Join our English family and perhaps chateau and pet-sit near Pau, France

Infos

• 

  Description

  Hello and thanks for finding us! We're looking for the next crew of incredible workaways for the coming season. We need housesitting from Jan 12th and also mid February.
  
  Are you responsible, experienced and mature?
  
  Read our reviews and the profile in full before replying if you think you’ll be the next one of our series of exceptional workaways.
  
  We’re looking for a couple or a single girl to join our us. You need to be responsible and capable of looking after a large house and garden alongside us or housesitting when we are away. Drivers aged over 25 are preferred and your own car would be a bonus for you, if not, we have electric bikes.
  
  We love sharing our slice of heaven with like-minded people who join our family. Seeing the transformative effect our place has on others rewards and validates us, and makes the ongoing project more pleasurable. This place is made to be shared, and as a 10 bedroomed chateau with extensive grounds and vineyards, there is always something to be done and enjoyed! As recent empty nesters (our youngest has just left for uni in UK where her 2 siblings also work), we delight in having more people, both young and young at heart, to stay.
  
  We came to SW France on holiday in 2008 and fell in love with the area and our chateau. We stayed, and created a new life based on family and friend connections, contact with nature, healthier living and expanding our horizons. Our kids are now all back in the UK, studying and working, although they visit often. We have a gorgeous dog, Shimmy aged 6, an outdoor living cat and some chickens.
  
  We have welcomed dozens of workawayers since starting 6 years ago (many return) and relish wonderful exchanges and experiences and feel that our family is expanding.

• 

  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet
• 

  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We are well integrated into the local community and are fluent in French but this is an English speaking household.
  
  We both come from families with an 'open door' policy. We love sharing our dream life and home with others and learning from them too. Sharing my own childhood with children of many nationalities made me a linguist and we all have a love of travel. Our former aupairs of up to 20 years ago still visit and remain very much part of the family. In terms of language, I have experience in TEFL and we have an extensive library of English books as well as local guides. We can direct you towards French resources. You are also welcome to join me in mindfulness and yoga practice.

• 

  Aide

  Our place would best suit an enthusiastic, animal loving, non smoking girl/couple who seek to get the most out of each day. Driving license (over 25s preferably) and cooking skills (especially healthy vegetarian food) are a bonus. A love of basic DIY, spring cleaning and weeding helps too.
  
  In terms of projects, there's a long list to choose from depending on your initiative and skill set. We have a couple of large rooms that need a coat of paint before the summer. There's always wood to be chopped for fires so some heavy lifting required in addition to general gardening. Plus general house help/light DIY, floor varnishing, window cleaning etc. If the weather is bad, there's always work to be done on the computer so tech and social media skills are also valued. Some workaways have house and pet sat if we're away and enjoy being king/queen of the castle!
  
  We are passionate and hardworking and expect our workaways to be the same, 5 hours per day for 5 days a week (not including helping at family meals) but we are flexible and will encourage you to make the most of good weather and explore, and there is ample opportunity to relax and travel too.

• 

  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Italien: Intermédiaire

• 

  Hébergement

  We have 4 ensuite double or triple bedrooms furnished and decorated to a high standard. We expect volunteers to leave the rooms and house as they found them. We have a largely pescatarian diet and normally grab a sandwich at lunchtime and have the main meal together each evening - enthusiastic cooks and vegetarians are particularly welcome. This is a strictly non smoking and only occasional drinking home.

• 

  Autres infos...

  If you love nature, either for adventure or relaxation, then there is a wealth of things to do. A car is preferable for exploring the stunning surrounding area but previous guests have made the most of cheap buses for Spain (San Sebastian) and the Basque coast. If you're happy to stay put (and many find it hard to leave the sanctuary of the chateau), we are happy to pick you up from train/bus stops in Pau when on our way. We are 15 minutes drive from the historic city of Pau, an hour from the mountains and Spain and 90 minutes from the Atlantic surf. We have electric bikes and are on wonderful cycle and hiking routes.
  
  We request that volunteers provide personal references if they are not already reviewed on Workaway and be available for a chat via Whatsapp. Please quote 'Dreams' to show you have read and understood before applying. We look forward to hearing from you and, I hope, help in realising more dreams during your travels.

• 

  Informations complémentaires

  • 

    Accès Internet

  • 

    Accès Internet limité

  • 

    Nous avons des animaux

  • 

    Nous sommes fumeurs

  • 

    Familles bienvenues

• 

  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have 4G boxes to boost wifi when there are many of us using it

• 

  Espace pour garer des vans

  Lots of space for parking

• 

  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

• 

  Mes animaux

  shimmy (6 ans)

  medium sized 20 kilo beautiful and sweet natured female mongrel who loves treats, cuddles and walks and is great company

Sécurité du site

Discutez avec des workawayers qui ont séjourné chez cet hôte

+23

Feedback (31)