Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
14 Apr 2025
Reply rate
86.4 %
Usually responds within 19 days
Feedback
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Badges (3)
Details
Description
Help on small farm with camping in Aveyron, South France
We are six at our little hamlet: Jean-Marie (41) and Jule (38) with our little girls Lila (7) and Marilène (5) and the parents(in-law) Michel and Yvonne who bought the ruins in the 80s and reconstructed everything to the beautiful place it now is. They moved here from the Netherlands back then, and the main language spoken here is Dutch. We also speak English and French. Some of us also Spanish and German. Jean-Marie and me really enjoy playing guitar and singing together, watching movies, playing board games and experimenting in the kitchen. Jean-Marie is really into mushrooms and fishing. Jule is into yoga and plant medicine. We try to practice positive parenting with our children.
Our place consists of two family houses, four gîtes (holiday houses), a chicken house, a sheep barn and 11 hectares of forest and meadows with fourteen camp sites. We keep bees for honey, and we have a big vegetable garden and several fruit trees around the house. On walking distance, there is a creek flowing through our valley.
Our activities differ per season. In autumn, we are harvesting and conserving our earnings, and we go searching for walnuts and chestnuts in the woods. Winter time is cozy here, but there is always stuff to do like nut cracking, repairing, construction, wood chopping etc. Days are short, so we try to make them count. In January, our sheep deliver the lams, so they need extra care. Spring time is when we start the veggie garden up, that takes a lot of time. In summer, the garden needs a lot of attention, but there is always other stuff to do. Daily chores include taking care of the animals and of course the general housework.
Overall our main aim is working with our natural environment and entertaining and feeding our guests with leaving a relatively small ecological footprint!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
The South-Aveyron is little known by tourists, that makes this area very interesting , rural life is not spoiled by mass tourism at all! We will show you how we live in and with nature and how we aim to be as self-sufficient as possible. Depending on how long and in what time of year you work with us, we can teach you how to bake your own bread, conserve vegetables in many different ways, how to hold chicken and sheep, how easy it really is to have your own vegetal garden, etc. Moreover, the landscape here is stunning and it's so quite in the surrounding you really collect yourself here.
Help
For this spring, we are looking for help in the garden.
In between, there are always small tasks around the farm to do (mowing, painting, maintenance and renovation). The weather also decides what we do, on rainy days we have some indoor work too.
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Accommodation
Most of the time, you can stay in one of the gîtes with your own kitchen and bathroom. We will provide your food and basic necessities so you can take care of your self. We really enjoy sharing some meals together, but not all the time.
In summer you stay in a tent (which we can provide if you need).
What else ...
The closest public transport is the train station of Albi-Ville, which is an hour away. We can pick you up there. Bus stops are also in Albi, Requista, Saint-Sernin, Alban or Saint-Affrique.
Winter is a very calm period of the year, there is not a lot to do around here besides hiking. It would be good if you had an activity planned for your free hours here (writing, painting or learn how to play the ukulele for example). Bring your bike if you are a staunch cyclist!
In summer, there are village festivals and flea markets all the time and you can go fishing and swimming in the close by river Tarn, that's also what we like to do!
There are some beautiful villages around and Albi is on the list of World Heritage and definitely worth a visit.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
Camper vans up to 5/6 meters can stay on our camping. Larger than that will be difficult to go up the hill to the camper.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (11)
The work was varied and suited us well. We did things we liked, mostly outside.
We… read more
Photos
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(4.9)
The work was varied and suited us well. We did things we liked, mostly outside.
We… read more
the property. I stayed with this family for 3,5 weeks in october 22, and there was a lot of tasks to do for example harvest nuts in the forrest, clean up the miellerie (honey room), prepare the garden for winter and much more. There are… read more
They are very eager to learn and carried out their tasks with great detail and care. When they were done, they were even still motivated to do more than we initially agreed to.
Personally we had a nice click too They are both very open minded, friendly and just fun to be around. We all had nice… read more
We enjoyed the work a lot, which was mostly removing bad weeds… read more
From those looking for practical info- we worked… read more
