Summer Volunteer Barbara’s First Blog Post

La Giraudiere’s first summer volunteer Barbara from the UK.

On Friday 20th June I arrived at Chalais Gare to meet Paul, my host for three weeks as a summer volunteer at La Giraudiere. Oh, and not forgetting Sidney, the Labrador; we became friends at once.

I’m Barbara (or Babs) from the UK. Originally from Sunderland; if you know English football you’ll more than likely have heard of the place. If not, it’s in the North East of England, near Newcastle.

I’ve spent the last five years living in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire working in arts marketing and events. I recently quit my job to spend time travelling and writing, and to start working freelance.

I found out about La Giraudiere a few years ago, whilst browsing the internet for summer volunteer opportunities in France and Europe. For the past few years I’ve visited France, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Spain numerous times; and as I love to travel, I thought a volunteer working holiday would be the perfect opportunity to spend a longer period abroad, and to explore an area of France I was yet to discover.

It was a few years before I eventually got round to applying for a volunteer place, but finally I decided it was time to move on from my current job and explore new opportunities. And everyone told me I should do it while I am young. (Well, young-ish anyway!)

Getting To La Giraudiere

It was a very warm and sunny afternoon on the day I arrived, from Nice after a night spent in Bordeaux. I’d spent just over a week on the Cote d’Azur to get my feet on the ground in France – visiting Nice, Antibes, Monaco and Vence.

Unfortunately my time in France coincided with a long period of train strikes, which meant many cancellations and disrupted train journeys. And typically, I found out on the morning of travel to La Giraudiere that my train had been cancelled.

Thankfully a replacement journey was possible, and I took a later train to Coutras, followed by a bus which connected me to Chalais train station, where I was met by Paul.

I was the first summer volunteer to arrive, which meant I had my choice of room – and after choosing the best one (of course) I spent a few hours that afternoon settling in and relaxing with a book (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) in the shade.

Paul’s Labrador Sidney was there to meet the first summer volunteer.

After dinner, Paul introduced me to his friends and neighbours Dave and Sylvie, and we walked the short distance to Brossac village where we had dessert at Saint Bernard, one of the lovely bar-restaurants in the village. We walked back to La Giraudiere taking in the wonderful sunset – typically I forgot my camera, but I’ll get a photo next time!

I’m looking forward to meeting the next summer volunteers when they arrive this week.