Volunteering In France | Interning in France

Sunday 22^nd April

After breakfast we all did different things. You’ll never believe it, but there was a break in the rain and even a little sun! Alice went for a walk with Susan and Gail. There is a path going up past a caravan site and playing field behind the old Church that takes you through some lovely woods with a picturesque path through to the lake. There were wild strawberries growing and sweet chestnut trees and lots of wild flowers. The walk continued on to Passirac, a beautiful little village with a stunning country house, church and old winery. Where there was once a train track connecting all of the smaller villages is now a walking track that we took back to the village.

After lunch the afternoon was spent in Angouleme with some of the locals at the bowling alley. It costs about 8 euros per person per game. The majority of the cost went to shoe hire and, believe me, they are not the sexiest shoes!! The group split into two teams and we battled it out on the lanes with each person finding their own technique. Some ran towards the lanes and launched the ball into the air. Some did a classy stroll, twisted the wrist and dropped the ball into the lane. It was lots of fun followed by a game or two of pool and air hockey and then the 30mins drive back to Brossac, courtesy of our new French friends Nico and Arnaud.

There were rumbling stomachs all around after that heavy work, so we had to get to the local restaurant, The Saint Bernard, in Brossac before people starting chewing on each others arms! We were joined by part of the local football team and a couple of other locals so we had a very long table.  We pitched in for a bit of the wine, which is really cheap, and then whatever food we had; I had a lovely confit de Canard, slow roasted duck leg, which is so succulent and tasty its criminal at 9.50 euros. Dan chose a good prix fix menu at 16 euros which was duck gizzard and bacon salad. So far I have been impressed with the food here when eating out. Courtney has omelettes a lot and even those are really good.

The hungry group at the St Bernard!

So a pretty busy Sunday…big smiles all around!

Saturday 21^st April

Today was another rainy, lazy day. After clearing up from the party we just had to stay indoors waiting for the rain to stop and for it to get warmer. Luckily the girls had been invited to a Girl’s Night Dinner with Gail, an expat from England who owns a little house in the centre of the village, and were able to get out of the house for a bit. We had a great feast of several courses in the typical French style: We had an apero (or aperitif) in the form of nibbles and some Pastis, then a starter of delicious lentil soup, and then the main course which was roast pork. It was the best that I’ve ever tasted and served with roast potatoes and delicious vegetable consommé. After that we had cheeses and desert. Needless to say, we were stuffed and I must learn to eat less at each stage!

Dan and Paul went to a local trucker’s restaurant, the Relais at Barbezieux, where they had Boy’s Night and watched the Barcelona – Real Madrid football game. Dan was fascinated by the passive watching followed by outroar after the goals; the score was 2-1 to Real Madrid and Dan and Paul came back stuffed and happy after having the same multi course dinner that we had. A great way to pass the weekend!!

Friday 20th April

Today was Paul’s birthday! The downstairs of the old house was cleared out and cleaned by the volunteers in preparation for the nights’ festivities. Today we all buzzed around preparing for the big event! Yes, it as Paul’s 35th

birthday yet again. The first person to arrive was Christian, a football friend of Pauls who works for the local commune of Brossac. Within the hour La Giraudiere transformed from a building site into the “Place To Be”. Neighbors of La Giraudiere and friends of Paul, both English and French, mixed with the international volunteers to provide the perfect celebratory atmosphere.

Guests started to arrive at 7.30 pm. We volunteers tried our rusty French and were a bit intimidated for a while. However, we slowly mingled and the lovely locals were really patient while we tested out incomprehensible sentences of Franglais on them and kindly corrected any mistakes we had made.

Lucy, a local Expat, had baked an amazing Pavlova and Sarah, our French neighbour at Chez Moche, had baked Chocolate tart which was gone in a second (once we had sung Happy Birthday).

The icing on the cake for Paul was to see 3 of his first apprentices, Nicholas, Julien and Aymeric, who began working with Paul in1998. They had either been an apprentice or had been a stageaire of Paul and started learning building and restoration with him when he first came to France. It was a true birthday treat to see them as this was the first time since 2004 that they had all been together at La Giraudiere.

While many of the locals and neighbors left the party around midnight, Paul and the younger group of locals and volunteers remained late into the night singing, dancing, and playing pool. True to form, the last to leave was Aymeric at 3.00 am.

Thursday 19th April

It is grey and dismal outside as the April showers continue relentlessly, but this dull weather fails to drag down the enthusiasm of the volunteers. Paul declared a day off for the group so  we just relaxed, stayed warm indoors and watched a Beatles film titled Across the Universe.

Dan suits-up for the rainy weather.

After dinner at La Giraudiere, desert was being served at a local restaurant, Quai Sud, which is situated by lake 1 kilometer from La Giraudiere. Here the group forced themselves to take in Crème Brulé, sorbets toped by a few beers and garnished with some international jokes.

The rain continues to pour and the wind seems to be picking up into a storm. Let us hope that the weather here in south west France eases up for Paul’s birthday celebration tomorow !

Things are getting busy here at La Giraudiere and slowly all the rooms are being filled with our volunteers. Our first arrival at the beginning of April was Courtney from Chicago, USA. She brought with her a range of skills and has a medical background. Let’s hope that we don’t need to call on that before she goes!

So far Courtney has been busy painting window frames, the ironwork on the original window locks, and filling in the holes in the concrete walls. She did a great job draft proofing the windows in our Gites. Its been so cold and windy lately so it really helps.

Next in the Gites was Susan from New York, USA. She has been hard at work doing various jobs such as taking out ivy roots, sorting out an unruly hedge with Dan, our volunteer from Liverpool, and bringing some organisation to the old house by sorting through all sorts of important items that will be necessary when the house is done.

Dan is from Liverpool, UK, loves cricket and fantasy football, and is really keen to get his hands dirty. Looking around at the grounds and weather, it is apparent that they will be dirty very soon. Muddy, too!!

Next was me, Alice. I’m from Nottingham, UK but live near London now. I hate computers and need to learn to love them a little, so I’ve been sat in front of the screen since I got here doing photos, blogging and checking emails. So, if you apply, it could be me or one of my successors reading and replying to your emails. It could even be you one day soon!

Before Dan and I came Cullen from, you guessed it, the US! She comes from South Carolina and has the most beautiful Southern accent. I have a feeling a little of that will rub off on me before I leave. Her job here is “Mum”, which means cooking, cleaning and organising the house: a very important job here!!

So, everyone, good times behind and good times ahead. Welcome and Bonne étés!!