Volunteering in Europe

“A New Zealander volunteers at La Giraudiere”

Hi, my name is Joy Webster and I live in the north island of New Zealand. I have lived there since 1973.I have always wanted to travel in Europe especially as I was born in the UK. Rather than being a holiday maker I found that volunteering in Europe would both immerse me more in the local culture and at the same time be easy on my budget.

Joy Volunteering in Europe at La Giraudiere

I do volunteer work for the Red Cross back in New Zealand which I find is a good way of meeting people and enjoy the general social interaction. So I started to search the web for a volunteering project in Europe and this is how I found Paul’s website in France. La Giraudiere’s website and programme was the most interesting so I applied. His response was so welcoming and positive that I knew that I was making a good decision. 

As I would now be travelling to Europe, I decided to spend some time in England before starting this adventure in France, so I visited family and friends in Oxford, Birmingham and Southend-on-sea, which is my old home town.

On 15 May I flew to Bordeaux airport then took the shuttle bus to Bordeaux station (St Jean) where I then took the cross country train to Chalais, where Paul was there to welcome me.

Two volunteers from Australia, Sean and Robyn had prepared dinner and a glass of wine and my stay began. Sean and Robyn were leaving the following morning so I did not get a chance to get to know them.

It was early to bed for me that night but the next morning the bright sun shining in my window woke me. Breakfast first, then a guided tour of this interesting project. Much work has been completed but there is still plenty to do for future volunteers. 7 days have gone by since that day and each packed with good company, food, social occasions and just a little better understanding of the French language, of which I catch about two words in every ten but I am hoping the weekly French lesson will improve that score.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays are volunteer work days. The rest of the week is free to do as you please or join in a variety of trips out. So far, I have played petanque for the first time with the local Brossacaise,  shopped at the local market, visited the supermarket to stock up on food, big time, visited the very old Notre Dame of Brossac and drank with the locals at the local bar.

The weekly market in Chalais was full of surprises and, I think, bargains. More delights to follow. If you are thinking about volunteering in Europe or more specifically in France, this is the place to come.  

Volunteers arrange Gaellic night in South West France

On Saturday 24 May at La Giraudiere, international and local volunteers will be catering for approximately 70 guests for a Gaelic evening held in the oldest part of this charming building. Work on the building project has been ongoing for a number of years and much progress has been made, but for the past few days the volunteers have been concentrating on preparing for this unique event. A bar will be in full swing, a Gaelic band playing, later a harpist, while the meal, including an Irish stew, Breton dessert and other delicacies will be served.  It promises to be a grand evening. We hope you will come back to this site next week, when we will include a report on the evening, including the menu and recipes.

you can also follow the story on our volunteers page at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LaGiraudierePage

The poster volunteers distributed

Sunday walk and Lunch French style for the LG volunteers

Sunday the 18th May 2014 and It was an early start and a bright and warm one.  We had been invited to join the Brossac Art Association on a walk to the blue lake round Touverac, with a guide. This is an old clay quarry and regenerating forest where a number of small lakes have formed.  The minerals give the lake waters a beautiful soft blue colour. It is possible to swim in the lakes but with soft, clingy clay underfoot, it would be a brave soul to take a dip.

One of many of the Blue lakes in the Charente

This walk took about two hours and we were glad for a drink of water at the finish. We drove then to an old tile works where the Mayor of Tatre, whose ancestors worked there, explained the working and firing of the clay.  The works date back to the seventeen hundreds and we came away with a better understanding of just how hard and long his ancestors had to work.  

It was then off to Chez Renaud for a lunch at the home of Monique (the pharmacist in Brossac); a lunch, like no other I have experienced.  Firstly, tables were laid with bright tablecloths under a shady veranda, cutlery, glasses, bottles of wine and water placed. From memory there were about 20 of us, and offered, firstly,  what I thought was an orangeade but turned out to be something stronger. Monique’s husband was meanwhile firing up the barbeque. We then proceeded to enjoy aperitives, entrees, large portions of steak and beans, cheese and salad, a delicious dessert which just melted in the mouth, coffee and cognac.

All the time bottles of a variety of wines appeared and somehow at the end of the meal, our table, seating five, had acquired eight bottles.

Sunday Lunch in France can be such an event

Naturally, as the afternoon progressed (three hours on) the conversations and laughter made the meal one of the most enjoyable I have ever experienced.  The French really know how to appreciate food, that’s for sure.  A visit to a cognac museum was included in the programme but Paul, Tom and I made for home and a rest.  Dinner that night was a sandwich for me and a pizza and ice cream at the local Brossac bar for the other two. I just went long for the walk.

