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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
13 Oct 2024
Reply rate
93.8 %
Usually responds within 8 days
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Description
Hi there!
Our family started to settle at this place 31 years ago. As permanent resident, there is Thomas, Polly, Lucien, Louise, Hector and Patoche our little and smelly dog.
The house has always been open, and workaway is for the perfect way for us to carry on sharing nice work, in a nice place, with nice people!
The old farm where we live is 4 kms away from the next little village. Lost in the forest and very calm. There are many little rivers flowing around and wild footpaths to explore.
We are taking care of some non-commercial activities :
- A permaculture garden : Raised Beds, and a giant (120m2) Geodesic Greenhouse
- An community pub (pub associatif) called The Petticoat, but only on Friday evenings in the winter
Here, we are mainly gardening, doing some wood work and there are a lot of side tasks we have to do (repair/build things, clean, cook, childcare etc). The target now is sustainability for the place or at least decrease our consumption of energy (produce our own if possible) and being able to produce more food all year long.Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity WorkArt ProjectsHelp with Eco ProjectsGardeningDIY and building projectsAnimal CareFarmstay helpBabysitting and creative playCreating/ Cooking family mealsGeneral MaintenanceUN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will be lost in the pine forest surrounded by wildlife, the daily feeling of sharing a place where, only two generations before, there were no machines.
Then discover how we deal with it now, in the 21th century. What we choose to do here and there to adapt to the place, making life as nice as possible without destroying the living potential of it all, and as possible, make it grow !
There will be technical points in what you will learn here, ideas about permaculture, woodwork but the most important is the people you will meet.
As I have been running a "Discovery Farm" during years I'm also able to give many information about the area, historic details about this very special french desert now planted with a forest and about the people trying to live there.
And there's also the people, a bunch of friends around my farm, collected after 30 years spent at the same place.
If you come here, you will also be connected to a recycling second hand shop that I'm taking care of. This charity place gives jobs to 13 people, you can find there all you need (cloths, bicycles, furniture...) for very cheap prices. As I build this activity 15 years ago, you will be at the good place to learn about how it's works.
I don't know how to end this....may this place is just something that will surprise you, as it surprise me for a while!Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We usually host 1-3 people at the same time, to have an independent and friendly team.
Right now the tasks we have to do during the next month are:
- prepare things for a festival (compost toilets, sign posts, benches, decorations)
- build a new barn for the new sawmill
- gardening (maintenance, cleaning, soil preparation, pruning etc.)
- renovate an ancient and beautiful house (big task!!)
We can and will make lists together of all the tasks we have to do, but we also welcome any initiative or idea if you have any!
We are harvesting knowledge around permaculture, and we would be glad to welcome someone with those skills.
We only accept a minimum stay of two weeks, less is not really enough for both of us (workawayer and host) to know each other, appreciate the place and the people.
And please, think twice before validate a stay, because a great number of person changes their mind at the last moment, and it really doesn't help or even respect the minimum of organisation we need!!Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: BeginnerAccommodation
We have a mix of options for accommodation: we have one double room in a shared house, and also the option of a big (25m2) caravan for extra beds, depending on how many people are staying here at the time. Workaways often stay in their campervans, and we also can welcome tents. There is an outdoor shower and plenty of kitchens! We sometimes share meals and sometimes don't – it depends on the rhythm of the day and the needs of everyone!
What else ...
Sorry for this, but our friends cats and dogs are not allowed here, it's not negociable: we're fitted with a large wild life around!
Fifteen minutes from here, one of my friends runs a little rootsy surf school in a wild place...just to say :)
Location is between Bayonne and Bordeaux.
The train station next to here is Morcenx, beach at 20 kms (40min by bike).A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
The path to reach the farm is sandy and narrow but it is possible in a campervan.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
25 hours max :)
Feedback (40)
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Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(4.8)
We mostly helped with the preparations of the festival following the rithm of the people and ours.
The festival has been such a blast and the perfect way to… read more
Thank you.
ça m'a donné envie de continuer !
Ce fût 2 semaines riches en rencontres en échanges et en apprentissages. C'est un endroit magnifique et très reposant.
J'ai pu aider pour l'ouverture de leur pub, le petticoat, et j'ai adoré participer à ce… read more
J'aurai mis des étoiles en plus pour l'esprit de participation !
Bonnes routes à vous trois, je vous recommande chaudement à tous les hôtes, et bien sur, vous êtes les bienvenus si vos chemins repassent dans le coin !
Even if it wasn't the most active months of the year, she made the food, cleaned an enormous amount of garbage, repaired stuff in… read more
They live in the most magical place ever: woods of pine trees, oak trees and ferns with streams, ponds, lakes, a little waterfall, mushrooms and lots of wild boar footprints. There are hidden tree houses over streams, a hot shower overlooking the woods, a gigantic… read more
Les amoureux de la nature et de découvertes trouveront ce qu'ils cherchent 👌
I had an amazing time during a month in autumn at the place. The volunteers’ house is just perfect, the atmosphere is super chill and… read more
I've cooked a hell of a lot of food and preserved some different stuff for winter. I hope to be back as soon as possible to enjoy all that more… read more
You're welcome here any time Fredi !!
