French-Working-Holiday at La Giraudiere

2021-03-16T06:35:00.002-07:00

La Giraudiere as advanced over the years. From a small volunteering project started back in 2008 we have since then had over 600 volunteers volunteer plus over 50 interns interned at La Giraudiere. This blog was an early starter for La Giraudiere and we now have our own blog situated at Volunteers In France Blog

We have also just updated the volunteers website and you can now find it at Volunteering Project In France this section of the website is over 40 pages now and includes links to blogs and videos and testimonials so please check it out.

Our internships have also been improved and a new section in the website as just been updated and you can see the new section at Internship In France

2012-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

The volunteers project now has its own website subdomain situated at Volunteer in France take a while to visit the new website

and also take some time to tweet our site at Tweet Volunteers in France on Twitter

and if you are on Facebook then please take time to Follow Volunteers in France on Facebook

and you can now also plus+Google the volunteers in France

Blog for Volunteers Working Holiday in South West France

2011-09-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

The new blog for the working group presently on the volunteers working holiday in south west France the name of the blog is
A Volunteers Working Holiday in South West France

Link to the initial 2010 blog started by Adrienne

2010-07-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Remeber this blog was started by Adrienee and this is the link to the prior postings
ADRIENNES WORKING HOLIDAY AT LA GIRAUDIERE

Here is the link to the La Giraudiere project at

French working holiday

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 15

2010-07-16T07:25:00.001-07:00

July 16

Today we said good bye to Lewis. He will be greatly missed. We've never met a more courteous, helpful, and nice young man. His parents should be very proud to have raised such a wonderful son.

I sadly leave La Giraudiere as well. My experience here has far outweighed my expectations. Thanks so much everyone for such a lovely lovely time. I take with me new friendships that I hope will turn into longtime friendships. Paul, thank you for this wonderful opportunity. I admire and respect everything that you are doing here. Hopefully my summer plans next year will include a visit to LG! (I know what you're thinking Paul, but I'll be back anyway!)

Take care everyone!

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 14

2010-07-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

July 15

Paul decided to give us another day off! We all drove down to Royan and enjoyed the wonderful town and its beaches. Paul, you’re the best!

We enjoyed dinner at St. Bernard’s, thanks to John and Keith who footed the bill. The dinner also turned into a farewell party for Lewis and me. Lewis will head back to Scotland tomorrow afternoon, while I will return to Avignon, France before continuing on to Oslo, Norway (and finally the US). What a memorable night!

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 13

2010-07-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

July 14– Bastille Day

All of us helped clean up after last night’s festivities. Paul then gave us the day off for France’s national holiday. Everyone took the day to relax. Thanks so much Paul!

Some time during the afternoon, we received two more visitors at LG. John and Keith, from Great Britain. John and Keith are two very good and long-time friends of Paul. They are here to do some roof repair.

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 12

2010-07-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

July 13, 2010

Today we eagerly await the festivities celebrating Bastille Day. Therese and Lewis joined Paul in his truck to head down to the lake to prepare for the evening’s festivities. Poor Sydney had to remain behind as they had no room in the van for him (nor could he provide an extra set of hands).

Minjie and Kim put up shelves in the rooms they cleared out last Friday; while Linda, back from her “extended” weekend, resumed her work on LG’s webpage design.

Lunch was our typical menu. We were missing Therese, however, who stayed to have lunch with some of her new Brossac friends.

No one had dinner duty this evening, as we had been invited to eat down at the lake. Minjie, Lewis, and I went down a little early with Paul for “les appertifs.”

We sat down to eat around 9 o’clock. We had a very satisfying dinner coupled with great (French) conversation.

The fireworks started at 11:00. We all enjoyed the spectacular display.

After the fireworks the dancing began. While we were tempted to show off our dance moves, we decided to skip the after-party and head back to the house. That is, everyone except Therese, who, despite working all day, stayed behind to help Paul serve drinks to the people of Brossac. (The small town of Brossac had me fooled. They really know how to have some fun!)

