Week 5: so what is workaway REALLY like?

OK, so you might have read some of our first posts and be thinking this all sounds great, but where's the catch? How much time do you actually spend working? What sort of food do your hosts provide? So I thought I would try and document our fifth week here to give you an idea of how our time is spent. I'll also try and indicate if something is typical of a normal week, and how much money we spend and what is provided for us.

The accommodation provided for us at our first hosts has been amazing; Marcus and Diane live in a huge old farm house with plenty of space. We have a kind of apartment space to ourselves within the house- bedroom, livingroom, and bathroom. All of the rooms are very spacious and the bathroom has an amazing bath!



We spend a lot of time with our hosts, we eat all our meals with them, we work with them, and we spend time with them in the evenings. Although we have our own space to do our own thing if we want. In France people take time over their meals and eating becomes quite a big part of the day, which is totally fine by us! Marcus and Diane have a huge dining table in their kitchen that we sit at for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we often sit here chatting for a while after we finish eating too.

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Tuesday
Day off!

9am: Breakfast of croissants (fresh from the boulangerie that very morning), toasted french bread, fruit, cereal, yoghurt etc. This is our typical breakfast.

10am: A trip out to Limoges. Marcus had an appointment regarding his citizenship application so we drove to Limoges (~1 hour) and me and Craig had a couple of hours to ourselves to wander around the city and see the sights. We picked up some Bon Anniversaire candles, because both Marcus and Diane have birthdays next week, and spent €2.

12.30pm: Lunch! We went to O'panda Chinese buffet restaurant in Limoges for lunch with Marcus and Diane. It was amazing! All you can eat sushi, a wok station where you choose your own ingredients, and lots of yummy desserts. I had a glass of wine and Craig had a Chinese beer. Our hosts kindly paid.

2-4pm: We called in at a few more shops around Limoges with our hosts before heading home.

5pm: Chill time. We made a cup of tea, chatted, wrote this blog, sorted through some pictures etc.

Dinner: Pancakes! Topped with cheese, apple and syrup, or banana and nutella, whatever floats your boat!

We typically help out Monday-Friday and then have the weekend off, but our hosts are pretty flexible and we've gone out to nearby villages with them through the week a few times.


Wednesday:

9am: Typical breakfast.

9.30am-1.15pm: Work. We popped some music on and painted a dresser, planted some vegetable seeds and helped Marcus start setting up his epic train set. We were responsible for decorating the baseboard so we put our creative hats on and started painting some grassy fields.

1.15pm: Lunch. Our typical lunch is fresh French bread, cheeses, pâté, pickles, salad etc. We also had some left over pancake batter to finish!

2.45-5.30pm: Back to work painting the setting for the train set.

Dinner: I cooked chicken pie, with mash and carrots, all washed down with a glass of French red wine. A selection of cheeses and crackers for dessert.

Evening: We chilled and watched TV with our hosts. Myself and Diane are big Masterchef fans so that's our usual evening entertainment.


Thursday

9am: Typical breakfast.

10am-1.30pm: Work. We carried on with the train set; today we added a river and an industrial area.



We also did some work in the veg patch and orchard- weeding, watering, and getting rid of nettles.

1.30pm: Typical lunch.

3-5pm: Work. We prepared a few more bits of furniture to paint with sanding and de-woodworming.

Dinner: Diane cooked pork chops in a lovely sauce with roasted potatoes and veg. Along with the usual wine and cheese.

Evening: Typical relaxed evening chatting around the dinner table and Masterchef. Craig sometimes goes for a run in the evening, I go when I can be persuaded. We also use our time in the evening to Skype our parents and friends etc.


Friday

9am: Breakfast.

9.30am-1pm: Work. We painted the furniture we prepared yesterday. I enjoy painting as it's quite relaxing to pop some music on and have a sing song.

1pm: Lunch. Diane made an omelette with cheese, onion, and Spanish ham. Along with the usual breads, cheeses, salad etc.

