Various help near Carcassonne in the beautiful SW of France

France

Favourited 536 times

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Feedback
38
Last activity
06/11/2019
Reply rate
97.0 %
Average reply time:
within 1 day
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2019

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Description
From September, we need help in the garden, gite changeovers, building a small pool house and covered terrace, pointing walls... We do not expect you to be skilled workers but you need to be strong, a handy person and willing to learn.

16 years ago, we moved from busy Greater London to the south west of France leaving behind our well paid office jobs for a complete change of life style in the French country side near Carcassonne. From our former lives, David has taken his skills in Electronics to become a builder, working mainly on renovation projects, and Ariane has taken her skills in Marketing to run our 4 holiday homes and there is Charlotte our daughter. We also have a dog, 2 cats and a horse.

We are a multinational couple, David is English and Ariane is German so lots of languages are spoken in our house. In our leisure time David loves making music, painting and improving our properties, Ariane is a keen rider, Charlotte is only occasionally with us anymore since she left to live in Munich. We are easy going, very flexible, like cooking and sitting round the fire place in the winter and in summer on our roof terrace enjoying a glass of wine.

In the winter we live on Domaine du Moulin, our property with extensive grounds of great natural beauty. Accommodation would be in one of our holiday homes, when available, or in our house (maison cypres on the website) and we have a heated pool (April to October).

From end of April to the end of September we live on our now very comfortable building site in Magrie, a charming village nearer Limoux.

No fussy eaters please!
Type of help
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Help in the house
Language practice
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Should you have no car, we take you to some of the tourist attractions in the area for example the fortress of Carcassonne, Limoux, Rennes-le-Chateau, the enchanted garden in Alet-les-Bains...
Help
At the moment, we need help in the garden, gite changeovers, repairing a terrace.... We also want to finish our pool in Magrie, point walls, work on our second bathroom.... We do not expect you to be skilled workers but you need to be strong, a handy person and willing to learn.
Languages spoken
English, German, French
Accommodation
Accommodation will be in our holiday homes depending on availability or in the guest room in our house.
What else ...
Since we live in the country side a car is needed if you want some independence.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
5 hours per day, Monday to Friday

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Feedback left by and about host (38)

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:
(5.0)

Communication:
(5.0)

31/10/2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Gavin & Wendy)

As the previous hosts we enjoyed having the Gavin and Wendy team. They are easy going, hard working AND good cooks. We also loved Milly a lot.
Without them our pool shed, concrete terrace and pointed garden walls would not have been achieved. Wendy is also good at gite change overs and there was a day of gardening with mowing the grass, cutting… read more

(Excellent )

15/06/2019

Left by Workawayer (Harrison) for host

I miss you already!!!
My time with Ariane and David was “marvelous”! The work was very interesting and different every day, I learned a lot about gardening, renovation and painting (although my painting skills still need a lot of work!).

Ariane and David (and eventually Charlotte) were an incredibly welcoming family and due to their kindness and… read more

(Excellent )

16/05/2019

Left by Workawayer (Annoa & Gael) for host

Wouaw, it was our first experience and only 3 days but Ariane and David are very nice... Ariane cooked the best tiramisu and David is an Indian chief with his best curry.
Do not hesitate to visit them
Annoa and Gaël

(Excellent )

14/05/2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Annoa & Gael)

We had only 3 days together but it was really great to have them...worked well, cooked, lots of fun in the evenings with caipirinha, tiramisu,...

(Excellent )

03/04/2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Megan)

Megan is a novice to any practical task such as cleaning, vacuuming, cooking etc even listening

(Negative )

17/03/2019

Left by Workawayer (Andrey) for host

First of all, let me say that with Ariane and David I achieved my goal for a journey - I've got lots of English language verbal practice during the stay with them. That wasn't only polite short talks (as usual) but pretty serious hours of conversations on different topics.

More than that, David and Ariane bothered with corrections of my spoken… read more

(Excellent )

23/02/2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Andrey)

Wow, what shall I say! Andy was the brightest, most skilful and funniest workawayer we ever had. Actually I lack words to describe our short week with him. His "hobby" building is very professional and propelled the construction of our pool house forward. He cooked a very nice Russian soup and entertained us every day with the most amazing stories… read more

(Excellent )

04/03/2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Terra)

Terra is a strong and easy-going girl. She helped us gardening, gite change overs and progress our solar shed. I was amazed how incredibly fast she learned how to render. She also cooked us some very tasty Canadian dishes. We wish her lots of fun and luck for her further travels especially the Moroccan part.