My La Giraudiere - Day 11

2010-07-16T03:56:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2010

I returned to LG around 6 pm Monday evening where I found Lewis, Therese, and Minjie in the front of LG eating dinner (shepherd’s pie which Kim and Vicki had made).

I made an inquiry of the rest of the LG crew and learned that Paul, Vicki, and Kim had gone to Angeleme to fetch Linda from her weekend visit and to go shopping for the week. (“Fetch”: where’d that word come from? Paul's Engish is contagious.) They returned about an hour later with groceries, but without Linda. (Turns out that Linda’s bus that would take her to the Angeleme train station never came. Thus, she must wait until Tuesday before rejoining us at LG.
I learned a little about what went on at LG over the weekend:

The exciting activities starting very early Saturday morning, around 12:30 am, when Kim and Vicki were awakened to the fluttering sounds of a bat! (Perhaps it was the same one discovered by Kim earlier when cleaning up one of the soon-to-be renovated rooms.) After much discussion of what to do about the intrusion, they managed to direct the bat downstairs and finally out of the window.

On Sunday, Paul took Lewis, Minjie, Vicki, and Kim to Aubeterre, France to visit a monolithic church. They found the church absolutely breathtaking. Minjie took some lovely pictures of some of the scenery en route to (name of place).

On Sunday, I visited “La Venise Verte” located in “Le Marais Poitevin.” What a lovely village and a lovely day for a nice boat ride.

My La Giraudiere Experience: Day 10

2010-07-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2010

Breakfast was a little sad today, as we knew this would be our last one with Jim and Lidia. However, Jim had one more task to do before he left LG: teach Vicki to drive an English manual car. (The steering wheel is on the right side and the gear shift is to the driver’s left.) Jim said a prayer before they headed out. However, 30 minutes later, Vicki was pulling back into LG like a pro. Good job, Vicki! Next trip for Vicki, Barbezieux perhaps? (Still waiting for Paul

Most of us spent the morning cleaning up some of the soon-to-be-renovated rooms. This consisted of throwing out many bags of unusable items; sweeping while trying not to inhale the three inches of dust that had accumulated on the floor; and organizing the items that Paul decided were important enough to keep, e.g., old clothes, old movies, old records—yes, the ones requiring a record player—and old photos. The cleaning was so thorough that we even managed to rouse a bat out of its morning sleep.

Therese continued her work on the 4th gite, but this time she was putting plaster on the corners of the ceiling. Very tedious job, indeed.

Vicki called us in for lunch. Today she made grilled cheese sandwiches. Bruno returned and joined us for lunch, as did Rhian. During lunch we learned of everyone's plans for the weekend. Most everyone would remain at LG. Linda planned a little trip northeast of Brossac to visit a friend. I would head out Saturday morning with Bruno somewhere north of Brossac to visit with some of his friends. Rhian would also leave Saturday morning, driving to her hometown in Wales.

After lunch, Kim, Therese, and Lewis practiced their French with Bruno. The discussion became a little heated when the subject turned to politics. (Glad I was inside washing the dishes from lunch.)

For dinner, Lewis did another barbeque, fixing sausages and hamburgers. Some of us Americans improvised with our hamburgers using the French bread as a substitute for hamburger buns. We also had a rice salad and a green salad to round out the meal

The evening provided different plans for all of us. Kim would practice more French with her friend, Indira (from Brossac). Linda, Therese, and Vicki decided that staying in and resting was the best choice for them. However, Paul, Minjie, Lewis, Rhian, Bruno, and I went down to the village to play a round of boules. Again, it was “les filles contre les hommes.” We decided to play until one team reached 8 points since we also planned to have a round of drinks (and dessert) at St. Bernard's. I was certain that the women would win, as we took an early lead of 7 to 3 after only 3 rounds. Unfortunately, we couldn’t muster up any more points and the guys came from behind to beat us again. Final score: 12 to 7.