3-4.30pm: Work. I worked with Diane and we prepared the Airbnb room for some new guests. We had a good old natter while we did it! After that we all rearranged some furniture in the house to incorporate the dresser we painted earlier in the week (the doors are still waiting to go on)!

5.30pm: On Friday evenings we head to the local bar for a couple of drinks. There is also a burger van outside that always smells amazing so this week we decided to give it a go. In total we spent €20.60 between us on a couple of beers, burgers and chips.

Evening: Board games night with our hosts! We were all in hysterics over a game of Taboo, and then had a rather more sophisticated came of Rummikub with a set handmade by Marcus himself.


Saturday:
Day off!

10am: Breakfast.

Morning: We sat on the lawn and read our books in the sunshine.

1pm: Lunch.

Afternoon: Me and Craig walked down to the river, where Marcus and Diane have some kayaks, and had a paddle up the river. We stopped at a little bank up the river and enjoyed a beer before heading back. It's so nice to have this right on your doorstep!

Dinner: Diane cooked delicious slow cooked beef ribs, mini jacket potatoes and roasted kale. Perfect with a glass of red wine.

Sunday:

10am: Breakfast.

11.30am-2.30pm: Work. This morning we had great fun helping out with some sheep shearing! Marcus and Diane decided it's still a little cold for a full shear (except for the shaggiest sheep) so they mostly had their bottoms sheared to keep them clean. Craig helped out grabbing the sheep and getting them onto their backs, and we sheared them, cleaned and trimmed their feet, gave them some worming medication, some fly repellent, and then marked them so we knew which sheep we had done. Although this is technically work, we had great fun and it was a surprisingly good laugh.



2.30pm: Lunch. After a good morning's work we tucked into a hearty lunch of sausage cassoulet, fried eggs and toast.

Afternoon/evening: Chilled and played a little more Rummikub. Sometimes in the evening Craig and I go for a stroll and check on some sheep in a field up the road. The dogs and cats normally come with us.

Dinner: Marcus cooked stuffed tortellini with homemade sauce made from home grown tomatoes.


Monday:

9am: Breakfast.

10.30am-1pm: Work. We carried on shearing and taking care of the second half of the sheep. A lot of the second half were lambs born this year- very cute.

1pm: Lunch. Fish finger sandwiches- one of Craig's favourites!

3pm-4pm: Work. Shearing the final few sheep.

4pm: Chilled.

Dinner: Marcus cooked pork noodles with spicy beans (and wine).

Evening: Pinball competition. We had a tournament on the pinball machine Marcus has in the shed. We added all of this weeks game scores to our tally to see who comes out ultimate champion when we leave.

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So there you have it! Hopefully this gives you an idea of what our first workaway has been like. I think this has been a fairly typical week in terms of time spent working, time off and money spent.

We are still really enjoying the whole experience. Workaway is a great way to travel on the cheap and it is about getting to know a place, the way of life, and your hosts rather than just ticking cities and countries off a list. All the jobs we do are really varied and interesting, and how much you see it as work depends on your perspective. We are enjoying trying lots of new things!

We have one week left with Marcus and Diane before moving on to our next hosts and we will definitely be sad to go. We had best make the most of our final week!

Number of hours worked: Around 24 each (although I haven't included time spent cooking, and filling and emptying the dishwasher after meals etc)

Total money spent this week between two: €22.60

Total money spent to date between two (including travel to next hosts): €300

Week 4 (Limoges): kayaking down the Gartempe river

I can't believe we have now been here for 4 weeks. The time has flown by!

On Wednesday Marcus and Diane drove us to Montmorillon, a nearby village. We parked up and immediately had a great view of the Notre-Dame church, river and bridge. It was beautiful. We wandered around the market, Marcus bought us all a stuffed wrap from the Turkish food stall and we picked up some vegetables. One thing you see at all the markets in France is white asparagus.