Joy Webster Volunteering in France at La Giraudiere

This blog post was written by Joy a New Zealander volunteer

Internship in France at La Giraudiere

This week I began a new chapter of my life when I arrived in Brossac to begin an internship in France. I hadn’t really considered interning until I began exploring my career options for life after college. The search quickly yielded one unmistakable result: more than anything, employers want their new hires to have relevant work experience. Therefore, in today’s difficult job market it is more important than ever for job-seekers to distinguish themselves from their peers and gain as many valuable skills and as much experience

Intern during his travels

as possible. For college students and recent graduates, perhaps the best way to attain this is through an internship in a foreign country. In addition to valuable lessons in the workplace, internships abroad also offer a distinct opportunity to learn about foreign cultures, interact with different people in new and exciting locations, and improve foreign language skills among native speakers. However, this information is hardly a secret, and many other people have written on the subject. A recent article on USA Today’s College site also details the multitude of benefits that come from interning abroad, including the opportunity to receive college credits. So if the life-changing opportunity of living, learning, and interning in a foreign country is so exciting, beneficial, and accessible, why not go for it? La Giraudiere offers training internships in the southwest of France that develop skills vital to the workplace, offers the opportunity to begin learning or continue improving abilities in the French language, and is unique in that it offers lodging, meals, and French lessons all on site among other interns and volunteers from around the world. Take a look at the website for more information on a terrific opportunity to find a great internship in France:

Internship in France http://www.lagiraudiere.com/internship-abroad/

Steven Hawkins

La Giraudiere Intern

Assistant to the Project Director in France

Christmas day @ La Giraudiere – Christmas day was two days after the La Giraudiere Christmas market had finished. What a challenge yes 2 days after finishing the market and clearing all or nearly all our next challenge was to prepare the old house for a traditional Christmas day with a traditional Christmas dinner and there were 20 guests oh la la.

The French Christmas is normally spent with family on the evening of the 24th unlike the traditional Christmas of the UK which is a morning of opening presents followed by a traditional festive Lunch followed by some mince pies and an evening playing games and music. A traditional English / French Christmas dinner was planned for Christmas day with all the usual trimmings. The pool table was set up and there was a dart board mounted on the new walls and Max, a friend of Paul, kindly lean’t us a poker table and equipment.

We had the help of a professional chef and friend of La Giraudiere – Stephanie – for this dinner. With the shopping list on hand, we spent the entire morning of Christmas’s Eve shopping, or rather battling the madness at the supermarkets. Food preparation took up the entire afternoon, hence all we did for Christmas’s eve was a simple & cosy dinner by the telly and a wood burner.

The Christmas Day Menu a la Giraudiere

So Christmas day started in a good old fashioned manner – a trip to the village church for the Christmas mass around 11am whilst Paul found some large logs from his wood store which only just fitted into La Giraudiere’s huge chimney and even more were put aside for later to give a real festive feel to the old house.

I was glad I had that hour of peacefulness for it was straight dive into dinner preparation for Stephanie was in the kitchen when we returned after mass. Almost immediately, everyone went straight to work without even having the chance to dry ourselves from the walk in the rain! Boiling the vegetables, cooking the sauce, washing the pans, setting the tables, cutting the bread – the whole place was soon bustling with activities!on, guests, friends and neighbors consisting of a good mix of French and English, started to arrive and the old house was filled with cheers of warm welcome and chit chatting. The dinner kicked off with aperitif at 2pm, a rather odd timing for dinner but it was a 7 course dinner and would last for hours like true French dining with the one best exception we had Christmas Pudding.

It was raining sporadically through the day but it  did not spoil the fun. The rest of day was spent enjoying the feast and in games of darts, poker, billiard and of course, good wine and company.

more photos here – http://youtu.be/aMQaxoUOHHk

and here at the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/

Things quieten down a lot after Christmas and that gave us time to visit the Charente area – The charming medieval city Pons, beautiful château and river at Jonzac, the Christmas market of Riberac, the alluring underground churches at Aubeterrre, the comic city Angoulême and Cognac, place where the famous drink is named after.

We also spent some time reinstating the place to its original neatness and even got loads of laundry done despite the rainy weather so as to ready the place for the new batch of volunteers.

New Year Eve’s was spent at the local clubhouse near the lake, nothing fancy but definitely an interesting way to welcome the New Year amongst the English and French. We have a dinner invitation on New Year’s Day at a Scottish’s couple; whom I affectionately know them Mr. and Mrs Cake from her lovely gateau and mince pies.

Today is my last day of my three weeks stay at La Giraudiere, I am from Singapore and return tomorow during my stay I have learnt many things including

• to wear my socks first before my pants
• to type on French keyboard
• to cook rice on gas stove
• to appreciate weather reports
• to play billiards and poker
• that I can be excited over rainbows and starry skies
• that genuine teamwork and community spirit do exists
• that winter may be freezing with the rain and icy wind but one does not feel the cold at La Giraudiere, for you get the warmth of good spirited people around – “Thank you La Giraudiere for a Christmas to remember”.

à santé,

Jacqueline

03.01.2014