After the disappointing loss (for the ladies) and the glorious win (for the guys), we all headed to Saint Bernard’s for drinks and ice cream. A perfect ending to a perfect, albeit, hot week.

My La Giraudiere Experience: Day 9

2010-07-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2010

We gathered together for our routine breakfast. A few of us are really trying to improve our French, so we watched a French television program as we ate our cereal and yogurt and drank our coffee and juice.

Ten o’clock brought our French teacher, Celine. Again, we had a very productive lesson. We even learned “un gros mot” thanks to author James Patterson and his novel “Des nouvelles de Mary” and my need to know every word that’s not found in my French-English dictionary.

After the break, we went back to our tasks. A few of us received different tasks. Kim now had the task of organizing the office and some of the surrounding rooms. Therese and Lewis, after spending a few hours dealing with drywall, went back to the woods (in the 38 degree Celsius heat!) to cut some foreign roots that were climbing up the trees.

Lidia surprised us by making another flan. Minjie assisted in the flan preparation (So Minjie, be prepared to take over the flan-making duties when Lidia leaves tomorrow!).

After the flan was put into the oven, Jim, having been given the rest of the day off, drove Lidia and Minjie to the store to buy the ingredients for tonight’s dinner: meatloaf (to be prepared by Jim and Lidia)!

LG received a very welcomed visitor. Former volunteer Rhian. Those who were here during her stay were very excited to see her.

Rhian joined us for dinner, which we ate around 6:30. Another splendid meal, but coupled with a little sadness as we toasted Jim and Lidia who will be leaving LG tomorrow morning to head to London, England.

After dinner we prepared to head to the lake to listen to some live music. French Blues/Hip-Hop by the group Syncopera- très intéressant! We all had a great evening.

My La Giraudiere Experience: Day 8

2010-07-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2010

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Everyone continued with their respective chores.
Break was a little interesting, however, as we discussed the relevance of the income tax over coffee, tea, and biscuits. It was interesting to hear the different views.

Jim, Lewis, Therese, and Paul continued their work on the 4th gite. Kim and Linda tried to design a new webpage for LG. Meanwhile, Minjie helped Lidia sort through more of Paul’s invoices and other financial documents. Vicki, of course, provided the nourishment (lunch) to keep us going throughout the day.

Therese made dinner for us tonight. There must be something about the kitchen in gite #3, because we had another fine meal of chicken breasts and vegetables (which she covered with Swiss cheese). Her dishes were devoured in record time.

As the Spain-Germany game was on that evening, everyone gathered into Gite #2 to watch it. This night, as everyone headed to bed after the game, we were all happy. Spain won! Keeping our fingers crossed for them for Sunday (everyone that is except Vicki who is pulling for Holland—because they have the wooden shoes!)

The night was not as cool as the previous nights as we went to sleep. Sure hope that doesn’t mean a miserably hot day tomorrow! Well, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

My La Giraudiere Experience: Day 7

2010-07-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 6

We ate breakfast around 8:30. Bruno joined us for breakfast, as Paul had been gracious enough to allow Bruno to park his “camping car” (actual French word), on the LG grounds overnight.

After breakfast, Minjie and Lidia worked on the hedges and took control of the “jungle” that was forming in the back yard.

Jim, Lewis, and Therese got to work indoors. However, their new assignment was plastering the walls. I think they welcomed the change. Therese, in particular, seemed especially excited to work with a drill for the very first time.

Kim resumed her administrative tasks and responded to the many email questions concerning LG itself and upcoming visits/stays. She also began working on a template for the recipes that we will start to collect. (So past volunteers, get ready to submit your recipes!)

Vicki, all healed up, walked to “la patisserie” to purchase the fresh bread. Upon her return, she commenced to preparing the items for our break, while trying to decide the lunch menu that would follow just a few hours later. (Talk about multi-tasking!)

Break was a little different today, as we had no biscuits to go with our coffee and tea. Thank goodness today is shopping day!

