Bonjour!
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| Bonjour! |
As I begin this post its
Sunday morning 10am and we are sitting in our cosy gîte, listening to the
church bells ring out..dong..dong….
We’ve just indulged in some
fresh pain, fromâge, pâte, some delicious patisserie all topped off with a
lovely local café espresso. As we sit
here, basking in the beauty of our surroundings, we feel disconnected from the
hectic world yet strangely connected to a deep seeded sense of community.
Where are we? Well, my fellow Eat Travel Divers, we are in France. Not just touristic, cosmopolitan France from the
glossy magazines. Oh no. We are in rural, traditional France.
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| Quaint Esperaza's Boulangerie |
Winnie and I recently
decided to take our travels back on the road once more, but in the true spirit
of travel and contribution we are doing this trip a little differently. Whilst staying in Edinburgh
we met a couple of Aussie girls who told us they had been working on a farm in Spain, in
return for food and accommodation. This
means very low budget travelling, with the possibility of long term exposure to
something that most travellers seek – true culture and the essence of being
part of something bigger. The girls gave
us the web address for the organisation responsible for this opportunity, told
us that you join with a small membership fee and you can contact (or be
contacted by) potential hosts for the locations that interest you. Workaway
is a great idea. It enables you to
really try anything that is in your imagination, thus helping you plan and
execute the travel that you always wanted.
The French Connection
So, after the issues and
experiences of Egypt, plus
the highs and lows of family borne-politics in the UK,
Winnie and I are here in France. We are enjoying every second of an experience
that is really honestly priceless. So,
here’s the low down on what, where and how.
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| Fromage, Pate, Jambon et Pain |
We were contacted by a very
cool lady, who we shall call Queen Sophie.
Queen Sophie is the owner and controller of a lovely Chateau. Chateau Saint-Ferriol is located in a small village called Saint-Ferriol, which is 60
minutes south of Carcassone.
This is
rural countryside; rolling hills with grape vines, olive groves. This is a location where everybody knows
everybody else, where food is an integral part of life – where the local
boulangerie, charcuterie and farmers can sell their produce straight from the
source. This morning we were up at 7am,
and were greeted to the welcoming smells of local meats being cooked, herbs and
spices and so much more… aromas that tantilised me from my slumber and out into
the main square. We are 10 minutes from
the Chateau, staying in a private and uber cosy gite. This is similar
to a small 3 floored town
house. Our gîte is situated in Espéraza,
and a hot spot for farmers markets. Ok,
back to the chateau. It is an ongoing
project to say the least. It is circa
1500 medieval French. It is big, is very
handsome and like all handsome things…it needs work, time, love and careful
renovation. The chateau is a monster,
and Queen Sophie has been living and working on this since 1997. She and King James have recently added to
their family. Their son, Prince Guilhem
is a polite and excitable 3 and a half year old, always willing to get stuck
in! Two other fairly major elements of
this whole set-up is the two awesome “Standard Poodles”, named Joy and
Esther. Between the workload of the
chateau, life with a 3 year old and lots of dog walking, our hosts are pretty
tired. It’s a nice feeling for us to be
contributing to something bigger than ourselves. To assist on a project on such a grand scale,
to remove the load from them is awesome…and remember, we’re doing it for food, accommodation
and to experience life in this amazing place.
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| Café Espresso avec chocolat |
Now, as you can imagine the
work here is varied. So far, we’ve been
involved in everything from cleaning and organising, to babysitting, to digging
trenches and learning new skills. This
blog post has stretched itself over the past week…and it is now Tuesday. We’re in another gîte, this time a more
cosmopolitan version located in Carcassonne.
We’ve been working hard in the chateau and Queen Sophie needs our help
in this place, assisting in some redecorating and refurnishing….bring on the
local Markets! (Winnie will love
that). Anyway, more on that later.
So what I would like to do
is tell you all about some of the amazing things I’ve learnt this week. In my usual manner, I will blog about each in
some level of detail and take photos!
Here’s what I plan to discuss:
- Chateau Saint-Ferriol Ground Keeping
- Herbs – how to pick and grow them
- How to prune Willow Trees
- Weaving Willow & Hazel to make structures
(raised flower beds)
- Traditional Cobbling with “Pierre-Grilles” the
Builder
- My First attempt at Butchery – Rabbit
- Rabbit & French
Red Wine Stew with Rosemary & Paprika Dumplings (Versatile Cooking)
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| Teaching Winnie to cook |
Expect more, but that is a
glimpse of the past few days for Winnie and I. If you want to see more about the workaway website, or the chateau check out the links I added above.
This trip ranks as one of the best experiences for me - so glad we decided to get involved with this. I sit here with cuts on my hands, and a smile
on my face. We’re honestly working hard,
and enjoying every second.
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| St Ferriol Chateau |
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| Esperaza Gite |
