Volunteering In France | Interning in France

As August began at La Giraudiere, we said goodbye to Jen, Donal and Nicole who flew back to Ireland and the US. They will all be sorely missed and we wish them all well with whatever they begin back home. This past week has also seen the arrival of some new volunteers from across the globe- Hiroko from Japan, Serjey from Russia and Hugh from the UK.

So what have we all been up to down at LG? Well, our Facebook group is back up and running, Gite 4 nearly has all its tiling finished and Ness has begun her first week as Mum after following the guidance of Nicole last week!

Sunday night also saw the South West host the final of the European Hot Air Balloon races and the LG volunteers went along with Nico and Julien with a quick visit to Angouleme beforehand. The night saw loads of balloons flying up together, a first taste of escargot for the group (even Serjey after some peer pressure), a rather bizarre cabaret show and an amazing firework display to end it all- photos to follow!

    Ness walking down the streets of Angouleme

  Monument at the top of the hill

 Enjoying the sun!

 Heading back to the balloon festival

The bread is big in Aubeterre

Sun-Day means Market-Day in the picturesque little village of Aubeterre and the faithful shoppers didn’t let a bit of rain get in their way.

Courtesy of Nico, Arnaud and Lucy, our team at La Giraudiere drove down to pay a visit and see what was on offer.

All sorts of locally produced foods were on sale alongside beautifully crafted jewellery, purses, sandles etc….the list goes on. Pretty little shops and cafés surround the market square, which combine to make a uniquely French setting.

We bought all sorts of delicacies (including the biggest loaf of bread I’ve ever seen) and headed to the river nearby for a picnic. We ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ our way through the food. Hardest part was trying to keep the paper plates on the table and I do think we lost a few flying oysters at one stage; picked up by a strong gust of wind! I reckon they made a lucky escape 🙂

Swimming in the aqua centre at Antilles followed and was rounded up by a glass of vin rouge in the local Brossac watering hole, St Bernards. Content? Me? A definite “Yes”.

What a super week in the French coutryside. Celebrations for Jour de Bastille were a roaring success in Brossac, with the beautiful feux d’artifice display kicking off at midnight on the 13th. It really was a visual delight! Paul and other committe members were on hand at the bar, helping to keep the thirsty crowd on the dancefloor hydrated.  Myself and the rest of the team at La Giraudiere volunteered to help with the preparation of the party and were invited to dinner by the lake that night as a thank-you.  Roast pork, cheese, saucisson, melon, bread, pate, wine and home-made cake were amongst the delights at the table. The food was great but for me the high-light was really feeling part of the community and experiencing the wonderful sense of generosity that is the French way of life.