Linda, our newest resident emerged shortly after 11. Like every new volunteer who arrived the previous day, she was given the day off. She looks forward to starting her work tomorrow, which will be helping Kim with designing LG’s webpage.

Shortly before lunch, we said good bye to Bruno, who was off to visit a friend somewhere south of Brossac. Fortunately (for me) he will return at the end of the week. Hopefully, for some of the others, his return will allow them to practice more of their French.

After lunch, which consisted of quiche, various salads, and the fixings for a ham and cheese sandwich, everyone went back to work. Paul went grocery shopping with Vicki. (Please don’t forget the biscuits!)

It was Minjie’s night to cook dinner. Tonight’s menu: beef stew and fried rice! Très delicieux! That’s one that certainly needs to go into our soon to be web-published LG recipe collection.

After enjoying a little wine, we settled into Gite #2 to watch the football match. Everyone (except Vicki), was pulling for Uruguay. Well, Vicki was the only happy person at the end of the game, as Holland beat the underdog and will be moving on the final where they will face either Spain or Germany.

My La Giraudiere Experience: Day 6

2010-07-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 5

Everyone returned on Monday from their weekend excursions. We were happy to see one another and eager to share our weekend experiences over dinner:

I enjoyed the Roman influences in Saintes, France which I visited on Sunday. Afterwards, we drove to the west coast, to Saint-Sulpice-De-Royan, where I enjoyed their popular dish of moules et frites (clams and fries) by the water at one of the area's many restaurants.

Jim and Lidia visited Bordeaux on Saturday. On Sunday they drove 60 miles to Arcachon Bay to view the “Dune du Pyla.”

Kim and Vicki enjoyed Bordeaux on Saturday as well. They continued to enjoy the lovely city through Sunday and were able to attend a Mormon church service

Minjie and Lewis stayed close to LG, enjoying the football match-ups. However, Therese got a little adventurous and biked nearly 30 kilometers to Barbezieux.

Our newest resident, Linda, joined us for dinner. Linda is former school teacher from the UK. She will be volunteering at LG for 3 weeks.

Paul invited my friend Bruno to join us for dinner. He didn't hesitate a second before accepting. The wonderful pork roast and oven-roasted potatoes that Lidia prepared certainly were no match for the canned soup he planned on having that evening.

Kim, Lewis, and Therese received an extra treat during dinner, as they were able to practice their French with Bruno, who is from Roquemaure, France (southern France).

We ended Monday with a round of boules. It was “les hommes contre les filles.” Therese, Kim, and I played against Paul, Lewis, and Bruno. While I would have loved to report that the ladies won, unfortunately for us, the guys came from behind to beat us 10-13. I feel a rematch coming on next week!

We left around 10:00 to head back to LG, heading for bed in order to be fresh for work on Tuesday.

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 5

2010-07-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 2, 2010

Everyone started work a little early in order to both finish early and get a head start on the brutal heat which would again rear its hot little head today.

Therese agreed to go to town to purchase the fresh bread for Vicki. Vicki was much appreciative of this favor, as she had fallen off the bike the morning before and had a badly bruised knee.
After returning from the baker’s, Therese joined Paul in dumping the trash (or rubbish as Paul might say) that we accumulated over the course of one week. Jim and Lewis continued with the “yard work.”

Lidia returned to trimming the hedges, but this time with the assistance of Minjie, who thankfully was feeling much better.

Kim, being the efficient person that she is, finished with her administrative tasks by mid-morning. However, instead of coasting for the day, she took on the arduous task of mowing and edging the grass!

Our house mother, Vicki, came up with a brilliant idea for lunch—French toast from the day-old French bread. (I use the word “brilliant” not because she found a way to use the stale bread, but because I just love French toast!) Of course Vicki doesn’t just provide one dish. To complement the French toast, Vicki made a Thai rice dish which she topped with peaches. Magnifique!