(Excellent )

25/11/2018

Left by Workawayer (Artur) for host

I had really good time with Ariane, David and Charolotte. The food was tasty and the hosting conditions lovely. We had nice talks at the dinner. Ariane gives me tasks, which complies with my interests ad she always carry that I don't work longer as 5 hours. I wish this family all the best.

(Excellent )

24/11/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Artur)

Artur always strives for perfection! Our kitchen was never tidier and he loves cutting wood with the chainsaw. He made a new wood store and cut all the wooden bits and pieces that had piled up over some years. All the chaws we asked him to do were accomplished. He also happily worked on his own and has a great German sense of humour. We wish him… read more

(Excellent )

14/10/2018

Left by Workawayer (Aidan) for host

Thank you David and Ariane! My first workaway was a great success because of their welcoming and accommodating household! The work was pleasant and I enjoyed being part of the home for my two weeks, thank you! -mr awesome:joy::wink:

(Excellent )

14/10/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Aidan)

Aidan is a very pleasant and versatile young man. He helped us with gardening, gite changeovers, digging up earth, painting and generally around the house. We wish him many adventures before his return to the US.

(Excellent )

14/10/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Jessica)

Jessica is a very nice girl. Without her patience, I would have never finished adjusting all these curtains and she is a very good cook. We wish her all the best for her further workaway experiences.

(Excellent )

31/07/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Alex)

Alex stayed with us for 2 weeks and helped with many different things such as gite change overs, painting, digging a trench... We especially lifted a lot of earth out of the garden to prepare for the concreting a terrace. He was very strong and helpful.

(Excellent )

22/04/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (lautaro & Germán )

German and Lautaro are such nice young men, equipped with a great sense of humour and so polite. They worked very hard and did an excellent job of everything we asked them to do. They are fab renderers!!! They also painted a lot, helped with gite changeovers, helped weeding and general tidying up. Thanks to them we made a lot of progress with our… read more

(Excellent )

05/02/2018

Left by Workawayer (Anthony) for host

Ariane and David made me feel extremely welcome in their home during the time I spent with them. It was great to be able to assist with many of the projects that they are currently working on, I really enjoyed learning new skills along the way and the wide variety of work that we were undertaking - no two days were the same and it definitely made… read more

(Excellent )

03/02/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Anthony)

Antony is such a skillful, motivated and positive person. It was a great pleasure to have him here. He helped us progress several of our projects: logging 2 big trees with the chain saw, painting, concreting a terrace and much more. He is always proactive, lively and equipped with a very good sense of humour. We wish him many pleasurable… read more

(Excellent )

19/01/2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Don)

Please see our feedback policy for more info about why this review is not displayed

(Negative )

14/01/2018

Left by Workawayer (Fernando & Catarina) for host

Oh well! What to say about this workaway! =D
This workaway was really cool! Since we do not have much experience in workaway (they were our second host), we didn't know what to expect hahaha! And we can say it was really a new experience!
We didn't have previous experience with DIY, but Ariane and David received us with open arms and disposed to… read more

(Excellent )

23/12/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Fernando & Catarina)

Katharina and Fernando are two very easy going people. They fitted well into our family and were very motivated and helpful. We also loved their Stroganoff Brasilian style. We wish them best of luck and happy adventure for the rest of their travels through Europe.

(Excellent )

11/10/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Diana)

Diana is a very thorough lady. She house sitted for us and accomplished all the tasks we had asked for. I have never seen a better stacked wood pile. She rode my horse better than I do and even went jogging with him and our dog. We wish her all the best for her futur workaway adventures.

(Excellent )

10/10/2017

Left by Workawayer (Diana) for host

I've been at Ariane's and David's place for 10 days and learned some new skills, like cutting back roses, piling up wood and cooking Indian food. Both are very welcoming and caring. I went to the beach with their white, fluffy dog Max, who is a very funny and happy dog. He can't stop playing ball. Many thanks for the opportunity to stay with you… read more

(Excellent )

01/07/2017

Left by Workawayer (Bradley & Claire) for host

We worked with David and Ariane for about 10 days and had a great time. The work was not too intense, lots of painting, gardening, and cleaning gites. During our down time Ariane took us around to the surrounding towns, and historical sites. We even got to join a small wine festival in the neighboring town. Magrie, is a small town with no night… read more

(Excellent )

24/06/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Bradley & Claire)

Claire and Brad stayed with us for 11 days and made into our sparsely populated hall of fame for workawayers!
They are a very pleasant, easy going couple, always willing to help, very thorough and interesting to talk to.
We wish them lots of fun for their remaining time travelling round Europe.

