Malbosc, help restoring an old ‘domain’ in the hills of the Cévennes, France

Infos

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  Description

  We are a retired couple, living in an old house in a beautiful part of France - the southern end of the Massif Central.
  Claude enjoys restoring the house having been a builder during his working life. I work on the garden growing vegetables organically and trying to design and install a flower garden around the house.
  
  We are surrounded by beautiful countryside in the Haut Languedoc Régional Parc with many walks and cycle tracks directly from the house. We have 27h of land, some of it pasture, some of it marshy but all of which is managed with improving biodiversity in mind. The whole place is extremely tranquil.
  
  I enjoy yoga, walking, textile art, socialising, reading and generally being active. Claude is interested in history and reads a lot about local history.
  
  We eat a mixed diet, many vegetarian meals, but occasional meat, grown or shot locally. (We are not hunters but occasionally get given wild boar or venison.)
  
  We live in a small house adjacent to the large house for which we’re searching a purpose. It offers great accommodation for workawayers 😀. This year we have a group running a course for sustainable forest management during March and a group of artists setting up an ambulant exhibition for August. There’s always something interesting going on here!

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We speak English and French fluently. There will be regular events at the local chateau which we will be helping to organise (theatre, music, dance etc). There are other activities locally which volunteers could join like the local walking group (half day once a week).
  We shop at the local market and have regular contact with neighbours who represent the many faces of French life.

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  Aide

  We welcome people who would be willing to help in the garden. Of course, we will be sharing the garden produce with volunteers.
  Depending on level of skill, help with the renovation would be welcomed. This project is varied due to the nature of the buildings. There is a house and also numerous agricultural buildings in various states of disrepair. Examples of help might be helping to install a new fireplace in the main house and a wood burning stove; decorating; insulating ceilings; helping construct a conservatory around a small house adjacent to the main one; helping to replace the rooves on the old chicken houses
  
  If anyone liked cooking they could share this task.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  I am learning French whereas my husband is a French national. We are both happy to help people wishing to learn either French or English.
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  Hébergement

  Room in the main house. Shared bathroom depending on who else is around.
  Food will be provided and volunteers can choose to either eat with us or cook independently. Or a mixture

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  Autres infos...

  Our house stands alone, our nearest neighbour being about a kilometre away. There is no public transport past the house but a good bus system from the local village (10km away) and town (15Km away). Depending on the interest of a volunteer we could facilitate getting there and back. We have bikes which can be borrowed and there are many lovely walks around.

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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 had two people working exclusively on line, holding meetings, downloading etc with no problem. The wifi extends through the house so there are several rooms where people could work either individually or with others

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  There are several places around the house where volunteers could park, giving more or less privacy and different views.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  There are two large dogs here which can be noisy when people arrive but are friendly. The younger one always wants to play with guest dogs. Cats would be difficult.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

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

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