This 3-week adventure volunteering for La Giraudiere was a one of a kind opportunity that I'll never forget. It was a great way to experience this southern region of France. The owner, Paul, was a great host, and the other 7 volunteers there at the time were great people. Everyone in my group left with good friends and memories.
Here are some of my own memories of this experience:
-Walking to and from "LG" and the little town of Brossac about a mile away. Especially at night after dinner or a game of Petanque. The air is so clear there, the stars put on a good show at night. On those dark walks, it was also kind of fun scaring each other with ghost stories and watching the bats dart around the sky. Pretty magical.
-Traveling to nearby cities like Saintes and Bourdeaux with the group. This whole region is beautiful and dotted with small, quaint villages. Even Brossac, is the cutest small town you've ever seen. It's hard to find any part of the Charente region that is not picturesque.
-Taking photos and contributing blog posts. It was great that Paul let us work on what we thought our strengths were. If I did it again, I would want to do more physical labor. Maybe help with the painting or landscaping, do something I've never done before. Also, everyone takes turns cooking for the group, and I wasn't a big fan of this since I'm not used to cooking for a large group. I loved having dinners together, I just didn't want to cook, so a lot of the time I would volunteer to be chef's assistant, or offer to clean up. I suggest you practice ahead of time if you aren't used to cooking, and remember that the ingredients you are used to using at home they might not have at the Brossac store.
-Taking our weekly French lesson. I've forgotten most of what I learned, but it really helped while I was there. Brossac though is an expat town, so it wasn't hard finding people who spoke English.
-I went during the summer, so the weather was warm pretty much every day, but never too hot. I saw some of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen there.
Overall this was a truly unique and amazing experience, that I would highly recommend to anyone of all ages.