I hope to see you again one day, and wish you all the best !
Thomas has lived on the farm for nearly 29 years now. He knows the area and everyone who lives around and has a A LOT of ideas and projects… read more
We apologize for taking so long to write your review! One thing leads to the next and before we knew it, time got the best of us.
So, to all of you who are looking for a host in SW France, Thomas is a highly recommended, balanced person. He is kind and carries a sense of pride in his country and his work. He is hilarious, once you get to… read more
They did a lot around the house, taking care of the place more than I do, and I'm sure I will discover nice things… read more
Help at work and sunsets on the ocean shared make this time a very good one, just like we all like to live !
Thanks Doris for choosing this place, you made this summer peacefull and happy, I wish you plenty of good… read more
You made a real warm sweet home with this living van, and it was really cool to share your nice cooking and nice soul during those two weeks !
I recommand Annelise to any host, she's a full time-ready to go-smiling one, very preciou in a team !
I absolutely recommand Linn as a very nice smiling and ready-to-go add in any kind of team, very independant, able to work on is… read more
His beautiful land, his amazing geodesic greenhouse, our discussions and all the nice encounters I have made thanks to him have been really inspiring and have feed my ideas of permaculture, travel, community..
Thank you to have invited… read more
I really wish you to find good places, waves and life on the road, and you're welcome here anytime if one day, you're in this area again....
I absolutely recommand you to any host, as a "ready to go" and efficient workawayer, and hope to see you one day !
This is a place for meeting, exchanging, creating, dreaming an learning.
Thank you and all the beautiful people around you for allowing such a place to exist and fructify!
Thanks a lot for being here, Bridget, I recommand you for any kind of workaway ! :)
Anne spent some weeks here. Her very high energy, smile, and will is pulling everyone on the good way.
No word to say how she's a very good ad to the house, skilled, and quick learner, good cook....:)
Hoping that she will come here again one day, I absolutely recommand Anne as a four stars workawayer !!
She's always willing to do stuff, doing well, with smile, and care to other people around. Without any push, she find herself good and nice ideas to realise. I was really happy to share this time, she's really giving a good energy in the story.
Kristy you're welcome here anytime, and… read more
I felt so welcome and comfortable from day one, thanks to Thomas and his friends. It was so nice to see process with the farm the time I spent there. Planting… read more
That was short but good ! Hope to see you again not so late. Very impressed by the way you were quick tuned, and the good energy you're spreading around !!
We very much hope to visit again and to spend some more time there
I recommand Irena to any host as a very independant peacefull loving person !
of course, helpfull, smiling, but also very curious to learn, and seems to be feeded by what's going on. I recommand Jian anywhere, and… read more
It's not really a feed back we do, about a farm, and a workawayer who spend some time here, but more...You touched anyone here by the nice way you are, taking the needed time to do the good job, with the right tool, cooking Rizotto with love, and making this house able to welcome so warmly. During this time this house was more yours… read more
Many little oaks are grateful to you, and so do I !
Merci pour toute l'equipe et salut a tout le monde!)
Very nice calm and loving person, who really appreciate nature, Angela adapt herself to the place, and this is a good workaway quality !
We had a very good time with her, and she's… read more
Thomas welcomed me and my friend to his amazing place in the middle of a fairytale-forest:)
We spent two wonderful weeks with the other workawayers and a lot of Thomas awesome friends which are passing by all the time, a genuine open house with such a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
The work is realy… read more
You were a great smily-efficient-energy input in our team, I absolutely recommand you to any kind of host !
You're also welcome here !
The work was diversified and with Thomas, Pierre and the rest of the work- awayers, it was a real pleasure to do all kinds… read more
thanks a lot for being here, with your smile, so nice with everybody , so respectfull with people, always ready for any kind of activity.
It's good to know that you are walking on the earth somewhere, and I really hope our roads will cross again.
Of course I recommand Marie to any host as an excellent, loving, smiling,… read more
Your stay was short but you've been very quickely tuned with the people around, and concerned and motivated by the work and the place.
Appreciated by anyone here, with a good energy input in the team...thanks a lot for sharing with us.
Of course, I recommand any host to welcome you as the calm,… read more
the place is amazing in itself, you have time to explore the big forest behind and you get to learn a lot of things on the… read more
You are welcome here anytime Kay !
Good cooker, good smile in the team we have here, and interested in what's going on, really.
I absolutly recommand Theresa for any kind of workaway experience !
Thomas is truly a great person who welcomes wwoofers and workawayers to share the passion of sharing.
He is full of ideas and very concerned about running the farm and his projects in a… read more
Helpfull, really interested about everything, good cooker and hard worker, with a great sens of humor, well I could carry on like this some time, let's make it short :
Greg is a very good workawayer and it was a pleasure to welcome him here. He is a real good and quiet energy input for a… read more
The tasks were changing and interesting so I never got… read more