Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
27 Apr 2025
Feedback
8
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
We are an English retired couple with a modern country property in 2.5 hectares, at the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees, in a quiet and spectacular location near Prades and Mt Canigou, .
We have owned the property for 30 years. As it is in an area with very low rainfall we use our piped irrigation extensively between April and October, supplied from the Canal de Bohère feeder system.
We have a large family in UK.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Olive and chilli husbandry. Exchange of cooking skills. Language practice.
Help
Olive orchards and a chilli pepper nursery, grown using organic methods. Our olive harvest is picked by hand from our 100 mature trees, from ground level and the higher branches from A-ladders.
Help us outside: watering, weeding, pruning olive trees, filling bottle traps against olive fly. Tilling, picking and pruning. Ditch clearing. Monitoring our extensive piped watering system. Olive harvest is in Oct/Nov.
Some light building. Painting.
Swimming pool maintenance. Perhaps containing the local over-attentive wild sanglier (boar) tribe who like to come and dig when the soil is wet!
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
German: Intermediate
Spanish: IntermediateThis 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
Compact guest studio with its own kitchen (induction hob, fridge and freezer) double-bed and shower room, and with underfloor heating. Fibre internet. South-east facing it has its own entrance and small terrace..
We also have a double room with its own outside entrance, bathroom etc but no kitchen facilities.
While the studio can be self-contained, we normally all eat together at a long table on our large terrace unless the weather is dire.
What else ...
The quiet small town of Prades is 2.5kms. Our nearest bus stop (and supermarket) are 2kms - a half-hour walk, Prades old town centre has several shops, restaurants and cafes (3kms) and 3 supermarkets near the bypass. Street markets in Prades on Tuesday (general large) and Saturday (local produce).
Local attractions include beautiful slopes of Mt Canigou (2784m) which our guests find wonderful for hill-walking and running! Villefranche-le-Conflent (historic Vauban-walled town with artisan shops), , Eus (village reputed to have the most sun in France). The Cerdagne plateau & ski area (via bus or scenic Yellow Train ride from Villefranche near Prades). Our 12m long pool with solar heating in the summer. Two mountain bikes.
To Prades from Perpignan there are frequent (1 euro) buses
liO Ligne 520 : (but TER train line is closed just now), both depart from Perpignan TGV station (c.1 hour) . Ryanair come to Carcassonne, Bezier and Barcelona year round, with many Perpignan and Girona flights in summer.
Perpignan has many Flixbus, Blablabus and Oui buses including from Barcelona and Flixbus from Girona Airport.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Fibre - at a reasonable speed
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Feedback (8)
They were really very kind and good to me, made me feel very comfortable and I learned a lot from the daily tasks on the property.
A special mention for the lunches and dinners that we all shared… read more
The work was mainly tasks in and around the house - as it is… read more
Candy is a fantastic cook, and all her meals were such a treat. I was always left feeling full and comfortable after every dinner - "soporfic" as they love to say! James has a great sense of humour that never failed to make me laugh, and is… read more
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.3)
Communication:
(5.0)
They were really very kind and good to me, made me feel very comfortable and I learned a lot from the daily tasks on the property.
A special mention for the lunches and dinners that we all shared… read more
The work was mainly tasks in and around the house - as it is… read more
Candy is a fantastic cook, and all her meals were such a treat. I was always left feeling full and comfortable after every dinner - "soporfic" as they love to say! James has a great sense of humour that never failed to make me laugh, and is… read more
The work was very varied, and never very difficult. It was very satisfying to be able to help Candy around the garden and house, every day was different. In particular we really enjoyed learning to prune the olive trees and strim the… read more
They live in a beautiful area with superb views of Mount Canigou.
My work was interesting and varied and i was happy to have helped them.
Great hosts and kind people
* There are many projects going on in and around the house. Most tasks are not very hard or physically tiring, and there's plenty of work, which allows you to vary between tasks. We would have loved to do some construction work in the studio,… read more
