Stay with us, help and enjoy the wilderness and nature that is the Ariege, France

Infos

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  Description

  Hi we are Noemi and Ian (44 an 61) Noemi is Swiss, Ian Irish. We live not far from Saint Girons, a small market town in the Pyrenees. We have a house and garden and near by in the same village a second house which we are renovating as a guest house . "Bussie" in which Ian lived in for seven years, a 30 year old converted library bus, has its own spot down by the river and would give a volunteer or two and funky independant home....it has hot running water, a woodstove, fridge, oven, solar end mains electricity etc. I got by well with a dry loo and outside shower (hot !) even in the rain if you are the elemental type ...of course the house facilities are also available.
  
  Noemi' had her own thriving Chinese Medical practice in Switzerland before coming here, she is and an amazing cook , our garden is flourishing under her touch, she has also been experimenting with lime paints and plasters. I trained and worked in architecture before a carrer in film, and theatre (stage design). We are both nature and mountain lovers. I have a good (messy!) well equipped workshop and am generally handy with making and building. We would love some other dynamic energies to tap into our projects .... recently we cast a limecrete slab and are laying clay tiles on a lime and sand bed, coming soon: installing a kitchen and bathroom, making some doors, an outside glazed structure.......we will also be lime and earth plastering, not to mention the garden. The buss needs bedding into the landscape and some repairs.... the workshop needs organising the wooturning lathe installing and the list goes on.....we are not frenetic and enjoy sitting about, reading, watching a movie or whatever, tasks gets done and we have no deadlines. In our experience working/sharing together builds a bridge, there can sense of achievement and learning, we enjoy sharing meals, movies and games (we have a ping pong table) skyjo, quirlkle, rummikub or card games often feature in the evening..... it's a slice of life shared and we enjoy very much the things that you might bring to our table so to speak.
  
  Before agreeing to a stay with us we will meet you on skype or whatsapp so we all get a feel for each other. We try to welcome people with the feeling that whatever time or tasks will be shared is a fit for both sides, our preference is for two weeks or more, less time really does feel some how too short. At the moment the things we need help with are mostly building tasks so you will fit in with whatever team /project is in hand - it's hands on stuff, there is a also house sitting possibility from time to time. The walks from the house are wonderful, there is a small village near by and town is 8 km away... we have guest bikes, hitching works well here. Here it's the French mountain country side, its stone houses, wood fires, our friends are from the all world over and mixed ages and nationalities, it's a bit alternative in a good way, people generally have time, smile and share.
  
  We look forward to hearing from you.
  
  
  Thank you
  
  noemi, ian

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Home sitting
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Learn building skills including woodwork, masonry (mostly lime mortar), painting (we use a lot of lime paint also) and decoration, basic plumbing. Woodturning if wanted. Learn gardening from preparing ground to seeding and harvesting......drying, preserving food, making kombucha......

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  Aide

  We enjoy the energy and friendship/exchange that volunteers bring to our home, we like to do tasks mornings leaving time for reading or personal tasks in the afternoons. It helps to have some clothes you can get dirty, though we can lend you some also, boots are useful.....

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Noemi speaks german, italian english and french....ian speaks French and English......
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  Hébergement

  We can accomodate people in the house but ideally "bussie" offers some independance and privacy on all sides.

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  Autres infos...

  If you have a drivers licence thats great, we have a couple of bikes, their is a small village near by(cafe/bar/post office etc.) and its easy to get up onto the mountain for a walk or overnight trip. In summer their is good swimming in near by rivers and we have a small pool.

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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

  Hi, we have wi fi in the house and hotspot works in bussie down the garden which is a magic place to work....

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  A bit tricky but there are possabilities .....

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We have a cat in the house but if you were staying mostly in the busshouse a dog could be accomodated.....

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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