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Stay in the beautiful Cevennes mountains, South of France 🏡

5.0
(3 reviews)3

The experience

We have an old stone farmhouse in a peaceful valley in the Cevennes region of southern France. We welcome volunteers who would like to help us run our house and organic garden. There are fruit trees and bushes and a veg patch. We can teach gardening and building skills and want to work together with helpers, learning and collaborating. We share our knowledge of the local culture as well as conversation, food and fun.

What you offer

25 hours of help per week

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Free Tours: We’ll take you on tours and rides around town. For free!

Free Hiking Tours: We’ll take you on excursions and hikes around town. For free!

Get free drinks or beverages.: Drink up! Get free and tasty drinks for yourself.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Language lessons: Take free language classes at our place.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English or Intermediate French

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

We have hosted volunteers from all over the world for the last 15 years. We value enthusiasm and encourage collaboration. We share our skills and like to learn about visitors culture and experiences.

We are a couple who swapped the office life for the outdoors and are renovating an old stone farmhouse nestled in the beautiful Cevennes mountains in southern France. Our property is located in a peaceful valley, just a 5-minute walk from a small village and a 5-minute drive from a medium-sized town. 🚶‍♂️🏘️
Accommodation:
We offer a caravan 🚐 for those who prefer their own space, as well as room in the house 🏠. The house has mains water 💧, electricity ⚡, and a bathroom with a flushing toilet 🚽. You can relax and enjoy siestas or picnics on our charming wisteria-covered terrace 🌸, complete with chairs and tables 🪑🍽️.

Cultural Experiences Offered:
Meet new people and be part of a warm community 🤝
Explore and learn about our beautiful local area 🗺️
Opportunity to learn or practice language skills 🗣️
Facilities:
Mobile phone network coverage 📱
Local transport options nearby 🚍
Bicycles available for use 🚴‍♀️
Vegetarian and vegan-friendly environment 🥕🌱
If you’re passionate about nature 🌿, renovation 🏚️➡️🏡, and cultural exchange 🌍, and want to immerse yourself in rural French life, this could be the perfect opportunity for you! ✨

Activities & Shift

We share meals and arrange each day to suit individual needs. Volunteers work 25 hours a week. We are flexible about work schedules.

Activities:
There are always various jobs to be done in the garden 🌻🌱, including repairing or rebuilding terraced stone walls 🧱. The farmhouse was empty for decades, so there’s plenty to do — from construction and renovation 🛠️ to landscaping 🌳. We’ve completed the roof replacement 🏠🔨, installed new floors and windows 🪟, and crafted a wooden staircase from local timber 🪵. We’re making progress on wiring and plumbing 🚿 and currently live in a part of the house while finishing renovations in the last section.
We work hard but also make sure to enjoy time off exploring the area 🏞️ — from high mountains 🏔️ to forests 🌲, rivers 🌊, waterfalls 💦, historic towns 🏰, local markets 🛒, and maybe even a trip to the coast 🏖️. The nearest cities, Nîmes and Montpellier, are accessible by bus 🚌, and we provide bicycles 🚲 for volunteers to borrow.

Rules

We expect visitors to keep us informed about arrivals and departures and any changes in arrangements.