Join us in the outdoors in the south French countryside and stay in a lovely cottage in Gaujac, France

Details

• 

  Description

  We're a dutch couple (75 & 59) living in the Gers, a beautiful area of France, since 2001. We own a property of 1,5 ha with an organic vegetable garden and fruit trees, a big farmhouse and a cottage.
  We have 4 horses/ponies, a dog, 2 cats and chickens. Our animals are all considered family members. The 3 Icelandic horses and the shetland pony are very calm and love to be taken out for walks in the beautiful surroundings. Two of the icelandics are ridden.
  We live in the farmhouse, and the cottage is mainly used by friends and family. In the summer it is rented as a holiday home, but in spring and autumn it is available for workawayers.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House sitting
• 

  Interests

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Events & social

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Languages

  

  Plant care

  

  Books

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Gardening

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  - We consider workawayers as a temporary part of the family, so you are also involved in our social life. Our friends are openminded and multinational: French, British, German, Dutch, Belgian, South African.... and most of them speak several languages.
  - In our organic vegetable garden, I (Nynke) work as much as possible with the moon calendar. I can teach you a bit about it. I'm also very interested in astrology and Human Design, so I'm happy to share my knowledge, even if it's basic for the moment.
  - Although we're dutch, we are quite well integrated in the community of Gaujac, a tiny and hospitable village in the south west of France. As members of the local party committee we're involved in organizing fairs, feasts and other events, and workawayers can also join in if desired.
  - In the morning I usually do a half an hour yoga session, on the lawn if the weather is nice. You are very welcome to join me.
  - Our 4 horses/ponies play a big role in my life. We can learn a lot about ourselves from the way horses respond to us. I am happy to share their benefits with you in the everyday contact, by going out walking with the horses in our spare time. I'd also like to do some horse riding with a partner. We live in a beautiful hilly area and it would be nice to be accompanied by an experienced rider on my Icelandic horses. Although they're small, they are strong horses, however the rider shouldn't weigh more than 75 kg.
  - This is a quiet region where there is fortunately no mass tourism. You can still find many authentic villages around here as well as enjoying wonderful views over the foothills of the Pyrenees. For those who enjoy tranquility and space, nature and hiking as well as visiting authentic villages, markets, festivals or local museums, you will find this a charming and unique place to visit. The locals are very friendly!

• 

  Help

  The help will mainly consist in gardening and outdoor tasks, some animal care and house tasks in our private home. In the springtime that is: starting up the vegetable garden, pruning trees and hedges, splitting and stacking log wood, some help with cleaning and re-organizing in our private home.
  
  The help we are requesting is only around our private home / garden, and not in spaces for paying guests.
  
  In general we do tasks together, but if everyone agrees, it can happen that you do tasks independently. The hours (start time) are determined in consultation. We ask you to help us 4 hours a day or otherwise but approx. 20 hours/week/person.

• 

  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent

  This 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

  We'd love to host a couple or a pair of friends in the well-equipped and spacious cottage .
  There are two bedrooms with each two beds or one double bed, two bathrooms and two sitting rooms. So we can even host two people who don't know each other yet, the cottage offers sufficient privacy!
  You take care of your breakfast and dinner yourselves and we get together for the hot lunch (mostly at 1 PM), and throughout the day for a coffee, tea and a beer. When we're having friends over for dinner, we'll have drinks and dinner together of course.
  
  If you want us to provide the errands for your other meals (other than the main hot meal we share) we can, but then it seems fair to us that you help 5 hours a day instead of 4.

• 

  What else ...

  We can fetch you at the airport (Toulouse Blagnac) or at a local bus or train station.
  But if you want to do some local sight seeing in this area, you really need a car!

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  We have a good wifi connection.

• 

  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a huge open barn under which you can park your vehicle. There's electricity, a dining area and the cottage adjacent, where you can use the kitchen and sanitary.

• 

  Can possibly accept pets

  Your dog might have a great time here, and he's very welcome to stay. But only if he doesn't chase our cats and free range chickens! Our own dog (female) is very easygoing with other dogs.

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

• 

  My animals / pets

  

  The chicken gang (5 years)

  Rooster, hens, chicks in all ages... We're having 14 all together and they provide us with delicious and healthy eggs. They sleep in the hen house but during the day they can roam freely.

  

  Tildra, Lif, Skumi and Caramel (33 years)

  Three Icelandic horses and one shetland poney. The old mare Tildra (1992) came with us from Holland in 2001 and gave birth to her foal Líf in 2009. This mare had a foal in 2017 that we called Skúmi. And we bought little Caramel as a play mate for Skúmi in 2021.

  

  Roetsj and Dushi (12 years)

  A male and a female cat, both arrived as stray cats some 12 years ago. Both neutered and very sweet, but a bit suspicious so they don't show themselves to strangers easily.

  

  Loupa (7 years)

  The loveliest german shepard in the world. Too small for the breed (officially) but she has a huge heart for all living beings. Adults, children, other dogs, cats, free range chickens, ... she's very kind to all. Except for our Icelandic mare Líf: they really don't like each other. ;-)

Website Safety

Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host

Feedback (4)