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Host rating
85 %
Last replied
15 Feb 2024
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Description
Hi !
We welcome workawayers twice per year:
In March/April to help our with the olive tree trimming.
Please get in touch if you're interested in using a secateur/pruning shears (manual or electric), in Aix en Provence, as well as gathering the branches, piling and probably even burning them ! What fun !
In September/October/November it's time to clean up the grounds, a lot of raking to do, then attack the olive recolt.
There are always miscellaneous tasks to do, triming, cutting, raking, piling wood, painting, etc.
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Hi, I'm a Canadian, from Vancouver, living in Aix en Provence for the last 30 years. We have a large property with olive trees and always need assistance with that ! You'll have your own private bedroom and will share the shower room/wc with another workawayer.
We welcome workawayers/woofers to help with the tree maintenance in the month of March; trimming/recolting/fertilizing, digging out wild baby olive trees and replanting them, etc. Retrieving wood from the forest, chopping, piling, is an all-year affair.
We'd like to fix up the caravane so that we may welcome a woofer or workawayer in it.
We've build a chicken house and are looking forward to its occupants !
Inside the house you'll find our two daughters, 23 years old, in need of help with Italian; we can offer French and English in exchange.
We offer 3 simple meals per day (breakfast consists of bread or toasts, jam/butter/cheese/fruit/yogurt, coffee, tea), lunch could be sandwiches, pasta, while the main meal in the evening is shared with the family and could be just about anything.
We cannot offer you items which we do not consume ourselves, bacon & eggs for breakfast, caviar for lunch, steak and shrimp for dinner, soy milk, bio chocolate, beer, snacks, chips, etc .....these things you can purchase at the nearby grocery store.
We are a carnivores but eat a varied diet. I buy organic when I can, but not always. Vegetarians and vegans are welcome; If you have other special dietary needs we will do our best to accommodate you.
We welcome woofers/workawayers four/five months out of the year (March/April, Sept, Oct, Nov).
The help you offer of 5 hours per day is very much appreciated.
It's a shame when time is wasted on continuous cigarette breaks, looking at the phone, returning to the house for forgotten items.....gloves, water, hat, sunglasses.....;)
The tasks principally deal with maintaining the olive trees; trimming in March and recolting the olives in October/November, five hours per day, five days per week; if unable to live up to your end of the bargain please search for another host.
All of our guests have taken advantage of our proximity to the centre of Aix (by bus 15 minutes max), and to Marseille (30 minutes extra), as well as the beautiful weather enjoyed here in the south of France.
We have a larger property in Nyons in the Drôme where you'd be welcome as well; the Domaine de Chausan is the large red building in the photos.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We live in a rural environment but we're only a short drive (5 minutes) from the centre of Aix where you can enjoy the city life, attend exhibitions, visit museums, colorful markets, etc. Working with olive trees will bring you knowledge of this particular type of agriculture. We have bee hives on our property, owned by a local bee keeper; if you're interested in that we can get ask David to tell you all about his job (he keeps his bees on our land in exchange for a few jars of honey per year).Our family is bilingual English/French and happy to communicate in either language. I teach English in Aix to children and adults. We have a 4 year-old dog of mixed race, and two 4-month old kittens.
Help
Outside help would be maintaining the olive trees, trimming, watering, weeding; cutting grass, tidying up, digging, raking and filling up the holes the dogs or wild boars have made !
Hopefully by the time you read this we will have started our chicken house......
Inside help would be assistance house cleaning, painting if we get around to it !
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
My husband Benoit speaks Italian very well, along with some Provençale. He is a history fanatic, can spend the night in discussion. The girls are perfectly bilingual English/French; while my mother tongue is English, my French is very good.
Accommodation
We live on the ground floor of a large house. The upstairs is completely independant with kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. Usually two of these bedrooms are rented by students, who consider this their home.
There are two bedrooms for workawayers. You are considered invited guests and are expected to follow the rules of the house (don't touch things that don't belong to you, clean up after yourself).
All of your meals (which we provide), are had upstairs in the kitchen or on the terrasse with your partner workawayer, except for the evening meal during the week when we sit down all together.
We have discovered that most guests go exploring during the weekend and meal provision is sometimes unnecessary; we play that by ear.
What else ...
The bus passes in front of the house; you'll be in Aix en Provence in 15 minutes; from there the world is your oyster, going to Marseille, côte d'azur......
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have no problems with internet/fibre !
Space for parking camper vans
We have plenty of room for any size camper.
Can possibly accept pets
No problem with well-behaved pets. We have a dog ourselves.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (1)
But two weeks before her arrival date, after months of communication, she suddenly disappeared.
Well not really, as she is still active on the site, so we know she's okay......
But she has not answered our notes, not given us any explanation for her actions. She's… read more
I have to smile thinking about our time together:)
Lynn really cared for me when I was ready to miss the last bus and she always mentioned that it… read more
Feedback
But two weeks before her arrival date, after months of communication, she suddenly disappeared.
Well not really, as she is still active on the site, so we know she's okay......
But she has not answered our notes, not given us any explanation for her actions. She's… read more
I have to smile thinking about our time together:)
Lynn really cared for me when I was ready to miss the last bus and she always mentioned that it… read more
He assisted us both with the manual work required, which entailed picking olives, and his preferred activities dealing with his varied fields of expertise. From drilling in holes for putting up shelves/a door lock/solar light, to more sophisticated tasks such… read more