As it was Friday, so the end of lunch meant the start of our weekend. Most of us stayed at LG Friday night and enjoyed barbeque prepared by Lewis. I was the only one who left Friday afternoon to head to Cognac, France for the weekend with my friend Bruno. Vicki, Kim, Jim, and Lidia would head out to Bordeaux Saturday morning, while our three students (Lewis, Therese, and Minjie) would stay around LG and explore a little of Brossac and its surrounding areas.

Bon Weekend!

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 4

2010-07-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2010

Well, we welcomed in July with another hot day. Everyone had their respective tasks to do and went to them after breakfast.

Lidia went into Gite #3 to prepare the flan that we will have after our dinner tonight. Flan is a Cuban dish. (learned something new). It is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top. (Can’t wait to taste it!)

Therese joined Jim and Lewis today in making a clearing in the woods. (She’s in for a nice surprise).

It was intended that Minjie would join them as well, but due to a cold she caught while traveling to LG (from Paris), Paul thought that it would be better if she helped around the house. As such, Minjie, along with Vicki and myself, biked down to the bakery to purchase some fresh bread. We had to leave Kim behind, as the bike she was using broke down.

Not too long after we returned from the bakery, it was time for our French lesson with Celine. Although we are all at different levels of French, the lesson benefited all of us. Merci beaucoup Celine. Vous ȇtes un très bon professeur!

Since the lesson ended around 1 pm, we all pitched in to help Vicki prepare lunch. We must have worked up an appetite during the lesson. I don’t believe we had anything left over.

Around 3 pm, I began preparing the meal for the day. Tonight we will have jambalaya, baked chicken, and salad. Jambalaya is a Creole dish. I make mine with rice, tomatoes, and sometimes as many as three different kinds of meats: sausage, chicken, and shrimp (if you want to call shrimp a meat). Today I just used sausage. Of course, being in France, or rather, at LG, I had to improvise a little. I didn’t fret too much over it, as it occurred to me that everyone who cooked this week had to improvise and their dishes came out fabulous, so I hoped for the best.

We ate dinner a little earlier tonight to attend a concert down by the lake. I was pleased when everyone complimented me on the jambalaya. They seemed to really enjoy it. However, it was the flan that stole the limelight from the jambalaya! The flan itself was just beautiful. The taste of it was even better. (You know something is really good when you involuntarily make the “MMMM” sound every time you take a bite).

With such wonderful meals this week, Paul suggested an LG Cookbook, featuring the dishes cooked by the temporary residents. C’est une bonne idée, Paul!”

After dinner we all got ready to hear the live music down at the lake. (Poor Minjie stayed behind to nurse her cold). The music was very nice.

Equally as nice was the cool temperature. I actually needed a sweater that evening. We left the concert around 11 to head back home for a good night’s rest so that we could be fresh for tomorrow’s work.

My La Giraudiere Experience - Day 3

2010-07-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2010

Another cool morning today, followed by the unbearable heat. Today the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius (92 degrees Fahrenheit). In other words, very very hot.
I was up and out by 8. I joined Paul, Lydia, and Jim for breakfast. Lewis joined us a little later, followed by Kim, and finally Vicki. Minjie and Therese were still asleep, still exhausted from their trip the day before.

After breakfast, Jim and Lewis put on their suit of armor (long-sleeves, gloves, and hat) to tackle the woods—mainly the underbrush and the thorns. Their job for the day (and perhaps the remainder of the week) is to make a clearing in the woods. The shade from the trees and lots of cold water saved them from getting overheated. However, they weren’t so lucky when they came up against the thorns. They returned from their work with a few pricks. C’est dommage!

Lidia decided that she would trim the hedges. She soon realized this task was a very tall order. Being 5’ 2” (give or take half an inch) and sans ladder, she could not reach some of the highest parts of the bushes. Thus, she switched her task to trimming the patch of grass that she cut the day before. I’m not so sure, however, if this was an easier task, as she trimmed the grass with a pair of scissors—a painstaking job indeed. However, we now have nicely manicured grass leading to gite #2.

