Profile information
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Host rating
100 %
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Last replied
8 Jun 2026
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Reply rate
85.7 %
Usually responds within 5 days
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Feedback
14
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Email verified
Country info
Badges (3)
Min stay requested: at least a week
Details
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Description
First off, we live in the city. There's just me and my wife Sylvie now, the children have more or less moved on. We live in a big house in the near suburbs with a garden. The first floor is let out to foreign students who study at the local University ... which is about 300 metres away. The top floor is a little apartment which was fitted out by different helpers over the past few years: from Poland, NZ, UK, America and China! Now it serves as a flat for our children when they are in town ... and for anyone who wants to come a spend a week with us helping with simple painting, decorating and maintenance tasks.
Sylvie thas just retired from teaching philosophy at a high school in town. Simon is a former lecturer in economics and law ... and a former publican (the local Irish Bar!). . We speak franglais mainly but are capable of speaking good French, good English and hesitant German. We live in Toulouse - the Pink City - a little known medieval town which has the second biggest student population after Paris: 150,000 young people!
The work we do is simple: painting and decorating, clearing out garages and cellars: no technical skills needed apart from maybe using a hammer and a nail. At weekends we decamp to the Pyrenees where we have a mountain house - opportunities for hiking and relaxing! -
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Light gardening
Creative DIY projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Light maintenance
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Interests
Politics / Social justice
LGBTQ
Events & social
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Pets
Culture
Hitchhiking
Books
Photography
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Animals
Nature
Mountain
Hiking
Cycling -
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
What is there not to learn from a Franco-Irish family, steeped in a philosophical and legal background! On second thoughts, maybe we have more to learn from you...
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Help
This year we will be doing mainly painting and decorating help ... but with very little specialist knowledge required.
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Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
German: Intermediate
Spanish: Beginner -
Accommodation
Two bedroomed apartment with kitchen, bathroom and wc. Meals (3 per day) are taken in our part of the house.
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What else ...
Toulouse is a little-known city in S France with a beautiful Renaissance centre, fine squares and public buildings, a lively riverside, thousands of good cafés, bars and restaurants and, above all, young people. It's the second university town in France with over 150,000 students. Our local metro station is just 7 minutes away and the bus-stop just 2 minutes.
The village of Sentein, in the Ariège département of the Pyrenees, is a quiet mountain village with access to countless trails and walks and hikes in the high mountains. Helpers should have the opportunity of working in both these places. -
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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How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
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My animals / pets
Yoda
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (4)
After doing some painting in Toulouse, we proceeded to go to the Pyrenees to repaint there, where it was nice and cool and we (another helper and me) had our own room. In Toulouse we had our own rooms, … read more
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
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)
After doing some painting in Toulouse, we proceeded to go to the Pyrenees to repaint there, where it was nice and cool and we (another helper and me) had our own room. In Toulouse we had our own rooms, … read more
They conceived and created a state-of-the-art … read more
