British Volunteer ends a 3 Week holiday volunteering

Posted on December 27, 2018 by La Giraudiere

British Volunteer departs after a 3 week holiday volunteering

“Janet says goodbye to beautiful weather”

La Giraudiere says goodbye to another of our British Volunteers. As a Brit Janet has enjoyed the spectacular weather that has been on offer in the Charente this summer. As a first time volunteer Janet considers meeting people from different countries and  cultures the most valuable part of her volunteer experience whilst also enjoying the french lessons that are offered on a weekly basis .

janet_british-volunteer

Janet gives a thumbs up

Janet, a semi retired illustrator of children’s books  has  enjoyed the weather at La Giraudiere  in the Charente and has taken part in a variety of  volunteer activities including gardening and painting. The weather has allowed a variety of excursions to be offered at La Giraudiere including a Brocante Market, local towns and even supporting the local football team; Football Club South Charente FCSC.

Janet really has taken advantage of the beautiful weather by walking in the french countryside and swimming as much as possible at the local lake.

Composed by Andrea Australian volunteer.

A big thank you Janet for volunteering at La Giraudiere glad you enjoyed the delights of Brossac and the French lessons hopefully see you back here one day in the future

Paul

 

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Au Revoir Volunteer Jack ends volunteering holiday in France

Posted on December 27, 2018 by La Giraudiere

Gap Year Volunteer Finishes Volunteers Holiday in France

We have bid our gap year volunteer au revoir in the  last few weeks. Jack has spent 4 weeks volunteering at La Giraudière in a gap year from studying at Warwick university, majoring in politics and international relations . Jack has certainly lived up to the statement on his application to La Giraudière that he can contribute to interesting, intellectual discussions. Jack is an interesting character  with a passion for discussing world politics, and he has contributed to many moments of laughter and debate.

french_lessons-jack-volunteer

French Lessons, debate & Laughter

Jack has helped out at La Giraudière with a huge  variety of work including trimming the hedges, chopping wood and preparing balconies. He has enjoyed learning french, excursions and the relaxing rural life of the french countryside. We wish Jack well in his future endeavors as he continues his Gap Year by furthering his knowledge of the world; to mention only one, a trip to North Korea.

Au Revoir and A Bientôt jack

Composed by Andrea another volunteer

Jack_volunteer-gapyear

Thank you Jack for all you did at La Giraudière during your volunteers holiday and all the best in your travels. It was a pleasure living and working with you.

Paul

 

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Sejour Linguistic pour apprendre l’anglaise en France

Posted on September 26, 2018 by La Giraudiere

Apprendre Anglaise en France

Apprendre l’anglaise sans quitter le France comment?

Here at La Giraudiere we have a program in place for French students who wish to learn or improve their English check out our website at Sejour linguistique benevole pour apprendre l’anglais en France

Apprendre l'anglaise en France

This section of the website was recently updated by Antoine during his volunteer stay at La Giraudiere and below you can read his testimonial….;

Hey Paul ! here is my testimony for this 2 beautiful weeks !

Je m’appelle Antoine et j’ai 17 ans. J’ai était bénévole pour La Giraudière durant 2 semaines. C’était super bien, j’ai rencontré des personnes de plein de pays différents : Chine, Angleterre, Écosse, Australie…

Volunteer en France

French Volunteer Antoine

Ces 2 semaines sont passés très vite et ont était très enrichissante. J’étais le seul Français durant cette période et cela ma permis d’être vraiment plongé dans la langue Anglaise. Être bénévole à La Giraudière est awesome si tu es français car tu progresse énormément. Du coup, mon niveau en Anglais est monté en flèche. On pense Anglais 24h/24 comme si on était en UK ou aux USA. J’ai appris aussi beaucoup de choses durant mon séjour lors de mes différents travaux en faisant des Constructions et Pages Web. Il y a de super dinners de tout les pays qui nous attendent chaque soir. Une super ambiance, très conviviale, j’ai fais de très bonne rencontre. J’ai aussi pu aller souvent me baigner au Lac, faire du vélo et sortir avec le reste du groupe lors des moments de temps libre. De plus, faire ce séjour est beaucoup moins cher ici. En effet, 1 semaine à l’étranger est équivalent à plus de 6 semaines à La Giraudière. Je pense que c’est le meilleur moyen pour améliorer son Anglais, apprendre des choses en travaillant tout en restant en France et en aidant les autres.