Apparently the green asparagus we eat in the UK is lazy peoples' asparagus because the farmers didn't get up early enough to pick it before sunrise (it's the sun that turns asparagus from white to green). However, I had a little read into this and I'm not sure this is entirely true, as much as the French might like to believe it. Green asparagus is grown entirely above the ground, whereas, soil is continually piled on top of white asparagus spears as they grow to stop them from seeing any daylight and turning green.

We walked up into Montmorillon old town and had a coffee in the sun, before heading to a small typewriter museum. On the way back to the car I nipped over to the river and got this picture, which I think captures the beauty of Montmorillon quite well.

On Thursday Marcus used the white asparagus he bought at the market to make a dish "as Dutch as Dutch gets" (Marcus is Dutch, Diane is English). We had asparagus, boiled eggs, ham, and mashed potatoes, with a drizzle of melted butter and topped with some grated nutmeg. This might sound a little odd but was really delicious and we will definitely try the recipe ourselves in the future!

We had a fun filled weekend, kicked off as usual by heading to the local bar on Friday evening. On Saturday we got out the badminton set and had a couple of games (when we could get the shuttlecocks back off Fripon) and played a bit of pinball.

In the evening we had a games night with Marcus and Diane and played Blokus, Settlers of Catan, and Scrabble. We're keeping a tally of who wins the most board games for the rest of our time here to determine who is worthy of the accolade of ultimate champion.

On Sunday we got the kayaks out! Craig and I kayaked up the Gartempe and it was great fun, and no one fell in. It was so peaceful when we stopped paddling- the water was really still and it felt like we were the only people for miles.



Sunday saw our first BBQ of the year, and boy, was it a good one! Bee made a Thai pork dish with shrimp fried rice, the new Dutch family staying in Marcus and Diane's gite (holiday cottage) made some Dutch salads, and we had turkey skewers with satay sauce, sausages, and pork chops. Yum!

Workwise, on Tuesday I spray painted some cast iron pots and planted flowers in them. On Thursday I helped Diane clean and tidy the gite ready for new guests. Craig has been chopping more wood and helped move a bunch of tables upstairs ready to accommodate Marcus's extensive train set! We spent Friday fixing some new bolts to the gate for the sheep field (with inquisitive lambs watching over as foremen), and Monday painting some solid wooden chests that we'd previously sanded and treated for woodworm.



Total money spent between two (including transport to next hosts in 2 weeks): €277

Bonus post: introducing the animals!

Marcus and Diane have quite a few animals and they are all such characters I thought I would just have to introduce them!

Firstly, the two dogs, Fripon (French for rascal) and Billy. Fripon is a big black softie and is incredibly loyal. He will run along side the dumper truck when we go out to work in the morning and sits and watches us in the field all day. Having tired himself out, he'll quickly nod off in the evening and snore loudly over the TV. Fripon spent years in a kennel before Marcus and Diane rescued him, and he is clearly living the good life now. He loves cuddles and belly rubs, and if you're not doing anything he will shove his head under your hand to get a cuddle.



Billy is a cute little white dog. He's a bit lazier than Fripon, so he waits for us at home while we are out at work. After dinner he likes to hop onto someone knee and have a cuddle. Billy has a party trick of giving Tom (the cat) kisses.




There are also 3 cats, Charlie, Tom and Tilly. Tom and Tilly are both grey and Charlie is ginger. Tilly is quite timid and we have only had the honour of an occasional cuddle from her. Tom and Charlie are both really friendly, probably the friendliest cats I've ever seen! They could both happily sit on your lap for hours. In fact, Tom was on Craig's lap within about half an hour of us arriving on our first day! Charlie is unbelievably friendly and will run the full length of the garden to come and sit on your lap. She will make sure she can sit on you no matter what you're doing. One evening this week we went for a walk to check on the sheep up the road, and both the dogs and Tilly and Tom came with us! It was very sweet.

