Help out with kitchen, garden and some simple renovation tasks at our chateau near Moulins, France

Infos

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  Description

  Hi, I am Clemens. With my partner Marianne we launched ourselves into quite a project. We bought a Château. Our dream is to renovate the parts that are still in authentic state or renovated long time ago.
  Marianne is a Yoga teacher and Ayurveda practitioner and as for myself, I teach and practice several techniques for personal development. A part of the Château is dedicated to our practices.
  The Château is surrounded by 16 hectare of forest and meadows and a stone throw away from the largest Oak tree forest of Europe, right in the center of France. There are beautiful authentic villages around and the closest city is about 40 km away. A supermarket and a gas station are at 300 meters from the Château.
  Our 15 year old son Ilan is quit a fan of Basketball and is doing great at school. We all speak fluently English and French. As for myself I speak Dutch and a little bit of German.
  I am reasonably good with computers and Marianne is an excellent cook. We eat vegetarian organic food and make little exceptions for our son who prefer to eat meat every once in a while.
  An addition to our family is our sweet dog, 22 kilos of hugging and petting :-)
  If you choose to come and stay with us, we can offer you a great stay in an authentic 18th/19th century Château with modern commodities, great vegetarian organic food, yoga every once in a while and some personal energy coaching if you wish. You can improve your French or English too. With the great property we have, there is always something to do.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Staying with us, means being bathed in the French culture with the possibility of speaking English.
  The area where we live has beautiful Châteaux, medieval villages, like Souvigny, Bourbon l'Archambault, Hérisson, etc. Lots to discover. At a stone throw away, you will find one of the largest Oak tree forest of Europe, Forêt de Tronçais, with endless paths, natural lakes to swim in summertime and some monumental oak trees, some older than our Château.
  But also you could learn how to cook tasty vegetarian and Ayurvedic food, practice yoga, get to know more about Ayurveda and your personal energy management. Furthermore, we could take you to a historical city where you can discover on your own, while Marianne is teaching yoga.
  Bicycles are available to tour around for the shorter distances.

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  Aide

  We would need help with our private quarters for :
  
  - Renovation tasks, like carpentry, dry walls, sanding, painting etc. It is of course not needed that you are skilled in all of the above ;-)
  - Gardening and forestry tasks - clearing the paths - chipping branches to construct paths - using a chain saw, cutting dead trees to firewood - clearing brambles, etc.
  - Help in our private home, cleaning, ironing, dishes etc.
  - Creating a meditative garden, zen inspired yet faithful to the historical environment
  
  The professional quarters are taken care of - you would not help with this, only help our private home.
  We will not always be available to work with you, so you need to have some level of autonomy and practical thinking skills.
  We are looking for motivated and enthusiastic workawayers who can consider our project as their own. Good spirit, positive attitude, commitment and respect are key elements to have a great time together.

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Hollandais: Courant

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  Hébergement

  We try to offer private rooms in the château when they are available. Yet, we count on your flexibility, as when we are receiving groups all rooms might be required, and you could have to be in dorm style shared rooms. In any case, it will be clean and you will have access to a shower and bathroom. Best to go with the worst case scenario and you will not be disappointed.
  There will be three healthy mostly vegetarian, local and organic meals a day, often prepared according to Ayurvedic principles. A recurring comment with our workawayers is that we are very generous with food, both in terms of quality and variety. A couple of times a week we will offer wine with dinner.
  We have a strict non smoking policy on the premises.

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  Autres infos...

  As we are in the country side, local transport is not of metropolitan standards. There is however a bus service that can bring you to the next city or train station. It is relatively cheap and you will need to make reservations ahead. If you come by train we could also see if we can combine going in to town and pick you up. Bikes are available to discover the surroundings, but you could also use your free time to wonder around on the 16 hectares of park around the property.
  An apartment in the Château is rented out, so we expect you to respect our co-habitants.
  We are early risers and we sleep at 10.30pm, so we ask you to refrain from loud noise after 10 pm. But I guess after a good days of work and activity, the calmness and pure air, you would probably want the same...
  We are strict in zero tolerance of the use of drugs, abuse of alcohol, and smoking on the premises.
  So we offer a healthy environment where wellbeing is paramount.
  In order to get to know each other a bit better, to come in to the dynamics of the family and the place, the expectations and the learning curves, we do believe that 3 weeks is a good indication for a minimum stay.

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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

  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il aimait accueillir les digital nomads.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  Cet hôte a de la place pour les vans.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week plus cleaning up after meals

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