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
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