Volunteering In France | Interning in France

A lovely weed-free garden!

As soon as the sun pierced the sky, the guys already had blood on their hands as they painted part of the floor in Gite 4 while Hiroko has been slaving away with her new role as Mum. Later in the day, backed by American and Russian troops, the English recuperated the lost part of the gardens of La Giraudiere while the food rations were parachuted down by Japanese planes. When the dust died down, everyone sat down together and enjoyed a well deserved English roast to mark their success of the battle against the weeds.

Irvin, Hugh and Mark on the drawbridge

This morning, Paul took Hugh, Mark, Irvin, Hiroko and Emily down to Chalais market. After eating chichi and having a gander round the stalls, Hiroko went off to do the shopping for Paul while the rest of us decided to stop for a coffee up at Chalais castle which, according to unknown sources, has the only working drawbridge in Europe! The castle used to be open to the public, but over the past few years, parts of the castle has been sold to various people and so the public are no longer able to go inside. You can however have a look around outside and enjoy a delicious meal at the extremely popular restaurant.

In the evening, Paul rustled up some great cassoulet on toast for us all before we headed down for boules. It was the two newcomer’s first time and after a couple of games they got quite good. Paul as usual wound up the locals when him and Hugh went from drastically loosing to successfully winning. It just goes to show anything can happen during a game of pétanque!

Sunday was a sad day here at LG as we said goodbye to Hollie and Vanessa. It’s been a great three weeks with them and we hope to see them again next year. As Paul went to the station to drop them off, he also went to pick up another newcomer Mark from England.

Brossac lake

Seeing as it was another hot day at LG, we decided to spend the afternoon at Brossac lake to show Mark a bit around the area.

Come evening time, Hugh, Mark, Irvin and Emily had a nice stroll down to Saint Bernard’s for dessert and to meet Paul who was being treated to dinner! We ended up staying longer than intended as all had a lovely evening!

Recovering from the rope swinging

Saturday started off as lazy day due to our tiring but great day out to La Rochelle yesterday but things quickly picked up in the afternoon. Paul went to meet our newcomer Irvin from America. As it was Hollie and Vanessa’s last full day here at LG we decided to make use to the great weather by spending it down by the lake. Hollie and Vanessa then had the great idea of trying out the swing rope! Hugh handled it with no difficulty, and Irvin even tried it upside down. The girls didn’t have as much success, probably due to the fact that there was an audience on a table nearby who loved to laugh at any mistakes made!

LG at Saint Bernard's

That evening, Paul went to a 25th anniversary while the rest of us went to Saint Bernard’s for Hollie and Vanessa’s last evening. The food was great and as usual, Paul managed to make it in time for dessert! The weather made a drastic turn for the worst as the gale winds replaced the cool breeze and the thunder and lightening settled in. It was then that we decided to call it a night before the heavy rain started!

Pons

The LG team had an early start this Friday morning but all for a good cause! Every four weeks Paul organises a day trip out for everyone, and this week it was our turn to a sunny La Rochelle! We hit the road early, stopping for a coffee on the way at the lovely Pons, then carried en route to La Rochelle.

Once we’d arrived, we went straight for the “bus de la mer” to take us along the sea to the other side of La Rochelle where we stopped for a delicious lunch. Before catching the boat back, we went down to the beach and enjoyed the cool water. With our free time we had a butcher’s around the shops then took another break which of course had to involve coffee!

The day just kept on getting better as we stopped off at the amazing Trucker’s on the way back, but to our disappointment we saw no massively overweight truckers!

Despite the long and tiring day, Paul still managed to make his way down to play the usual pétanque followed by a couple of drinks at Saint Bernard’s! Lucky for him he doesn’t have to get up too early tomorrow to pick up our new arrival!

Here are a few photos of La Rochelle for your enjoyment:

Gare de la Rochelle

Two of the towers in La Rochelle

La Rochelle harbour