Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
4 Mar 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
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Details
Description
We are Carole & Julien and we started a new project : restore and preserve a piece of land in the Pyrénées.
1 hectare with a meadow and woods near by the biggest national park of the Pyrénées.
The main project is an old barn (our future home) who needs to be renovated from scratch.
In addition, we have multiple besides project: mainly to create a beautiful environment, convenient facilities and sustainable water and electric systems.
Our will is to use as much as we can, natural materials to respect environment and heritage.
We have also a vegetable garden and chickens (when the fox and the marten are not around).
About us : before this project, we travelled for almost 2 years through the Americas, in a van.
Noisia, our dog, is always with us, in all our adventures. She is the definition of LOVE.
We are old-timer lovers; VW and motorbikes are part of our life (and beers).
You will have the best view on the Pic de Pibeste with the singing birds, a sweet atmosphere and maybe the smell of the French cheese (we are cheesy food addicts).
If you don't mind to get your hands dirty, we hope to meet you soon... and don't forget "in between your goals, remember that there's a precious thing called life that has to be enjoyed".
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We would be happy to share our experience with the old technics we want to use around this big project and the self-sufficiency.
Also if you are curious to know about our experience on building a van (we did 2) and how it is to travel and live this way, we would be happy to talk about it around the campfire.
Carole is a French teacher for foreigners and she can provide you French lessons around the BBQ. Julien is passionate by mechanics and he would be happy to share some grease and oil.
We are also food lovers and we would love to cook and eat together to experience each others food cultures.
Help
Ideally, we are looking for 2 independent people. The things we most likely need help with are:
- Chopping wood and storage
- Maintaining our little forest clean
- Improving our water system
- Creating a vermi-composting system
- Covering and insulating our water tanks
- Building a wooden fence
- Building a gate for our main entrance
- Building a roof (old carpentry approach)
- Some painting tasks
- Creating a "pétanque strip"
- Creating "wooden garden furniture"
- Cleaning the chicken coop (once a week)
- Taking care of the vegetable garden (planting, watering, weeding, mowing, etc.) - when it's the season
We would also really appreciate if you can help with some general maintenance.
The project is progressing everyday so new requests can come out.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
Carole is a French teacher for foreigners and she can provide you French lessons around the BBQ.
Accommodation
We make our first choice on people travelling with their van, of course our meadow is big enough.
If you feel like sleeping under the stars, we provide 2 tents and 2 mattresses on a flat spot shaded by trees.
Because we don't have so much facilities, we need independent people (we don't have an outdoor kitchen yet).
There is an outdoor shower - mainly cold water - hot water when days are hot (made by volunteers).
We have composting toilet made for volunteers.
About electricity, we have solar panels (enough power to charge anything as phone, laptop, batteries, toothbrush, epilator...etc.).
We use filtered rainwater for the dishes, showers, etc but also have potable water.
We will provide basic food as pasta, rice, vegetables from the garden & eggs (when it's the season), oil, flour, jam, basic condiments, tea, coffee... etc.
Breakfast OR lunch will be offer and shared together (depending the schedule).
About internet access : We both work from "home" on internet. We have a strong signal (full 4G) thanks to a personal hotspot (with our phones) so you have to know that you won't have a connection 24/7.
What else ...
We are in the heart of Pyrénées. Hiking departure are less than 500m from home, no car needed if you want to discover the surroundings.
Once a week, you can also try the food from the region and order a little basket with cheese, fruits, jam, meat, bread, beer...
There are plenty of stuff to discover for both cultural nerds and mountain lovers.
Toulouse is also only 1h30 away (direct train from Lourdes), we lived there for more than 10 years and have many recommendations.
Bayonne / Biarritz are also easy to access by train (less than 2h and direct trip) for ocean lovers.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We both work from home on internet. We have a strong signal (4G) thanks to a personal hotspot (with our phones). Please ask first to see if we can manage something (depending how many hours a day / what kind of connection you need with significant upload - download or not etc.)
Space for parking camper vans
We make our first choice on people travelling with their van, of course our meadow is big enough. Because we don't have so much facilities, we need independent people (we don't have an outdoor kitchen yet). Also, we don't have a proper hookup. We don't allow big camper van, RV or trailer. The road is narrow and steep - you would be stuck !
Can possibly accept pets
If your pet is friendly with other dogs and it doesn't eat chickens ... it should work! Also, you need to take in consideration that the property has no fence (if your pet likes to explore on his own... maybe this is not the place to be for your furry friend).
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (4)
From the first moment we arrived (we got careful navigation by guide Julien) we were greeted very generously and we felt right at home! Little dog Tutu which you see in the pictures is the sweetest to greet you when you wake up on this beautiful piece of land surrounded by… read more
We were so lucky to cross your way.
We build natural stairs together. They also helped us 'to clean' the forest and to move a bunch of wood. Smiles, motivation and hardworking are the words coming to our mind when we think about Ella & Jack.
We also shared a lot of beers and very good moments around the bbq.… read more
Carole and Julien were very fair with the work, always discussing collectively what jobs we would do and generally working together with us. The work is physical but… read more
Always nice / gentle / helpful / fun! It was just so great to have them around for a week.
They stayed in their van which was super convenient for us. They were always happy to help us on different missions like flattening ground / woodwork / building stairs...
Sharing times were delightful as well.… read more
We stayed there for one week and we worked on fun, diverse projects as flattening a picknick seating area, some woodwork, works with the watering system and kicking off the project of building some natural stairs. The work was always organised, well… read more
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
From the first moment we arrived (we got careful navigation by guide Julien) we were greeted very generously and we felt right at home! Little dog Tutu which you see in the pictures is the sweetest to greet you when you wake up on this beautiful piece of land surrounded by… read more
We were so lucky to cross your way.
We build natural stairs together. They also helped us 'to clean' the forest and to move a bunch of wood. Smiles, motivation and hardworking are the words coming to our mind when we think about Ella & Jack.
We also shared a lot of beers and very good moments around the bbq.… read more
Carole and Julien were very fair with the work, always discussing collectively what jobs we would do and generally working together with us. The work is physical but… read more
Always nice / gentle / helpful / fun! It was just so great to have them around for a week.
They stayed in their van which was super convenient for us. They were always happy to help us on different missions like flattening ground / woodwork / building stairs...
Sharing times were delightful as well.… read more
We stayed there for one week and we worked on fun, diverse projects as flattening a picknick seating area, some woodwork, works with the watering system and kicking off the project of building some natural stairs. The work was always organised, well… read more
The tasks were enjoyable and Carole and Julien were always there to help us. We helped construct a shower, move wood, and experiment with a new water system. It was motivating… read more
Respectul, independant, hard-working, always in a good mood, full of life... the list could never end.
They helped us to build the outdoor shower, to clean the forest and to do some experiment with a new water system.
Everything went so smooth. We were sad to let them go !
Thank you again for everything. See… read more
