Help renovate a charming château and learn traditional building techniques close to Uzès, France

Infos

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  Description

  We are a Swedish family with three teenage children and a Brittany Spaniel who have taken on the challenge of bringing a petit château from the 17th century back to it's former glory while updating it to modern standards. It was built in 1632 by Jacques d’Odol, a cavalry officer whose talents as a painter of royal portraits was so well liked by Louis XII that he was knighted and given this land to build his château. It's beautifully located on top of a hill, surrounded by vineyards, in the Gard part of Occitanie, close to Uzès, Chateauneuf du Pape, Avignon and Nimes. We will be very happy to receive help with anything that contributes towards our mission of reviving the château into a blissful oasis of authentic charm that pays tribute to its rich history. The kind of help that we're looking for range from gardening to masonry, carpentry, and general maintenance and DIY. We already have a team on site of skilled craftsmen who can teach the traditional building practices used in this region.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Projets artistiques

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  It will be a great experience towards learning French through helping with a team that mostly speaks French and little or no English. The learning will happen naturally by doing projects together and communicating during the day and through shared meals and coffee breaks. We, the host family, speak Swedish, English and French fluently (and can communicate alright in German and Portuguese), and we have lived all over the world (Africa, Asia, the Middle East) and are looking forward to a cultural exchange of experiences with fellow travellers.

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  The kind of help that we're looking for range from gardening to masonry, carpentry, and general maintenance and DIY. Our garden is 1,2 hectares and there's always a need to help with various gardening projects like planting vegetables, pruning bushes, mowing the lawn etc. We are also rebuilding various stone walls around the property as well as renovating a number of rooms, where there's a need for plasterwork and painting. It's naturally much appreciated if you have skills in these areas already, but if you don't have experience in renovation work, we have a team on site of skilled craftsmen who can teach the traditional building practices used in this region.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Danish: Courant
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Norwegian: Courant
  Swedish: Courant
  Allemand: Intermédiaire
  Portugais: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  We love learning new languages and sharing our knowledge with others, as a family we have at some point in time been learning Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Khmer, Dari, Swahili, Arabic, and Portuguese.
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  Hébergement

  We have several sections of the house where our guest can stay independently. On the first floor there are two bedrooms with one bathroom, that can sleep up to two to four people in private. These rooms are located close to the kitchen and from one of the bedrooms there's direct entrance to the garden. On the second floor there are two bedrooms that can sleep between two to five people in private, for these rooms, access to the bathroom is through one of the salons so a bit less convenient. There is also another bedroom available on the second floor, in another part of the house, that can sleep 1-2 people in private, access to the bathroom would be through another salon and the library. We are open to couples and families.

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  Autres infos...

  There are plenty of things to do, see and experience in the area, from just walking, hiking, running or cycling in the beautiful countryside to kayaking, wine tasting, going to farmers markets, flea markets, and visiting village fetes in the beautiful hamlets of the Gard Provencale. Beyond the surrounding nature, a car is needed to get around, we can pick guests up at the nearest train station, and as often as possible drive guests to nearby villages. It's a big house (1000 m2) with a large garden (1,2 hectares) so finding peace and quiet and privacy is easy, but we will happily cook for and eat together with the guests for breakfast, lunch and dinner as much possible. We also have superfast fibre internet connection, so it's effortless to get online (at least reasonable close to the router).

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have a superfast fibre internet connection, it's not perfect in all rooms because of the heavy stone walls, but we can offer rooms to work from where the connection is perfect.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We love animals and have a Brittany Spaniel, and because the match isn't always perfect, we should connect on which pet you'd like to bring beforehand.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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