide a space for personal development training and for artist residencies.
  
  Situated less than an hour from Lyon (FR) and an hour and a half from Geneva (CH), the place upholds humanist values, and individuals are welcome just as they are, ensuring a convivial, productive and reinvigorating professional and/or personal development journey – all in an intimate setting designed around each guest.
  
  Christian and Evelyne will ensure a warm welcome and will be your contact persons throughout your stay.
  
  Christian has a background as an architect and urban planner with a focus on sustainable buildings and facilities with minimal ecological footprints. He is also mid-mountain hiking guide and serves as the manager. He lives at home.
  
  Evelyne is in charge of preparing the venue and the meals. She lives near in the village.
  
  The place is in Montagnieu Village (Ain Department 01). The village is nestled in the foothills of the Bugey, the last massif of the southern Jura Mountains. With breathtaking views of the Chartreuse, Vercors, and Belledonne mountain ranges on one side and the open landscape carved by the Rhône River on the other, guests can watch a falling star disappear behind the horizon after a spectacular sunset.
  
  It can be found in the heart of an AOC vineyard where the vertiginous clay-limestone slopes nurture high quality wines.
  
  First owned by the Counts of Groslée in the 14th century, this place has been owned by your host for over 40 years. The architect-owner began to transform this place in 2016, marrying the old and the modern with noble but raw materials, while ensuring a minimal environmental impact.
  
  To be consistent with the raison d’être of this place, we are legally registered as a Cooperative and Participatory Society (SCOP).

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Sustainability

  

  Culture

  

  Self development

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  Books

  

  Architecture

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Mountain
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Besides the exchanges within the team, particularly during lunches we share, we live in a village where everyone knows each other and where it's easy to make connections. For example, with Christian's brother, a former UN international civil servant, who lives 150 meters away… and also with his children, Andrea, married to Ricardo from Guatemala, and Hugo, who lived in Peru…
  Magnificent hikes allow you to discover the treasures of the Bugey region, including some truly surprising waterfalls. And the Alps are very close.
  
  A water sports center on the Rhône River, a few kilometers away, allows you to practice water sports.
  
  A train station 30 minutes away allows you to reach Lyon in 25 minutes (a UNESCO World Heritage site) or Geneva in 1 hour 30 minutes, for those who would like to discover these major cities.
  
  A music festival, which Christian chairs, is finally offering a good number of concerts in our region.
  
  The place is a welcoming space dedicated to the societal transition our times demand. We are always delighted to welcome people from all walks of life, who enrich it with their experiences. Sharing is the cornerstone of its mission: so welcome to everyone's unique perspectives.

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  Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage

  This host offers accommodation and payment.

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  Help

  We would appreciate help preparing the venue (cleaning, furnishing the 14 bedrooms) and providing meals for our guests (helping with meal preparation, washing up, and serving). Please note that we are not a restaurant, but we only provide meals for participants in the workshops hosted here. We use as many local and organic products as possible.
  
  We offer free accommodation and will pay for hours worked in accordance with Workaway's conditions (max 4/5h/day - 5 days/week) and the legal framework: that of the HCR (Hotel, Cafes, Restaurants) agreement, which provides for a minimum gross hourly hotel wage of €12.02 en 2026.

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  Languages spoken

  French: Fluent
  English: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  We have two bedrooms in the private part of the house, each with a bathroom. The common areas, such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, and laundry room, are accessible. Breakfast and lunch are served in the main building, while dinner is served in the house.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

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