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Min stay requested: at least a week
Details
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Description
Hello :)
We are a three-generation family renovating an century-old farmhouse and several outbuildings in the beautiful countryside of southwest France.
Our family includes: Odette (87), our grandmother ; Anne (60), our mother ; Adélie (37) ; Elise (34)
A few years ago, we bought an old farmstead with the dream of creating a place where our family could live close to one another in the middle of nature.
Our first goal is to renovate the original earth-built farmhouse so that Odette can move back onto the property and enjoy her home surrounded by family. For now, she lives next door with neighbours of her generation. Anne, Adélie and Elise already live on the property in separate accommodations, and over the coming years each of us will gradually renovate our own houses and buildings.
This is a long-term project combining traditional natural building techniques with modern ecological solutions (such as solar-powered wall heating system) and we are excited to share part of the adventure with travellers from around the world. :)
We are located in a peaceful rural area surrounded by organic fields, forests and wildlife. The nearest village with basic shops and services is about 8 minutes away by car.
Nearby you can explore: beautiful forests and walking trails, historic castles, picturesque villages, vineyards and wine estates, lakes and leisure areas for swimming, local markets. The closest towns are Gaillac and Montauban each about 30 minutes away, Toulouse is just under 1 hour by road from our home.
The area is ideal for people who enjoy nature, tranquillity and authentic rural France. -
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Light gardening
Creative DIY projects
Farmstay help
Light maintenance
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Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Pets
Self development
Farming
Music
Languages
Plant care
DIY & crafts
Books
Gardening
Cooking & food
Animals
Dancing
Mountain
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Outdoor activities
Hiking -
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
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Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our project is built around sharing experiences as much as renovating a farmhouse.
Workawayers will spend most of their time working alongside Anne, while Adélie will join 1 or 2 days a week. We usually have lunch together every working day and try to organise a shared outdoor dinner at least once a week. We enjoy chatting, exchanging ideas and getting to know people from different cultures.
If our schedules allow, we also enjoy taking Workawayers to discover nearby villages, local markets, castles or natural sites at weekends. It's a nice opportunity to experience a little of rural French life beyond the farm.
You can learn about traditional earth construction, natural clay plasters, eco-renovation, gardening, permaculture and everyday life in the French countryside. We are not experts, but we enjoy sharing what we are learning ourselves as our project progresses. In return, we love discovering other cultures, hearing about different ways of life, practising languages and learning new ideas and skills from our guests.
We especially enjoy hosting people who are calm, respectful, reliable, independent, open-minded, environmentally conscious and able to work without constant supervision. This project is best suited to people who appreciate peaceful surroundings, meaningful conversations and nature. -
Help
The work we need your help with is not technically difficult so no previous experience is required.
Until the end of August, the main task is helping prepare earth for traditional natural plaster work. This mostly involves sieving soil in a shaded area and preparing materials for future earth plasters. Other occasional tasks may include: watering plants, light gardening, light brush clearing, simple help around the farm.
After August, volunteers may also have opportunities to discover: natural earth plasters, ecological insulation using wood fibre, flooring installation + various farmhouse renovation projects.
What matters most to us is: good humour, motivation, reliability and willingness to participate. -
Languages
Languages spoken
French: Fluent
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Beginner
Italian: Beginner
Japanese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
Most volunteers will work primarily with Anne who understands English better than she speaks it and who will appreciate if you know some French. Otherwise, Adélie works remotely and is bilingual in English/French, so there is always someone available to help with communication and translations when needed. -
Accommodation
You will have your own private space inside one of our barns.
The accommodation includes: a private living area with armchairs and coffee table, sink, gas cooking stove, mini fridge, storage wardrobe, Wi-Fi access and compost toilet. Sleeping accommodation is provided in a large tent structure built on a wooden platform. The tent contains: one 140 cm double bed and storage space for personal belongings. Showers are available in Anne's house.
Please note that the accommodation is best suited to: solo travellers, couples, two friends comfortable sharing a double bed.
We work about 5 hours per day from Monday to Friday, allowing everyone to enjoy full weekends off.
Lunch is usually eaten together. For evenings and weekends, we provide food so that guests can cook independently in their own space. Fresh eggs from our chickens are provided regularly, along with vegetables from the garden when available. We also try to organise at least one shared outdoor dinner each week whenever schedules and weather allow.
Most of our family follows a largely vegetarian lifestyle, as a result, lunches are mostly vegetarian, groceries provided are vegetarian and vegan diets can easily be accommodated. This said, during shared dinners, we still make sure that meat-eaters are not forgotten. -
What else ...
Cultural exchange played an important role in Adélie's life. Starting in 2009, she travelled extensively through New Zealand, Australia and Canada thanks to a network similar to Workaway and experienced some truly memorable exchanges. Those experiences left a lasting impression.
Today we are very happy to finally have the opportunity to welcome travellers ourselves and hopefully offer the same kind of meaningful experience that this type of network once offered one of us.
If you enjoy sitting outside after sunset, listening to the countryside and watching the stars, you will probably feel at home here.
We look forward to meeting people from different backgrounds and sharing a small part of our family's adventure. :) -
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
We have fiber optic internet but won't be able to provide an official dedicated area for you to work from. We can provide a desk in the outbuilding where the wi-fi box lives but it's not fancy as the room needs to be fully renovated .
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Space for parking camper vans
There is ample parking but it will be in the sun.
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How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
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My animals / pets
Hector & Lily
Abica, Osiris & Élixir
Loca
Pam
Lyra
Édil
Mystic
Diane
Charlie
Petite Minette
Pépite
Onyx
Photos
