Description
Hi , we are Tiphaine and Stephanie, a couple of french women in their thirties with a 5 years girl named Lou.
After knowing this place for a long time, we have settled 5 years ago in the beautiful countryside of Castelnau Montratier (Lot) and bought an old farm we have renovated. We love animals and nature : we have a vizsla dog, a horse and a shetland pony.
Stephanie's project is based on saffron culture and permaculture. Tiphaine works from a home-office.
Only Tiphaine speaks English fluently. English courses as conversation would be appreciated for Stephanie.
We are open minded, easy to meet, joyful, interested in culture exchanges and like to learn from each other

We are looking for general help with the animals, the garden, the woods, in and around the house : but it is mostly outdoor works !

Hoping to meet you...
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Gardening
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
It would be nice if you are interested in the French culture, the landscape and the French language as part of the French way of life.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
There is a variety of tasks such as : (it depends on the weather and season)
- help with the horses : feeding, piking up manure, riding (if you like it), cleaning the stable,
- help with the saffron cuture: planting bulbs, weeding, picking flowers
- DIY: painting, sanding, building
- gardening: clearing and cutting the wood, brushcutting, grass cutting, watering, create a permaculture garden
- babysitting :
- language practice : english conversation

we share the house cleaning task (cooking, washing...)

We expect you to work 5 hours a day, 5days a week.
the work might be physical. we are looking for a energetic, self motivated, practical and quickly learning person, who likes to work ! You should easily adapt to new surroundings and love to work outdoors in all weathers (whether rain or hot). Most of the jobs you have to do on your own, some of the volunteer work is done in the team. so it is better to host a couple or two friends.
if you have any abilities or experience in gardening and permaculture it's a good add !
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
We make available for you a confortable bedroom with WiFi and your own bathroom.
What else ...
There is not much public transportation. it is better if a have your own car. We have bikes available to explore the area. There are some lovely places to go on walks. We can take you to and from our nearest town and you are welcome to join us on trips to other towns when possible.
We gladly take you to see some beautiful and historic places in the area, hiking, horse riding.
It is very quite and calm. To be happy here you must love nature. If you look for peace and tranquility, if you like to walk or bike, and if you enjoy to be with animals, it could be a good place for you.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
4/5 heures par jour max, 5 j/sem.

Host ref number: 639268312813

Feedback (5)

9 Dec 2020

Left by host for Workawayer (Eva)

Whoever host Eva is very lucky ! We really enjoyed meeting Eva. She fit perfectly in our family from day one and we missed her when she left ! She a quiet force always smiling and willing to help. she is independant and does not hesitate to take initiatives. she is curious about other people, willing to learn and try new things.
We would… read more

(Excellent )

16 Nov 2020

Left by Workawayer (Eva) for host

Stephanie and Tiphaine were the best hosts I could imagine having, and this was my first work away experience. They were very communicative with me, yet also helped me a lot with my French (which is a very beginner level). I stayed with them on their beautiful farm for three weeks and completed a different variety of tasks every day: weeding,… read more

(Excellent )

29 Oct 2017

Left by Workawayer (Lukas) for host

Tiphaine, Stephanie and Lou where one the best! Starting from the first day and at the next one I already felt part of the family.
There whas a lot of flower picking but with a little friend from all of there friends it was a truly fun task.
Could practice my inexsiting french and help them out with their English -and Spanish-
I could say much… read more

(Excellent )

9 Jan 2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Jana)

We were very lucky to meet you !
A biiiig thanks you because you helped us a lot during this two months ! it was a real pleasure to have you around and it was a strange feeling when you left because you became part of the family ! Ithaque missed your games a lot ...
you are young and you are such mature person ! we enjoyed your talks, your… read more

(Excellent )

