Australian volunteer journalist writes for La Giraudiere

Barbara, a retired freelance journalist  from Australia, recently spent time as a volunteer journalist at La Giraudiere. During her three week stay she wrote in-depth articles about the project and its founder.  She focused on the topic of how to combine travel with volunteer work (she is something of a volunteer-extraordinaire herself, having volunteered in her native Australia as a guide at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Immigration Museum, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and the Perth Zoo.)  She is currently working on getting these articles published.  We will also be publishing Barbara’s articles on La Giraudiere’s volunteering in France website soon!

Barbara Australian Volunteer Journalist

For Barbara, the calculated decision to fly from Melbourne in Victoria; Australia to Paris, France and thence by train to Bordeaux , Bordeaux to Chalais and finally to be collected and driven by car to Brossac would take just over 24 hours, 21 of which would be spent crammed into the economy seat of an uncomfortable plane,  lucky to catch four hours sleep! At 76 years of age, every second of every minute of every hour of every day seems more valuable than at any other time in your life,  so why sacrifice two days to spend  only three weeks in a place you know very little about and are even obliged to ‘pay’ for the ‘privilege by sacrificing nine of those 21 days ‘working’ for a man you know virtually nothing about?!! As with most questions for which the answer is “‘bleedin’ obvious”, as the man himself would say, it’s worth it because it’s La Giraudiere!

  We are so pleased that Barbara decided to dedicate some of her time to volunteering on the opposite side of the globe at La Giraudiere!  Her enthusiasm, warmth, and homemade biscuits are already missed. Thanks for everything Barbara!