EVS Seminar for La Giraudière’s volunteers

Posted on August 22, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Evs Seminar in Sommières

As part of the erasmus program, the two EVS volunteers who were already arrived at La Giraudière to start the YERRF project, Deniz from Turkey and Sofia from Italy, attended a week orientation in Sommières, little town about 22km far from Nîmes.

Julie and Hélène, members of the Agence Erasmus+ de Jeunesse & Sport, planned the activities aimed to welcome us to France, teach us further information about the EVS program and learn more about our projects and objectives.

It was also an amazing opportunity to meet international young volunteers, from Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Marocco, Estonia who are now in various towns of France and have a cultural exchange.

Furthermore, we visited another interesting historical town in France, Sommières: we enjoyed the fascinating view from the castle, we explored their historical sites and we took part to their fairs and local parties, plus we talked with local people who were very friendly and welcolming.

seminaire-sommieres_evs-volunteers

Despite the long journey by train to arrive in Sommière from Bordeaux, it was definetly worth it. Thanks to Erasmus+ and the YERRF project, we can take part in this experience abroad, meet international volunteers and explore France.

Pour lire ce post de blog en français, cliquez ici: Séminaire SVE pour les bénévoles de La Giraudière

Posted in Erasmus, France, Learning French, volunteer, Volunteering, Yerrf Project | Tagged Agence Erasmus+ de Jeunesse & Sport, cultural exchange, Erasmus, EVS volunteers, France, French culture, La Giraudiere, project, volunteering, volunteers, YERRF project | Comments Off

Yerrf project launches with a video

Posted on August 21, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Yerrf project launches with a video

Bonjour tout le monde!

La Giraudère is known for hosting international volunteers every year since 2008. This year starting from July 2017 added EVS volunteers to its programs to help with an Erasmus+ project entitled YERRF, acronym of “Young Entrepreneurs Rejuvenate Rural France”.

The purpose of the YERRF project is to encourage young people to learn business skills and to consider entrepreneurship as a career. You can find more specific information about the project in our website: erasmus.lagiraudiere.com/yerrf

We have already completed the first phase:

We have published the first 31 pages of our website;
We created a video explaining our project and the volunteering experiences at la Giraudière; this video was directed by a Lithuanian volunteer, Gary, and you can find it on youtube at: Yerrf project video
Furthermore, we have completed the phase of researches and sent over 200 letters to universities, business and languages schools, banks and other organisation that could be potential partners for our project.

If you would like to join our group of volunteers and help us with the YERRF project you can contact us here: YERRF contact form. We are situatezd in the south west of France and you can see our location by visiting Location of YERRF Project.

All help for our Erasmus project is welcomed.

Pour lire ce post de blog en français, cliquez ici: Le projet Yerrf lance avec un video

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Erasmus, France, volunteer, Volunteering, Yerrf Project | Tagged entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, entrepreneurship, erasmus project, EVS, France, international volunteers, project, projet erasmus, start-ups, startup, volunteering, yerrf | Comments Off

A trip to La Rochelle

Posted on July 20, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Volunteers explore La Rochelle during the weekend

Once the working week is finished, the volunteers at La Giraudière have the freedom to choose how to spend the weekend. Some decide to stay at the house and rest or swim in the lake, but many prefer to explore the bigger cities nearby.

Last weekend, Amanda, Sofia, Deniz and I (Libby!) decided to go to La Rochelle. We had a great weekend full of wine and delicious food, and we returned to La Giraudière very relaxed and a bit more tanned thanks to some time at the beach! There was lots of things to do, for example we climbed the three towers of La Rochelle- this would be difficult for those who are scared of heights, but the views are worth it!

While we were there, there was a music festival- ‘Les Francofolies de La Rochelle’. This festival takes place every year and features only French speaking singers and musicians. We didn’t buy tickets to access the main stage, but there were still lots of smaller stages and other stands to enjoy, and the general atmosphere of the city was fantastic.

In particular, the nightlife was amazing. At night, lots of small music groups play in the streets and the local people dance to their music. The bars were also very lively and had the best mojitos in France! We had lots of fun and we would definitely recommend a visit to La Rochelle.

Pour lire ce post de blog en français, cliquez ici: Un voyage à La Rochelle

Posted in about La Giraudiere, France, Time out, vacation france, volunteer, Volunteering | Tagged francofolies, La Rochelle, mojito, music festival, nightlife, relax, towers, travel, trip, volunteer, wine | Comments Off

Un voyage à La Rochelle

Posted on July 20, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Des bénévoles explorent La Rochelle pendant le weekend

Quand la semaine du travail a fini, les bénévoles de La Giraudière ont la liberté de choisir comment passer le weekend. Certains décident de rester à la maison et se reposer ou se baigner dans le lac de Brossac, mais beaucoup préfèrent explorer les plus grandes villes dans les environs.

Le weekend dernier, Amanda, Sofia, Deniz et moi (Libby!) ont decidé d’aller à La Rochelle. Nous avons eu un weekend génial plein de vin et nourriture délicieuse, et nous sommes revenues à La Giraudière très détendues et un peu plus bronzées grâce au temps sur la plage! Il y avait beaucoup de choses à faire, par exemple nous sommes montées les trois tours de La Rochelle- ça serait difficile pour ceux qui ont le vertige, mais les vues valent la peine!

Quand nous étions là, il y avait un festival de musique- ‘Les Francofolies de La Rochelle’. Ce festival prend place chaque année et présente uniquement les chanteurs et les musiciens francophones. Nous n’avons pas acheté des billets pour accéder la scène principale mais il y avait toujours des plus petites scènes et des autres stands à apprécier, et l’atmosphère générale de la ville était merveilleuse.

En particulier, la vie nocturne était formidable. Le nuit, beaucoup de petites groupes de musique jouent dans les rues et les gens du quartier dansent à leur musique. En plus, les bars étaient très vivants et avaient les meilleurs mojitos en France! Nous nous sommes amusées très bien et nous recommanderions certainement aux autres de visiter La Rochelle.

To read this blog post in English, click here: A trip to La Rochelle

Posted in about La Giraudiere, France, Time out, vacation france, volunteer | Tagged bénévole, festival de musique, francofolies, groupes de musique, La Giraudiere, La Rochelle, la vie nocturne, mojito, se reposer, semaine de travail, voyage, weekend | Comments Off

Happy Bastille Day!

Posted on July 18, 2017 by La Giraudiere

La Giraudière celebrates the national festival of Bastille Day

(Pour lire ce post de blog en français, cliquez ici: Bon 14 Juillet)

Last Friday was the national festival of the French Republic- Bastille Day. This public holiday in France was established by law in 1880 to commemorate two events: the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the ‘Fête de la Fédération’ in 1790.

Every year, the festival begins with a big military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and other parades or military ceremonies in most big French towns. Spectacular firework displays are also very popular, normally taking place on the evening of the 13th or 14th of July. Apart from that, it is a day of eating, drinking, and coming together.

Here at La Giraudière, our experience was exactly as described above. The celebrations began on Thursday morning, when our volunteers shared breakfast with the festival committee in Brossac. This meal consisted of bread, cheese, coffee and, of course, red wine! It was a good opportunity to socialise with the local people and practise some French.

After breakfast, we worked to prepare things for the firework display that evening.