7 Dec 2016

Left by Workawayer (Jana) for host

Daniel and I stayed 2 months with Stéphanie and Tiphaine and we enjoyed every single day of it.
In the beginning we didn't speak much french but thanks to Tiphaine (she speaks very good English) comunicating never really was a problem. And thanks to the patience of the two we made a huge progress in the new language!
About the work: work never… read more got boring because we never did the same tasks for more than a couple of days. Most of the work was at the house they are currently renovating, and every day when we came there we got a warm welcome from the two horses. We picked their poo, helped to made a new fence for them, fed them and gave them vermifuge.
A very interesting experience was the safran. At first, we did the weeding on the field and some weeks later the flowers came and we learned 'how to safran': we were included in the picking, counting, making statistics, cutting and weighing the worthy flowers. Stéphanies knowledge about safran is huge!
At the building site we helped a lot to carry stuff (wooden boards, roof tiles, palettes, plaques etc) in the house or in the barn, we helped to burn old stuff, we painted inside the house and we sanded numerous beams. Furthermore, we helped with the isolation and the screwing, removed moss from a roof and did a lot of cleaning.
Every now and then we looked after Lou, their beloved baby, and after some time we developped techniques to stop her from crying (which was always a great achievement!).

Tiph and Stéph constantly asked if we liked our work, if the equipment was okay (we were always very well equipped but if there was something missing we got it immediately), they always kept an eye on our working hours and our working conditions, so there was never a single reason to complain about anything.

Once there was a problem with our car and Tiphaine offered to help with the translation and to borrow their cars, which was really nice.

A biiig plus was the food: the breakfast was every day awesome, and their cooking skills are excellent! We got the chance to get to know and to love the french cuisine.
Not only the cuisine was like in a hotel, also the accomodation was at least a ****hotel. We lived in a romantic pigeonnier, which was very modern furnished. We even had WiFi all the time in the pigeonnier and the main house, where we were always welcomed (and warmly greeted by Ithaque, their dog, who quickly became our number-one-playmate).
We had loads of nice chats with the two ladies, but there were hardly ever only four persons in the house. We got to know some of their friends and relatives and we really liked all of them, it was always a warm and cheerful atmosphere.
They gave us some good tips for excursions, it's absolutely a beautiful landscape there!
We really felt like a part of the family, because they asked us to accompany them to different markets, to visit their friends, play pétanque, go for walks with the dog, the baby and the horses (we also had the chance to walk and ride them whenever we wanted) and the invited us sometimes in a restaurant.

To sum all up: In October, we came to a workaway host. Two months later, we had to leave our friends.

(Excellent )

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Feedback

9 Dec 2020

Left by host for Workawayer (Eva)

(Excellent)

16 Nov 2020

Left by Workawayer (Eva) for host

(Excellent)

29 Oct 2017

Left by Workawayer (Lukas) for host

(Excellent)

9 Jan 2017

Left by host for Workawayer (Jana)

(Excellent)

7 Dec 2016

Left by Workawayer (Jana) for host

(Excellent)

26 Jul 2016

Left by Workawayer (Cedric & Dovile) for host

This was our first workaway experience and it couldn't have gone better. Stephanie and Tiphaine are amazingly hospitable and provided us with great accomodation, food that respected our gluten-intolerant diet and good family time. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed every moment.
We did various tasks for them such as painting shutters, collecting… read more

(Excellent)

23 May 2016

Left by host for Workawayer (David)

David was a great workaway ! We would definitely recommend him to any host!
He came for 4 weeks and eventually stayed 2 months with us. he was a huge help to us : building fences for horses, digging etc... it was a lots of outside tasks and even if the weather wasn't always good he was willing to help. I would define him as outgoing, joyful,… read more

(Excellent)

20 Mar 2016

Left by Workawayer (David) for host

This was my first Workaway since arriving in France. Tiphaine and Stephanie are exemplary hosts and made sure I was comfortable and well fed during my two months with them.

Although Tiphaine speaks fluent English, keeping it strictly French as much as possible prices a chalking but by far the best way to learn the language and I certainly… read more

(Excellent)

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Help us with our garden, DIY and horses in the Lot countryside near Cahors, France

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Description

Types of help and learning opportunities

Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

Projects involving children

Help

Languages spoken

Accommodation

What else ...

A little more information

How many Workawayers can stay?

Hours expected

Feedback (5)

Photos

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