La Giraudière Takes a Hit from Violent Storm in Brossac

La Giraudière Takes a Hit from Violent Storm in Brossac

On Wednesday evening, a whirlwind of destruction blew into La Giraudière as a violent storm hit Brossac and the whole of southwest France. Furious winds at a speed of 160km/hr blew into town just before dinner, making trees sway and windows rattle. Soon after, we heard the rumble of thunder, and rain began to fall in torrents.

Just half an hour later, the sky cleared up, but the damage from the unexpected storm had already been done. Outside in the garden, plants were blown over; and some roses clung onto their stems for dear life. A tree was even blown down across the road, but thankfully our neighbor farmer M. Philippe Condemine cleared the tree with his tractor.

The worst of the storm’s wrath, however, saw itself manifested inside the house. Water that had been driven through windows and doors flooded the floors of some apartments, and even worse, upstairs in one apartment, the wind had put enough pressure on the bedroom wall to cause it to explode. Cracks split through the wall, even revealing some of the brickwork inside. We’re looking to get the wall repaired in the coming week.

Cracks in the wall from the violent storm

Cracks in the wall from the violent storm

Another thunderstorm is forecast for today, but we hope that the weather will clear up here at La Giraudière in the following days, with some sun to replace the stormy weather in Brossac.

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Volunteers Wave Goodbye to Life in the French Countryside

Volunteers Wave Goodbye to Life in the French Countryside

In addition to the new volunteers we have just welcomed, we have also sadly had to bid farewell to some valuable members of our team at La Giraudière who left the French countryside in June.

Our American volunteer Anna, who stayed with us for three weeks, contributed greatly to office work, gardening, and social media while she was here. She is a hard worker who dedicates herself to any task at hand, and during her stay, she enjoyed getting to work with other volunteers, as well as knowing people from all walks of life.

Anna (left) with other volunteers Janis, Venicia, and Christine

Anna (left) with other volunteers Janis, Venicia, and Christine

A few days later, our volunteer Julia from the UK also departed from France. Having stayed here for two weeks, she worked on social media and gardening, and had the opportunity to improve her French by speaking with locals on excursions. For Julia, the experience was valuable both in terms of doing volunteer work and seeing French life.

Julia and other volunteers Catriona, Paul, and Linda enjoying the night out

Julia (left), Paul, and other volunteers Catriona, Christine, Jill and Linda enjoying the night out

Irish volunteer Catriona also left us soon after. During her 3 week stay here, she helped with every aspect of La Giraudière, from housekeeping to office work, to social media and gardening. Being outside in the sunshine and exploring France were the highlights of Catriona’s stay, and we’ll miss her hard work dearly.

Catriona helping to clean at the Brossac stade

Catriona helping to clean at the Brossac stade

Last but certainly not least, we waved goodbye to three volunteers from South Africa – Pam, Zach, and Faith. They all put in great deal of effort into the La Giraudière project, performing tasks like housekeeping, gardening, and office work. With their diverse range of skills in communication, organization, and management, they were a crucial part of improving the project during their stay.

We’re sorry to see our volunteers go, but thank them for their work, and we wish them the very best and hope that they will return to La Giraudière and the French countryside in the future.

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A New Month Volunteering in France at La Giraudière

A New Month Volunteering in France at La Giraudière

With summer rolling into July, La Giraudière is bustling with activity as usual. We also welcomed three new volunteers here in France, so there are some new faces around.

Anne and Viv from Queensland, Australia joined us Friday evening. Both now retired, they hope to learn more French, meet new people, and enjoy the rural countryside of France at La Giraudière. Since being here, Anne has been keeping fit by weeding, gardening, and trimming the roses.

Australian volunteer Ann trimming the hedges outside La Giraudière

Australian volunteer Anne trimming the hedges outside La Giraudière

Viv has been working just as hard indoors, learning to take on the position of housekeeper from Linda. She has big shoes to fill after Linda leaves, but is doing a wonderful job cleaning and reorganizing the house. Linda, of course, has been busy with housekeeping and passing on her duties to Viv.

Volunteers Viv and Linda having a laugh while housekeeping at La Giraudière in France

Volunteers Viv and Linda having a laugh while housekeeping at La Giraudière

Also new to the volunteer team is Sybil from Oakland, California. She is going into her last year of high school, and is planning to major in French and Economics. She hopes this experience will help her gain insight into French life and culture, and allow her to meet more native French speakers. Her main role has been working on blogging and social media.

Volunteer working on the blog at La Giraudière

Sybil working on the blog at La Giraudière

Our other veteran volunteers have been keeping busy in France as well. Jill has been responding to incoming emails, while Christine is hard at work accounting.

Volunteer in France going through emails at the computer

Our volunteer Jill going through emails at the computer

volunteer doing accounts

Our volunteer Christine doing accounts

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La Giraudière Volunteer Night Out at Fète De Musique Barbezieux

La Giraudière Volunteer Night Out at Fète De Musique Barbezieux

After a fabulous dinner at the local restaurant Le Samtho at Place de l’Eglise in the village of Brossac Saturday evening, six volunteers headed out for a night on the town in beautiful Barbezieux, about 20 minutes from La Giraudière. This is a free annual music festival which takes place every summer all over France. At least five performing stages are set up around the town and performances are scheduled throughout the day and night until the early hours.

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There was something for everyone with a wide array of music types from rock, blues, jazz, to DJs churning out tunes on the street. One of the most entertaining, or perhaps amusing parts of the evening was watching the groups of people learning Line Dancing to some dodgy cross between Irish traditional music and American Country’n’Western music. It was hilarious!

fete_de_musique-barbezieux
In fact, we ended up finishing the night with a boogie at the disco which starts at midnight in the town square right outside l’eglise de Barbezieux. Overall, the music was fantastic and the La Giraudière volunteers soaked up the great atmosphere with a few beers and a bop!! It was a fantastic experience to take part in a really authentically French cultural event and mix with the locals. Whole families were out together and it was a joy to see toddlers to grandparents strutting their stuff on the streets. Roll on the next night out for all at La Giraudière!

music_festival_barbezieuxfete_de_musique-barbezieux_sculptor

 

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Alumnus Pops in to Say Hello – Big Surprise for La Giraudière!!

Yorkshire Alumnus arrives at La Giraudière from Germany!!

Former Volunteer Pops in to Say Hello – Big Surprise for La Giraudière!!

Today, just as current volunteers at La Giraudière were sitting down to a delicious lunch, Paul got a big surprise when Jeffrey, an alumnus of La Giraudière 2016 program swung by. Jeffrey stayed at La Giraudière for two weeks over two years ago and helped out with a lot of D.I.Y and construction jobs, including adding ceilings to part of the old loft. Along with Jeffrey was his wife and two friends. Jeffrey who is originally from Yorkshire but living in Germany since the 60’s, was visiting his friends near Limoges (over 100 kilometers from La Giraudière) and he decided it would be nice to make an impromptu return visit to Brossac.

yorkshire_alumnus_la_giraudiere

Jeffrey really entertained La Giraudière volunteers with tales of very funny incidences and mishaps while he worked in La Giraudière with five other blokes during Easter two years ago. His tales of the goings-on at La Giraudière were enough to make his wife and friends also want to come and say hello. It seems many volunteers to this gorgeous part of South West France look forward to a future visit!! Thanks for visiting Jeffrey and bringing the fabulous sunshine with you…

Like to be a La Giraudière Alumnus visit our website at French Place of Learning to see our different programs.

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