Help us bring an old homestead back to life in a tiny village in north-eastern France

Details

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  Description

  We are David (geographer, 31) & Alina (drafts woman, 34) with four cats and a few chicken.
  A few years back we've bought an old homestead in a tiny village in France. We are now renovating the buildings and bringing live back to the neglected garden. David is working from home and I'm working at a community supported agricultural farm.
  We are both passionated about nature, gardening and traveling. We stayed ourselves at a few workaway hosts all over the globe and love the concept. Our little paradise is located in northeastern France's Lorraine region, sourrounded by the biggest continious forest area of central europe (Les Vogues du nord / Pfälzerwald) with infinit opportunities for hiking, climbing, camping, fishing and swimming. Nearby towns (for shopping, hospital, restaurants, etc.) are about half an hour drive. You would need a car to get around but we can always share a ride or borrow a bike.
  So if you like peacefull, little villages, this is the right spot for you :)

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Here you can learn a lot about history (the main road of our village is around 1900 years old), local foods (we have a very nice traditional restaurant in our village), learn the local dialect (some weird mix of german and french, haha!) and see how people still try to live with and within nature in the 21. century in central europe.
  There are also plenty of natural sides like rock formations, castle ruins and forest lakes around to explore.
  
  Beside all of this we both have traveled a lot and are happy to share experiences and stories around a campfire in our garden.

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  Help

  There's all kind of work on our property :D .. some examples :
  * there's always something to do in the garden (weeding, watering the plants, harvesting, etc.)
  * we're renovating the main building (plastering and painting walls, sanding the floor, etc.)
  * we need to declutter the shed so future animals have a cosy place to stay
  * since we're only heating with wood there's a loooot of wood waiting to be chopped ;D
  
  You see, it TOTALLY depends on the peole who will come to help!
  What kind of help are you willing to offer? Which skills do you have?
  We won't force you to chop wood if you're a garden person ^^
  
  Skills of an electrician, a carpenter or a roofer would be highly appreciated but any kind of help is welcome!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Russian: Intermediate
  Spanish: Beginner
  French: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  We are both speaking german, english, a little bit spanish and french. David's french is way better and he's also speaking the local dialect. I'm also speaking russian and learning indonesian atm.
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  Accommodation

  One room is yours :) But you're also free to put your tent or vehicle somewhere around the poperty.
  Bathroom and kitchen is shared. We provide breakfast and dinner on all working days. Weekends are individual but we mostly like to cook and eat together. Alina is cooking vegetarian most of the time. We cannot provide special diets but if you are alergic to something just let us know.

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  What else ...

  We don't want you to smoke inside the house and hard drugs are NOT welcome.

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  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

  David's working from home too, so this would be perfectly fine. However since we're living pretty rural connection can be poor sometimes.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  A van would fit somewhere and I guess a small motorhome too :)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week