After our 10:30 break, Vicki and I biked down to the village to the butcher’s to purchase some chicken for tomorrow’s dinner that I will be making (Yikes!). After packaging up the chicken, the butcher offered some advice on how to cook the chicken (add a little oil, salt, pepper, and bake at 200 degrees Celsius). Très gentil!

We ate lunch again outside. However, the sun was bearing down on us a little more today due to the fact that we did not have as much shade today because we ate a little later than the day before. However, the heat couldn’t keep us from enjoying the leftover pork roast that Kim made the other day. This time we had it cold. You could put a gun to my head and I wouldn’t be able to tell you which way is better.

Shortly after lunch, Paul left to attend the funeral of his very dear friend. Vicki went to prepare the dinner—beef stroganoff. Everyone else went back to their respective tasks.

Paul, along with the cool breeze and shade had returned in time for dinner. Conversation was good and steady as we ate Vicki’s wonderful meal.

After dinner, Paul took Minjie and Therese down to St. Bernard’s to introduce them to some of the locals. Lewis also joined them. They returned about 10:00 that night and found their way into their respective gites to get ready for work the next day.

My La Giraudière Experience - Day 2

2010-06-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2010

Today was my first full day at La Giraudière. My name is Monica Armstrong. I arrived at LG on Monday, June 28. I live in Lithonia, Georgia (USA). This week marks my 7th week in France. I spent the first 4 weeks in the south of France (Roquemaure) living with a French family and teaching them English. The last two weeks I spent in Paris sharing an apartment with my friend and celebrating my 40th birthday. La Giraudière is the last leg of my French adventure and I am looking forward to a great experience.

The day started out nice and cool. This was great for Bob and his two granddaughters, Rachel and Kathyrne, who left this morning around 7:45. They will drive to Spain and from there fly home to their respective states of North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. By 10:30, however, the cool morning was replaced by exhausting heat thanks to the hot mid-morning sun. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze blowing, so those who were able to work in the shade or indoors, with the front and back doors open, weren’t feeling too bad. However, Paul and Lewis, who spent a good part of the day spraying the yard with weed killer, were not so fortunate.

Vicki spent her morning cleaning up the gite where Bob and his granddaughters stayed for 3 weeks. Afterwards, she prepared the items for the 10:30 break (coffee, tea, and biscuits (which are known as cookies in the US)).

Although Jim and Lidia had the day off (after coming back from a 2-week vacation in Spain and Portugal), Lidia grew a little restless not doing anything, so she decided to mow the small patch of grass in front of the gites. What a mighty fine job she did.

Lunch, prepared by Vicki, consisted of an assortment of salads: potato salad, carrot salad, beet salad, and garden salad. Ham and cheese slices, and couscous (or taboulé, as the French call it) accompanied the salads. We ate lunch in the courtyard since the shade and the breeze made it bearable.

It was Kim’s day to fix dinner. She made a pork roast. While she originally planned to make shredded pork, it became a pork roast when the meat was done in just 2 hours. Sometimes the best things come from the unexpected. Kim’s pork roast was outstanding. Vicki made delicious oven-roasted potatoes and a fruit salad to go along with the pork. Our vegetable for the dinner was green beans.

Two new people joined us at dinner, Minjie Li from Guandong, China and Therese Lothe from Voss, Norway (currently living in Lancaster, UK). They are 20 and 22, respectively. Both are college/university students. Minjie’s stay will be three weeks, while Therese will be here for 6. They are staying with me in Gite #3 (la Cave). Since I am old enough to be their mother, that will be the role that I shall take.

After dinner most everyone went into Gite #2 (la cour) to watch the football (soccer) match. Spain vs. Portugal. A good match-up indeed. (Spoiler alert: Spain won). By 11:00 (23:00), everyone was in their respective gites ready for bed, anticipating another great day at La Giraudière.