So, imagine you are offered the opportunity to stay in your first choice spot for a volunteer holiday. And imagine it sounds too good to be true, and at the same time, charming and imperfect enough to seem real.
And then you arrive and it’s everything you hoped it would be and better.
The Plan: spend my summer volunteering in the French countryside.
The Process: join workaway.info and search for a host.
The Result: connect with a British artist named Corinne who owns a 200+ year old house that she wants to renovate and turn into an international artist retreat, book and take a bus from Paris to Poitiers, and then drive to the small village of Bourpeuil across the river from L’Isle Jourdain, soon to be my home away from home.
As Corinne drove along, the view of the countryside and houses reminded me more and more of what I loved in Provence. Terra cotta roofs, sheep wandering across the fields, rolling hills and tiny gardens, brightly coloured doors and shutters, window boxes and potted plants, lavender and sunflowers…. and the sun ever so slightly dipping into the evening sky made everything more than picturesque.
My delight simply grew as we arrived in the small town and I saw the grand viaduct, the town across the Vienne River including a church on the hill, and we pulled up in front of an old unassuming old house.
Corinne was already a kindred spirit and I immediately felt further welcomed by her partner Gilles, and their two friendly terriers, Duke and Major.
This is Duke.
This is Major
Our first meal (stewed lamb and grilled vegetables and roasted potatoes) was served on the long wood table in the warm and inviting black and white kitchen, one of the most complete rooms in the house. This is obviously the heart of the home, and we have lunch and dinner together here every day.
Gilles is a fantastic cook (who reminds me of my dad) and he always has delicious meal ideas, and Corinne loves to cook as well!! Between the two of them we have had everything from pan-seared vegetables and sausages with couscous, moules frites (mussels with fries) with homemade mayonnaise that is so good I actually eat mayonnaise here, to vegetarian curry, beet and chèvre risotto, and the best potatoes au gratin I have every had.
Right away I fell in love with the house, my room, my hosts and the dogs. I am the second of three volunteers to arrive this summer; the first is Viktor from Hungary, and soon to join us is Sini from Finland.
There is a long to-do list here, from plastering and painting walls and ceiling, tiling, flooring, sewing curtains, and furniture building/reupholstering, to building a terraced courtyard, installing a kiln, and helping furnish and decorate the guest rooms.
For the first week every morning after breakfast (and coffee, bien sûr!) I was on painting duty. The old grey shutters on the front of the house had previously been sandblasted and needed priming, rust-coat painting on the hardware and then painted a fresh new colour.
(The name of the colour Corinne has chosen? Picasso Blue. 😊)
The back terrace in painting progress.
The finished shutters and doors!
(fully furnished house) in the village for friends of our hosts, and we took several loads of items like furniture, clothing, linen and dishes to local charities and also to a “Vide Grenier” to sell some particularly nice/interesting things.
A Vide Grenier literally translates to “Empty Attic”. Every village has these big yard-sales/garage-sales once a year, and this one was quite huge and included a carousel, carnival games, a hot lunch, a free coffee and beer for each registered seller, and two football fields of knick-knacks and antiques, artwork, clothing, lamps, toys, and collectibles. Everything you can imagine (including several kitchen sinks)!
The neighbors here are all so friendly, and just like everywhere else I have been in France, the small community atmosphere of people is hugely friendly and warm-hearted.
Right away we were introduced to a bunch of Brits that have relocated, or retired, or vacation several months of the year here.
The most idyllic night so far was spent on the island at the home of Helen and Moyed, and the house that the town is named after.
It was a beautiful evening, and the originally casual plan of hummus and bread for a light dinner turned into a huge delicious meal including chips and curry, olives, preserved lemons, dolma, burgers, and plenty of wine and beer.
We sat under the tree in their front yard with their pet chickens wandering around, a view of their olive grove, the river, the viaduct, the bridge, and the villages on either side. Heaven.
This is Dolly, apparently the queen/guardian of the household.
More to come…. This is only the beginning!
Then there was our bathroom with a large claw-foot bath tub, dual sinks and beautiful shower. White fluffy towels and three white terry cloth robes were ready for us. After carefully waiting for Phillipe to turn his back to us so we could silently jump up and down in glee, he brought us back outside to see the yard and pool. Oh, the pool.
I warn you, a lot of photos are taken when a long weekend happens in Paris. And when I travel to a castle. and garden. and the opera. 🙂
It was busy, but not too crazy on the Chateau grounds. I was happy to wander along the pathways and explore the vast grounds, making use of all the trees on either side of most pathways for a little shade. 
It was a hot day! The line up for the gelato stand was neverending, from the moment I arrived until after the gardens were closed, there were at least 15 people waiting. 
The garden and grounds are free to explore, and there are some amazingly tranquil spots next to all the water features, fountains, and fields. 
On this particular day (or weekend, perhaps?) there were several groups of dancers around the south end of the grounds, dressed in simple black clothing, and doing very modern dance in three separate locations, to recorded instrumental/electronic music. It was interesting, and reminded me of the part in the movie White Christmas, where Danny Kaye dances with those women in purple dresses to a piece called “Choreography”. I watched all three groups and then decided to explore the castle. To get in to see the Chateau was actually the longest line up I have been in so far, but at least it was cool inside.
