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Host rating
65 %
Last replied
10 Nov 2023
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Description
Hi everyone we are Brian & David a gay married couple originally from the UK. Living on the northern edge of the beautiful Mayenne in north west France.
I am Brian. I am 53 and an early retired ex civil servant with a background also in professional landscape gardening. David my husband is 39 and has a mixed retail and cruise sales background, but now works in France full time as a professional horticulturalist on an industrial plant nursery.
Three years ago during the height of the pandemic we decided to have a complete change of life and moved to France to live a life long dream. We live in a beautiful old Maison D’maitre which was neglected for some years and we are gradually restoring it over time and as money allows.
Along with the house we have 5.5 acres (2.2 hectares) of land comprising of an old orchard with around 30 fruit trees, paddocks, ornamental grounds and a beautiful old woodland. Designated as protected nature land and marsh habitat in the local authority planning document we are a haven for wildlife including foxes, badgers, red squirrels, stone marten, deer, Coypu, a variety of birds of prey and a huge array of other wild birds.
We are gradually trying to tame and landscape the grounds, to bring further biodiversity into the garden and create better habitats for both wildlife and our own growing collection of animals who are a huge part of our family life here.
We currently have a dog, a Welsh terrier called Ted, a handsome breeding flock of chickens and two goats. And friends also graze their two donkeys on part of our land. We hope to add more animals to our family in time, once we have erected new fences and made our grounds more secure.
We have a great many fruit trees to harvest and two very productive greenhouses and a well developed vegetable plot where we like to grow as much of our own food as we can. Although we are still learning to grow these in a very different climate from the UK which can be challenging.
We live in a beautiful unspoilt valley off the beaten track with views over the small river below. We can offer a beautifully renovated double room so can only accommodate a single person or a couple sharing a room and currently shared access to a luxury bathroom, although installing an en suite off of another room is another ongoing project so someone with plumbing skills to help us move this along would be very welcome indeed.
David is pescatarian so we mainly eat vegetarian or fish based meals. Brian is a meat eater but rarely these days as it’s easier to eat what David does but meat eaters can be easily catered for also. The work away will eat with us, and we can share cooking duties with the work away if they’d like to.
The Mayenne region is rich in history and culture, and well placed for visiting such treasures as Rennes, Mont St Michelle, the Normandy Beaches and Le Mans. Paris can also be easily accessed via train from Laval.
We look forward to sharing our home and rural lifestyle with others. We are native English speakers. David has a good grasp of french, Brian is still learning but does language skills training everyday but rarely gets to practice so someone able to speak both languages to help us progress our language skills would be most welcome.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
In return we can teach people about horticulture, plants and landscape gardening, woodland and wildlife management. Brian is a qualified Landscape Gardener and when younger worked on several medal winning gardens at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show in London. Brian is also a skilled in DIY and has plumbing and decorating skills he can teach.
David works in a professional horticultural nursery and has skills in mass plant production, cuttings and plant management. He is also a very accomplished sewer and needle craft worker, cook and artist. And hopefully exchange language skills also something we can exchange.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Ideally looking for a straight or gay, single person or couple, (we can only accommodate one single or one couple at a time currently as we only have one spare double room at present) to help us move our projects forward. We have a great many gardening projects we need help with to progress, as David works full time, Brian is working through these alone most of the time and having help with them would be amazing.
These include creating and planting new shrub borders, erecting structural garden pergolas and frames for climbing plants. Clearing land of brambles and undergrowth. Layering hedges, planting new hedges, creating rock gardens and possibly ponds. Building stone walls, fencing. Helping to maintain the grounds by grass cutting, strimming and brush cutting, hedge cutting, weeding, fruit and vegetable harvesting.
We also have indoor projects to complete, including help installing a new en suite bathroom, decorating a bedroom and utility room . Also help with sharing the cooking would also be warmly welcome also.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
David and I are native English speakers but we are both learning French. We have been doing Duolingo for over 4 years now. David is fairly fluent in French as he works for a french company so gets to practice every day. I work at our home most days so don’t get to practice as much so would love an opportunity to practice with others.
Accommodation
You will stay with us in our home, sharing it fully as our guests. We offer a colourful beautifully decorated dual aspect double room (so one single or one couple only can be accommodated at present ) with wide reaching views over a beautiful river valley from one window and outstanding sunrises from the other. The room has an Alexa show and benefits from fibre optic internet provision. It has central heating and additional electric fire should it be required.
You will have full shared access to a luxury bathroom with toilet, sink, Italian shower and large double ended bath, the room is tastefully decorated and includes a fireplace and Alexa device.
What else ...
The local Towns of Domfront, Mayenne, Lassay-les-Châteaux are a short drive away from us and the historical cities of Rennes, Le Mans, Alençon and the beautiful world renowned Mont-Saint-Michelle is less than an hour and a half away not to mention the many historical and World War II sites of Normandy a short distance away.
There are also many cycle routes locally and a great many forests and old railway lines to explore. As well as the beautiful rivers of the Colmont and Mayenne. Slightly further south you can access the magnificent Loire Valley with its many magnificent Châteaux and Paris can be easily accessed via fast train routes from Laval.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have full fibre broadband in the house including a wifi repeater in the worksaways room with an internet cable so can offer home workers a fibre broadband space of their own to work if required
Space for parking camper vans
We have a large driveway that can host a campervan of up to medium/large size.
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5hours a day, 5 days a week
