"Old lady house" in the South of France

Details

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  Description

  Hello!
  We; Kerry - Irish and Philippe - French are living in the South of France in a small village. I have been here for 15 years and we mostly speak French at home. I am learning Italian so happy for any Italian workawayers who might want to join us, otherwise English or French or Spanish speakers no problem.
  
  We have just bought "an old lady house" in Servian. We feel she was happy here and we are giving it a new lease of life. We have started work on the garden and are getting some tomatoes and aubergines already and we have set up the jacuzzi and outdoor shower (a hose) so we are ready for the hot weather. There is a comfortable double bedroom available for workawayers.
  
  From the 18th August we will only have the outdoor shower for a little while but before then we still have a working bathroom! We have knocked out the main kitchen upstairs and we have a great terrace and summer kitchen where we prepare all meals, it's mostly plancha bbq in the evenings. There are lots of village festivals and winery dinners and tasting events going on at the moment, it's a great fun time to be here.
  
  There is lots of wallpaper stripping and painting to be done, redecorating furniture, and for anyone with proper building or carpentry skills there are some interesting projects.
  
  I am also setting up a business so could need some help with social media, fine tuning my website, creating ads etc. And also happy to have someone cook lovely meals! Philippe is at work all day and I am busy so we prefer a couple or someone very independent.
  
  Servian is a big village surrounded by vines just outside Pézenas, 15 minutes from Beziers, 20 minutes from the beach. There is a large open air and indoor pool in the village plus a couple of cafés and restaurants. We have some old bikes to use and we have 3 cars / vans so there will be something to use to explore..
  
  We have a dog, Lobo, who loves cuddles, other dogs are welcome
  
  We have had some great experiences with workawayers from US, Canada, Argentina, Ireland, Germany, Denmark and Venezuela and just recently Hungary. We are both well travelled but pretty tied down currently so we love hearing about cultures in other countries and sharing travel stories. We will certainly do workawaying ourselves when we can.
  
  In general we prefer a 2 week workaway to start - though we have ended up getting on very well with some and extending for a month or more. We also expect you to have your own travel and health insurance. There is loads to do in the area if you are outdoorsy so you will have a much better experience with a car, or at least a drivers licence, that way we can possibly lend you a car or you can hire one locally for weekend trips. There are buses to Beziers which has a train station with trains to Montpellier or Barcelona. Or we can drop you to Pezenas which has buses to Montpellier and other places.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We speak both french and english so our home is suitable for anyone wanting to learn either language. This is a typical village in the South of France, it's not a touristy area so it is "real France".

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  Help

  Building and maintenance skills would be great. We are renovating our house. We will have a builder, electrician, tiler and plumber doing the main work but painting and carpentry skills or general handyperson stuff are welcome.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Italian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  We speak French mostly at home but Philippe also speaks very good English so either is fine. I am learning Italian so would love to get to speak Italian. We are happy to speak Spanish as well but the conversation might be slower!
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  Accommodation

  Servian is a 5 bedroom house in total but we will be living in a couple and trying to keep them clean while we renovate the others. You will have your own undecorated bedroom and a shared bathroom.
  
  The village is surrounded by vines so it's great for walking, running and cycling and you are welcome to use our bikes when not in use.

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  What else ...

  This is real french village life, not for anyone looking for bright lights and parties every night! The cycling is fabulous, hiking in the Haut Languedoc National Park nearby, and lovely walks all around the area. We have both worked and travelled abroad a lot so we understand what most people are looking for in a stay such as this.

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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

  Our internet is really fast, no problem for a couple where one needs to work all day and the other helps us out.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There is no specific place for the van if you want to live in it but there is a large car park behind the house where camping cars are regularly parked.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  As long as they get on with our dog no problem, Lobo is not sure about cats so dogs only please unless you want to take the risk!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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