(Excellent )

19/03/2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Johannes )

Johannes stayed with us for 2 weeks helping in the garden and our big renovation project. He is a calm person and was very thoughtful with all the jobs we gave him to do. Thanks to him I even made it up our landmark mountain for the first time!
We wish him all the best for his further workaway stays and that the authorities let him study to become… read more

(Excellent )

01/09/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Mike & Katie)

Katie and Mike, thank you so much for your help in the August heat. You have the right work away spirit! Thanks to your help our project progressed further. Also we laughed a lot together at home and on the square in Limoux. We wish you lots of fun and adventure for your further travels.

(Excellent )

28/04/2016

Left by Workawayer (Mitchell) for host

Sorry it's taken me a week to get myself sorted but it wouldn't matter if I had to write this in a month it would still be the same.
Ariane, David, and Charlotte plus the pets were all very inviting and friendly. They made me feel comfortable straight away and were always asking what I wanted to do out of the options given.
Although it took a… read more

(Excellent )

20/04/2016

Left by host for Workawayer (Mitchell)

Wow weren't we lucky! Thanks to Mitchell we progressed so much with our building project. He works so fast and concentrated, and delivers a super job. He also is a very pleasant person, has a good sense of humour and was always very helpful with whatever needed doing.
We wish him all the best for the rest of his time in London and an adventurous… read more

(Excellent )

17/09/2015

Left by Workawayer (John) for host

I spent just under 2 weeks at the Duncan's and had a wonderful time. They were so welcoming and really looked after me well. They live in a very beautiful part of France! I really enjoyed the hard work and helping their building progress. I had fun walking max (the dog) and taking him to play with his ball.
Thank you very much for having me and… read more

(Excellent )

03/08/2015

Left by host for Workawayer (Stefania)

Stefania is the nicest person one can wish for. She is hard working, very flexible and cooked us some very tasty Italian meals. We also laughed a lot together and would have loved her to stay longer with us.
We wish her best of luck for her further studies.

(Excellent )

02/08/2015

Left by Workawayer (Stefania) for host

I spent just a week with Ariane, David, Charlotte, Max and Kevin but it was a very nice stay! They are very kind and it was a pleasure to help with renovation, cooking and so on. I could speak German with Ariane and Charlotte, English with David...really cool! My God, the landscape all around...it is simply fantastic, with a lot to visit and… read more

(Excellent )

30/04/2015

Left by host for Workawayer (Benjamin. )

Info notice: Workawayer cancelled stay or there was a no show at the last minute

(No show)

10/08/2014

Left by Workawayer (Ellen) for host

I had a great week with Ariane, David and Charlotte. They were perfect hosts and made me feel so welcome. It was a privelege to be a part of the rennovation project and I'm looking forward to seeing pictures on completion!! Hope to see you again one day! Ellen :)

(Excellent )

28/07/2014

Left by Workawayer (Anna & Daniela) for host

I have to thank Ariane and David as well for their warmly hospitality. They treated me like their own doughter and it was funny and nice to work with them. Although the work was unusual for me, I made some special experiance which are helpful for my life. The first workaway impression was awesome and I only can recommend this place to anybody.

(Excellent )

24/07/2014

Left by host for Workawayer (Anna & Daniela)

Anna is the nicest girl one can think of. Without any complaint she suffered with us through our monster move to another house and then lived there with us through some quite improvised days until things got better. She worked long hours, was very efficient and when my brain stopped working, she came up with the best of ideas and never lost her… read more

(Excellent )

01/07/2014

Left by Workawayer (Stacey & Floris) for host

Ariane, David and Charlotte were great! We felt very welcome, enjoyed the building work for the gites and learned lots of new skills! We had fun during our freetime and got lots of tips to do around the area!
Thanks for everything! It was a great experience!

(Excellent )

01/07/2014

Left by host for Workawayer (Stacey & Floris)

Stacey & Floris were just the best possible workawayers one can wish for. They were extremely motivated, versatile, proactive, intelligent , very strong and made our project their own. They also helped around the house, cooked for us and we had a lot of fun together! They became part of the family!
We wish them all the best for their future and… read more

(Excellent )

01/01/2012

Left by host for Workawayer (Helen & Mark)

(Neutral )

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Host ref number: 633392385513

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