 

The donkeys, Eric, Armandine and Alouette are quite friendly and often come over to the fence for a head scratch. Eric is a Poitou donkey, which are native to this region of France, and they are quite tall and have long tassled hair. We have taken them for a couple of walks to help with their hooves, but the Donkeys were a bit grumpy and they can certainly be stubborn! Craig had to let Alouette run off up the lane because she was getting huffy!



There are also other farm animals. There are about 40 sheep at the moment, lots of these are lambs that were born this year.

Two little black lambs have been born since we arrived and they are adorable.



There are also around 10 chickens. Three of these look like little mini chickens and are apparently Vietnamese.



There are three geese, one of the geese has been sitting on some eggs since we arrived so we are hoping some baby geese might appear any day now! One of the other geese bit me in our first week here so I have fallen out with that one. Every now and then when I'm working in the garden it comes running up behind me hissing. And I run away like a big scaredy cat. Craig has to escort me past this goose if it's around because the goose isn't nasty to him!

My goose bite

Lastly there are three ducks; one of the ducks is also sitting on a nest, but sadly I don't think we'll be around when they hatch.

So there we have it! A brief introduction to the animals we are spending our days with.

Week 3 (Limoges): al fresco paella and rock night

We kicked week 3 off with a donkey walk around the block! It's good for their hooves apparently. I walked Alouette, who plodded along at the back munching grass every other step.

Craig started week 3 by dropping a sledge hammer on his toe. Cue lots of pain and a blue toenail. After one very sleepless night we took matters into our own hands and slowly pushed a sterilised drill bit through the toenail to release the blood that had built up behind the nail and release the pressure. Craig made sure he captured this on video (of course!), so be warned there are graphic images in the album below!


We bandaged up the toe, and Craig soldiered on! Craig and Marcus started working on another old Citroën (this one a 1960s DS) that was sat in the garage and I helped out a little. Thankfully Marcus's instructions were to take as much off the car as possible, so I could just about manage that. I'm sure there will be more progress reports on this car in the coming weeks.



This week I've become a proud parent to some broad beans- the ones I planted in the first week have sprouted and I am chuffed. Hopefully lots more veg will follow.

On Friday night we went to the local bar in Bussière-Poitevine where we were joined by lots of friends of Marcus and Diane's; it's lovely to be able to sit outside in the sunshine in April! The bar gives us a weekly opportunity to practise our French- "quatre bière, s'il vous plaît". C'est tres bonne.

On Saturday Marcus cooked paella for lunch. We had seen pictures of Marcus's paella on facebook so we were very keen to experience it for ourselves. It did not disappoint, it was packed with prawns, tuna steak, scallops, whiting, and salmon! Yum. Finished with a squeeze of lemon and a glass of red wine- delicious!



On Saturday evening we went to Harry's Bar, the local bikers bar, for a rock night. An unexpected find in Bussière-Poitevine- motorbike t-shirts covered the ceiling, and number plates and guitars lined the walls. A great night in a great place.

On Easter Monday we went to a "vide-greniers et brocantes", which is like a car boot sale in Availles-Limouzine. The French do it slightly different to the English; the roads into the village were closed, and stalls lined every street. After wandering through the streets we stopped for some chips, a beer, and listened to the brass band. Craig picked up a very fetching Région Limousin T-shirt and cap for €1.50 to work in. On the way back we stopped briefly in L'isle Jourdain and I got a picture of the viaduct.

We also booked our transport to our next hosts in Grassau, Germany. They are a family of four with a dog and five horses. We skyped Jessica (the mother) this week and they sound really lovely. We are spending a night in a hostel in Salzburg, Austria on our way to Grassau- I can't wait.

Total spend between two, including transport to next hosts: €266.

Week 2 (Limoges): pizza and picturesque villages

Our second week of Workaway has been just as fun as the first!

