New Intern Jacques

I have now been at La Giraudiére for three days as an intern whose role is to assist the Project Director Paul.

I have really enjoyed my stay so far, but I seem to have brought the British weather along with me!

Apart from the clouds, the internship has been unique and insightful. Having learnt the standard procedure of dealing with inquiries via email, translating things from English to French, writing letters in French and receiving one on one tuition, I have had the opportunity to experience how a real business is run and at the same time been able to practice and apply my language skills.

On top of this I have very much enjoyed socialising with the other volunteers, in particular when we beat one of the locals at a game of pétanque. And I enjoyed watching Germany absolutely hammer Brazil in the world cup. Both Matt (a volunteer) and I were so shocked at Germany scoring four goals in six minutes that we thought they were showing replays!

La Giraudiére is a beautiful building, situated in magnificent rural France, which I hadn’t the chance to visit until now. I am sure I will highly benefit from immersing myself in the French culture, and will hence be better prepared from the internship for my year of study in Bordeaux next year.

I am excited to take part in the rest of the trips that Paul and La Giraudiére offer; and tonight it’s poker night so I’ll be off to test my Texas Hold ’em skills against the locals!

Summer Volunteer’s Last Days At La Giraudiere

I remember the day I got here vividly, as if it were only yesterday. But sadly, no. Today is the beginning of my final week of volunteer work at La Giraudiere. On Friday Paul will be dropping me and my suitcase off at Chalais train station as I head off to La Rochelle for a week before returning to England.

Volunteering has been a great opportunity, not only to extend my stay in France, but meet new friends and be welcomed into the local community. I gained a real insight into life in rural France; playing Petenque with the locals and joining in activities run by local associations.

Volunteers from La Giraudiere visited Saint Emilion.

I’ve had the chance to explore new areas of France; visiting Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, Cognac, Bordeaux and Saint Emilion, as well as local towns such as Barbezieux and Chalais. You can see some of the pictures I’ve taken on the La Giraudiere Pinterest and Facebook pages.

I hope that I’ve made a valid contribution to Paul’s volunteer project at La Giraudiere. You never know, I might return one day.

If you’re thinking about volunteering in France, I hope this blog gives you an idea of what volunteering at La Giraudiere is really like. Take a look at the webpage to find out more or apply for a place. Or give Paul a call, he’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

A little update on our new arrivals – At the weekend new volunteer Sal from Northern Ireland arrived, and on Sunday intern Jacques joined us. You’ll hear from them soon on the blog.

Barbara

Latest Summer Volunteer Arrives

I’ve just finished my third year of university – studying physics – and I have spent the last year in Toulouse on a year abroad. I decided to spent the year in France, mainly to improve my French, which I’ve been learning since I was about 13.

I had a really great time, Toulouse was a beautiful city. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in France… and I didn’t want to go home yet, so I figured out ways to delay my departure.

I made plans to stay in Toulouse until the very last day I could, and I also started looking for some kind of work/volunteer project. I found La Giraudière during a Google search, and here I am!

Matthew. La Giraudiere’s Latest Volunteer.

Without any specific experience, I’ve come here mostly as an odd job man, willing to do pretty much anything to help out. So far this has included gardening, cleaning, sorting, tidying, fixing, cooking, and turning a chair into a stool. And writing this post. Plus playing pétanque in Brossac, and meeting the locals.

The surrounding area is lovely countryside; fields of sunflowers and purple flowers, rolling hills, a few little lakes, woods and forests, and beautiful views make for a great environment, and some nice routes for a morning run (if you can follow them properly).

I’m looking forward to helping make progress here over the next few weeks, and to enjoying myself while I’m at it!

Matthew

Check out our Pinterest page for some of the latest pictures of the volunteers and what’s going on in and around La Giraudiere.

Volunteer Blogging at La Giraudiere

Tuesday 24th June was my first day of volunteer work at La Giraudiere!

Part of my role here is to assist with blog posts (like this one), work with Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and help to create a social media marketing plan for the future.

On Tuesday morning work began at 9am, and I was introduced to La Giraudiere’s existing social media set up, created by Paul and previous volunteers. Once I’d sussed out the French keyboard layout, and changed it to the English language keyboard setting, I was all set to begin writing my first blog post – which you may already have read on Wednesday 25th June.

In my posts so far I’ve been writing about my first few days at La Giraudiere, starting right at the very beginning with my arrival. If you haven’t read them yet, skip back a few posts.

Hopefully you will find my blog entries interesting as you read about the experiences of myself and other volunteers. We’ll also bring you news of what’s happening in the area – such as events and activities we’re involved in.

La Giraudiere is a great place to volunteer in France.

On the blog, and other social media pages, you’ll meet all the new arrivals, see some of the latest pictures, and find out much more about what volunteering in France really involves.

PS. Can you believe I’ve been volunteering at La Giraudiere for two weeks now! Time has flown since my first day here. I leave for La Rochelle on Friday 11th July, and with only one week left I’m going to make the most of the rest of my stay. Including a trip to Bordeaux on Saturday.

Volunteers Out And About

Fields surrounding La Giraudiere.

La Giraudiere is surrounded by some wonderful countryside; the vineyards of local wine producers, fields of sunflowers, rolling hillsides, lakes and rivers. Here volunteers have the perfect opportunity to get out in the open, by foot or by bike, to explore the local area.

On Your Bike

Paul has a number of bikes that volunteers can use in their free time – whether they wish to go out as a group or solo. So, on Sunday I had no excuse not to don a cycle helmet and get out to enjoy the afternoon.

It was my first time cycling for about two years, so I had fully intended to take it easy. But my natural instinct to explore took me a little further than I had expected. The wonderful scenery led me round corner after corner, over hill after hill. By the time I returned to La Giraudiere I think I had cycled at least 15k round the lakes, fields and along local roads.

On my way back to the house I stopped to relax at the local etang, where I sat by the edge of the water to write postcards and read for a while.

Volunteers take time to relax by the lake.

When volunteers have free time, there are plenty of other activities to get involved in at the various lakes in the area, including canoeing, quad biking, jet skiing and swimming.

Sunday Evening

After such a warm day at La Giraudiere some welcome drops of rain came down. During the night we witnessed a very dramatic heat storm, beginning with a few rumbles of thunder in the distance, followed by flash after flash of lightening, before the really heavy rain came tumbling down.