This Chateau is the most furnished castle in France, and the rooms that had been kept in spectacular shape were some of the most ornate I have ever seen- from wallpaper to frescos to furniture and embroidery, it was all very beautiful. There were also many portraits of royalty and wealthy families of Frnace, and often, a marble bust nearby of the same people. They were remarkable. 
After the castle I decided to find a shady spot to enjoy the garden and I sat by a quiet pond in a small enclosure of trees and bushes, and was sketching for almost an hour when I realized how eerily quiet the grounds had become. I came out from my ‘hiding place’ to see no other people walking along the pathways or sitting out in the sun. I then heard a faint whistle blown and quickly came upon a security guard on a bike, who was going around the grounds to inform the stragglers that the garden was now closed. Whoops! An interesting thing about France I have found is that all the gardens I have come across have fences and gates that can be locked, and they close every evening- so on Sunday at this particular location the closing time was 6:00pm. It was 6:10 when I actually walked off the grounds. 🙂
There are a lot of stairs in a tight spiral, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who gets claustrophobic easily. The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze so we hung out at the top for a while. It’s funny, because about an hour later, and for a good portion of the remainder of the day, it was overcast and rainy. Good timing! 
There was, of course, a gift shop, and an area inside with interactive models of thebuilding you could manipulate to learn more about the sculptures and design, using projections both on a model and on the wall behind. 
We walked down the Champs Élysées, admiring the designer stores or ridiculously glam-ified regular stores like Abercrombie and Fitch (no, seriously, golden gates and a lit walkway that makes you feel like the red carpet and the Oscars venue is right around the corner). 
We stopped at this amazing building that looked political rather than religious, and discovered a grand church inside. 
We then found ourselves at the Opera-the Palais Garnier, and had to go in and see- especially since your ticket is discounted if you are a student! Huzzah! 
There were numerous machetes of shows produced there, and some amazing costumes on display as well. Gorgeous fabrics, metal chest pieces, and feather adorned helmets were among them. Sadly, I somehow did not get a picture of any of these. 
After going for dinner at the pub at Lisa’s hostel, we went back to the Marais for a little Spoken Word Paris- which hosted an open mic night in the basement of Le Chat Noir bar. There was quite a mix of entertaining poets, and we ended up only staying for one of the three rounds in order to still have time to meet up with a friend of Lisa’s who took us to enjoy one last crêperie before Lisa flew home to Canada the next morning. After some gourmet crêpes and great conversation, we all went our separate ways in the rainy evening that eventually turned into a thunderstorm. It was a fantastic way to end the unexpected long weekend! See? Lots of photos. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed them!
Montmartre was very busy!
His hand has been worn down to bony gold fingers from all the people trying to help him out of the wall. It was kind of creepy.
We then looked around Monmartre and truly stumbled across the Musée Monmartre. I love stumbling across things- often they are some of the best discoveries on a trip! I wish I had thought to say I am a student, as that would have got me a better price on my entry to the museum, but oh well. I’ll be able to use that for the next month while I attend classes at L’Alliance Fancaise!! 🙂 but it was very nice to have an audiobook be included in the price of admission, so as we walked through the garden and rooms of the museum, we could listen to all the extra details you wouldn’t know. I don’t often pay extra for this so it was a nice treat to have. There is a lot of art related to the history of Monmartre, Le Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, and many of the artists that lived in the house now transformed into the museum, like Pablo Picasso. There was also an installation dedicated to the new 4-book comic book (or really, graphic novel) completed in 2014 about Pablo Picasso in his early years.
After that we grabbed some baguette sandwiches on our way to Notre Dame and the Bridge of Locks. I had heard of the bridge but had never been, so I’m glad Diana suggested it. Notre Dame was busy, and we didn’t go inside- though that has been highly recommend and I plan to do so later this summer. We delighted in the fact we had wifi (or “wee-fee” as the Parisians pronounce it), in the garden of Notre Dame. We also came across a British girls choir singing several pieces in the park, which was great.
I could easily create a gallery of the photos from the bridge of locks, because there are so many cool angles you can get! Apparently you write your name and your sweetheart’s name on a lock, lock it onto the bridge (or at this point, to another lock) and toss your keys into the Seine, and your love will last forever. I also found out that ACTUALLY the Bidge at Pont de L’archevêché is the place to lock your lover’s lock, while the (MUCH more empty) Pont Ds Arts is for your ‘committed love’. Maybe people have just been misinformed… As we saw a bride and groom lock a padlock on this ‘lover’ bridge and take photos of it… Do they know?? 😉
There is a large map at the gate (and we also picked up a free paper map at the main office, but did discover that the numbers on each did not match up, FYI)… And went to see a few specific tombstones- like Edith Piaf, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde, to name a few. You could often find the most ‘popular’/famous grave sites by looking for the most flowers or gifts on them. Some graves are so old they are covered in moss and you cannot see the name on them any more. Others have built-in planters with well-manicured or overgrown plants and flowers. We also saw one site that had been completely taken over by a large tree that had grown out of the centre of the plot.
Nothing But Blue Skies 