Antoine

 

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Volunteers take in St Emilion

Posted on September 26, 2018 by La Giraudiere

Saint Emilion Welcome Volunteers

After lunch Wednesday, Paul surprised the volunteers at La Giraudiere with a trip to the famous town of Saint Emilion. The weather was fantastic and remains quite warm in the Charente region. We drove through the french countryside with a range of beautiful sites including vines (vignoble) of the Bordeaux region. There is a lot of activity in the regions of Charente and Bordeaux with “La Vendage” ( Harvesting Grapes) commencing in recent weeks.

Vineyards of Saint Emilion

Saint-Emilion Vineyards

When we arrived in the medieaval french town, Paul was kind enough to show us the sites including the exterior of the  monolithic church  which began construction during the 12th Century in the town  of Saint-Émilion. The town of Saint-Emilion was named in honour of a hermit monk who lived in the caves nearby and who developed a religious following during his life. The Saint-Emilion Monolithic Church is the largest underground church in all of Europe;the bell tower rises above the town in a magnificent display  of ingenuity and the power of faith.

Church qt Saint Emillion

Monolithic Church

Shiao-Ping, Gwen and Andrea, the current  volunteers enjoyed a stroll through the French  town taking in some local produce from the Bordeaux region including some wine tasting, identifying aromas at the local wine providors and finishing with a coffee at the local cafe.

Our visit to Saint-Emilion was the final trip for our volunteers Shiao-Ping and Gwen as they will be completing their volunteer time in the French Countryside this weekend. We returned  to Charente and La Giraudiere happy to have learnt something about the rich history of this region.

Thanks to Paul for, helping to make this french volunteer experience a vacation to remember.

Andrea

Volunteers Excursion

Visit Saint-Emilion

 

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Scotland and France alliance continues at La Giraudiere

Posted on September 26, 2018 by La Giraudiere

Volunteer from Scotland helps project in France

Saturday morning at Chalais station, gare de Chalais, we said goodbye to Eilidh a volunteer from Dunblane in Scotland. Eilidh arrived at La Giraudiere on the 19th of August and spent three weeks with us volunteering. During her time Eilidh helped on many of the volunteering activities including Housekeeping, office admin social media, blogging and the accounts for the association.

Eilidh is a student at Stirling University and is studying International Management, French and Spanish. Her knowledge of the French language proved very useful and she has put it to good use when checking the updates to our French section of the website.

Eilidh enjoying the local delicasey of mussels and chips in Royan

Eilidh enjoying the local delicasey of mussels and chips in Royan

This was Eilidh first trip abroad alone and she enjoyed the independance and the security which La Giraudiere provides to people travelling alone, especially first timers, during her stay she became an avid supporter of the local football team, Foot Sud Charente, a club iniated by both the former clubs of Brossac and Chalais.

She also experienced several outings, or excursions, with the group, including to a plus belle village de France namely Aubeterre-sur-dronne famous also for it’s monolithique church and stunning village.

A trip to the wonderfull coast of South West France was also included which took in yet another plus belle village de France namley Talmont situated on the esturary of the Garonne river just prior to the alantic ocean. After Talmont there was a trip to the small seaside town of Saint-Palais-sur-mer taking in the costal city of Royan.

volunteering group La Giraudiere

Volunteers meet Locals at La Giraudiere

A big thank you to Eildh for all you did at La Giraudiere and for your help with the group your lovely scottish accent will be sadly missed by us all.

volunteer from scotland

Eilidh volunteer

 

 

 

 

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