We've been helping more with the garden and on the land, the list of vegetables I have planted is getting long! We've also been helping Marcus clear brambles and stinging nettles from the fields, hitching a ride in the dumper truck.



Marcus has an old Little Chief pinball machine in the garage (as you do) so this week after we finished stacking the wood supply for winter we had a game! Craig needs more practice though- he was terrible!

On Friday Marcus and Diane hosted their first pizza party of the year. They have a great outdoor pizza oven that Marcus built himself. Some friends of theirs came over and we all topped our pizzas (less is more according to chef Marcus!) and cooked them in the oven. They were delicious! We fired up the brazier and sat out under the stars drinking beer- what more could you want!

 

The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we got the bikes out and cycled to Saut de la Brame, a nearby waterfall. Here's a little video montage we made that evening, including composing and recording the soundtrack :)


On Sunday we went to a car exposition in Châtellerault- essentially a car boot sale of vintage car parts. We took the old Traction to show it off, and had a leisurely drive there in the sunshine. There were also plenty of motorbikes to keep Craig entertained. We ate lunch here and were very pleasantly surprised! Fish pâté, confit of duck, fruit tart, cheese, and a carafe of wine. The French know how to dine.

On the way home we called in at Angles-sur-l'Anglin, which is on the list of the "Plus beaux villages de France", the most beautiful villages of France. And it is quite clear why. We walked up the hill and enjoyed an amazing view over the river L'Anglin. Everywhere in this village is picturesque- narrow streets lined with quiant cottages with shutters on every window. Quintessentially French!



Total money spent between two: €20

Week 1 (Limoges): settling in

We are off! On Tuesday 28th March the adventure began :)
We stepped onto the train from Carlisle-Manchester train with rucksacks fully-laden.

From here we flew to Limoges Airport, France, where we were met by our hosts Marcus and Diane. They sounded great from their workaway profile, and within 20 minutes of contacting them they had agreed to have us - simples!
I was nervous about meeting them, but needn't have been as they're lovely people! We chatted the whole drive back to their house in Bussière-Poitevine. Diane had prepared a scrummy dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (very French I know), the first of many great meals at our workaway house!

Marcus is a big fan of classic Citroëns, and on our first full day we went for coffee in the local village in his 1948 Traction Avant. In the afternoon we walked down to the river, did some metal detecting, herded sheep, and cleared brambles.

The rest of the week was just as varied, with wood chopping, gate building, and donkey grooming!



Craig has been in his element driving the dumper truck around!

I have found a new love for gardening; I've planted potatoes, spring onions, radishes, courgettes, tomatoes, and some lemon balm. Green fingers crossed they all grow nicely! Fripon the dog watched over me dutifully, only slightly in the way.

On a typical day we have breakfast at about 9am, work for a couple of hours until lunch, and then do a little more work in the afternoon. On finishing for the day we reward ourselves with a nice cold beer and sit around the table chatting with Diane and Marcus, playing guitar, reading or watching TV.

At the weekend Marcus and Diane took us to the market at Chauvigny, a nearby town. The market was beautiful, lots of flowers, vegetables, cheeses, cured meats, and friendly people!


We traversed the narrow streets up to the five castles and Collegiate Church of St Pierre, followed by lunch in a great little café. I had the classic croque-monsieur (a French ham and cheese toastie). Very yummy!

On the way home we called in at some friends of Marcus and Diane's, who are renovating a delapidated barn. The local area has a lot more English people than we expected but everyone is very sociable and there is a strong sense of community and integration with the natives.
In the afternoon we had another walk down to the Rivière Gartempe. It's only 10 minutes from the house, down the lane and through the woods. The weather was beautiful, I got these snaps of the view over the river and a Limousin cow.


Our first week has well exceeded our expectations and we could not have asked for nicer hosts. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks have in store. So far we would definitely recommend Workaway to anyone wanting to travel on the cheap and get a real feel for the way of life in a place.

Total money spent between two: €11