{"id":4885,"date":"2015-06-11T09:04:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T07:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/?p=4885"},"modified":"2015-06-17T12:12:28","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T10:12:28","slug":"working-vacation-cultural-immersion-for-volunteers-in-southwest-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/working-vacation-cultural-immersion-for-volunteers-in-southwest-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Working Vacation: Cultural Immersion\u00a0for Volunteers in Southwest France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Work and Pleasure Blur During Working Vacation for Volunteers in Southwest France<\/h1>\n

Volunteering at La Giraudiere<\/a>, in Southwest \u00a0France offers a balance of activity and leisure,\u00a0pleasure\u00a0as well as industry. That is what I find so dynamic about staying here\u00a0for my first foray into France, or Europe for that matter.<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a>

The Beach at St. Palais sur-le-Mer Ideal for Volunteer’s Visit<\/p><\/div>\n

The work week\u00a0at La Giraudiere\u00a0starts on a Tuesday and ends on Thursday\u00a0leaving\u00a0four days, Friday through Monday,\u00a0to explore the whole of France- “pour le plaisir”. Since I arrived Thursday evening, my first days were channeled entirely\u00a0towards the recreational side of the week, although work and play seem to blur somewhat while volunteering at La Giraudiere.<\/p>\n

A delightful day trip\u00a0was planned to explore\u00a0a few of the\u00a0villages and towns in\u00a0the\u00a0Charente-Maritime region of France, Pons, Talmont, and St. Palais.<\/p>\n

Pons<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0first leg of\u00a0our excursion was at Pons, one of the main towns in the southern part of the Charente-Maritime.<\/p>\n

Ideally\u00a0located on the road to Saint-Jacques de Compostela, Pons\u00a0became an active religious center covering churches, monastic orders and even a hospital for pilgrims.\u00a0It\u00a0is now a leading tourist city.<\/p>\n

\"Saint-Pons-de-Thomi\u00e8res<\/a>

Saint-Pons-de-Thomi\u00e8res Tower – Cultural Immersion Southwest France<\/p><\/div>\n

The site is dominated by the silhouette\u00a0of its iconic Romanesque tower, complete with a medieval\u00a0dungeon. Perched on\u00a0top of a rocky promontory, the views from the hilltop where we enjoyed our morning\u00a0 “chocolat chaud”, coffee and a croissant, were stunning.<\/p>\n

Talmont-sur-Gironde<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/a>

Volunteers in Southwest France Visit Flower Lined Homes at Talmont-sur-Gironde<\/p><\/div>\n

The town of Talmont-sur-Gironde is, practically speaking, an island. With the exception of the town’s inhabitants, no cars are allowed within this once ancient citadel, a “walled town”. Situated on the Gironde estuary, Talmont has been\u00a0awarded the famous Les Plus Beaux Villages de France<\/a>. \u00a0 As you wander through the flower filled\u00a0streets and alleyways, you are easily transported to the Middle Ages, and\u00a0can see\u00a0why cars are not allowed into this\u00a0quaint and tiny village.<\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/a>

Volunteers in Southwest France Visit Talmont-sur-Gironde<\/p><\/div>\n

While we were there, we happened upon a film crew as they were\u00a0filming for a Hollywood movie. The inside of the intimate yet stunning chapel had been transformed and brought to life with monks and nuns\u00a0wearing\u00a0ancient garb, in a somewhat “misty”\u00a0interior. There is also a charming restaurant at Talmont \u00a0where one could feast on local French food. We however, moved onto our next stop, the coastal village of St. Palais.<\/p>\n

St. Palais<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saint-Palais, which is a city also created because of the road to Compostelam, has a mix of ancient\u00a0charm and a more “modern” flair, as many of the old buildings were destroyed during the second world war. That said, there is certainly\u00a0no lack of beauty and appeal in this thriving beach city.<\/p>\n

\"Cultural<\/a>

La Giraudiere Volunteers Enjoy Lunch at Les Quimperoises Creperie<\/p><\/div>\n

We arrived at the lovely beaches of St. Palias just in time\u00a0for lunch and relished\u00a0our\u00a0meal at \u00a0Les Quimperoises creperie. The \u00a0afternoon was spent swimming\u00a0in the ocean, lying on the beach, or\u00a0by a poolside enjoying a drink.<\/p>\n

Relais-Routiers<\/strong><\/p>\n

We rounded out our day with an unexpected stop at a “relais-routiers”, a French truck stop.<\/p>\n

\"Cultural<\/a>

Dessert and Cheese Buffet at Le Relais-Routier<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0This fun option, for the brave, was truly a unique experience. The relais-routier<\/a>, which offers food, wine, and sleeping accommodations\u00a0for truckers is also open to\u00a0families, holiday makers, and anyone else willing to give it a try.<\/p>\n

We were pleasantly\u00a0suprised to savor a complete meal including a main course with vegetables, a complete buffet with a variety of salads, p\u00e2t\u00e9, mussels, cold meats and \u00a0more, as well as delicious dessert and cheese. To top it off, you could buy a small pitcher of wine for,\u00a0get this,\u00a0half a euro.<\/p>\n

We had a full and delightful day going from medieval\u00a0and ancient villages\u00a0all the way to a gourmet\u00a0truck stop. Now that is real cultural immersion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you think you are a prime candidate to participate in and experience a truly uncommon\u00a0and eclectic\u00a0experience in the Southwest of France, visit our volunteer page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

\u00e0 bient\u00f4t,<\/p>\n

Mayra Pena \ud83d\ude42\u00a0(Volunteer)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Work and Pleasure Blur During Working Vacation for Volunteers in Southwest France Volunteering at La Giraudiere, in Southwest \u00a0France offers a balance of activity and leisure,\u00a0pleasure\u00a0as well as industry. That is what I find so dynamic about staying here\u00a0for my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volunteering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4885"}],"version-history":[{"count":74,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5501,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4885\/revisions\/5501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lagiraudiere.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}