My Volunteers Journey to La Giraudière France

While spending three weeks volunteering at La Giraudière in Southwest France, I got to wondering how the planets had ined so that a volunteers journey would bring me to this little jewel in Southwest, France. I ‘m not sure when I was struck with the happy disease of wanderlust but perhaps it was during the fourth grade.

The Parthenon

We studied Geography for the first time in my small Catholic school on the south side of Chicago. The textbook was written as a travelogue and followed ten year old Peter on his family’s trip around the world. I read with awe as he watched the guards change at Buckingham Palace, climbed the steps of the Eifell Tower and ate gelato on The Spanish Steps in Rome. I would have happily traded places with him as I wiggled in my starched blue school uniform while he took pictures of The Pathenon and floated down The Ganges. Or perhaps it was even earlier when I received a picture book as a very young child called The Land of The Midnight Sun. It was filled with happy Lap Landers with red puffy cheeks ,wearing colorful coats and hats,

Colorful Lap Landers

herding reindeer under The Aurora Borealis. Under drab Midwestern skies I dreamed of faraway places and knew that I must get there some day. Other than a tornado sweeping me away like Dorothy to Oz, I knew I would have to figure a way to get there on my own. It didn’t take as long as you might imagine, once I started saving my money from my daily paper route. By the time I was sixteen, I had saved enough money to participate in a month long student tour of Europe sponsored by my high school. I considered it a survey course of Western Europe; of the variety, snap a picture and look at it when you get home. We have to hurry on to our next country. Or, if this is Tuesday, this must be Belgium. It was all wonderful and I still look back at it fondly but it did not slake my travel thirst. It would be ten years before I returned to Europe, this time to Switzerland to work in a language summer camp. This

Ballons over Cappadocia, Turkey

also afforded me the opportunity to visit The Netherlands, Luxembourg and England once again. I would follow up my summer adventure with another Swiss tour the following year adding Ireland to the itinerary. Then life would interfere. Career and family would become the priority with some magical visits to places closer to home in The United States. There is so much to see and do there but often when I would see a jet trail high in the sky, I would long to be aboard a jet plane European bound. It would be over thirty years before I would have my passport stamped again. Two years ago, I was given an opportunity to travel to Paris to visit a young friend gratuating from The Sorbonne. I brushed off my dormant French skills and leapt at the chance. This time I wandered to points south and north visiting Nice and Normandy. It opened up my eyes that there was much more to Europe than the

major cities. A trip to Turkey the following year would intervene but I would hang on to the idea that I wanted to see more of rural France. However, a major trip abroad was putting a strain on the pocket book.

Sunflowers of La Giraudière

I took on a part time job and started researching volunteer possibilities in France. This happily brings me to La Giraudière.

Name your poison and there is most likely a volunteer opportunity to meet your needs. I was attracted to the somewhat communal setting of English and French speakers in rural France. It’s location in Sud Ouest had great appeal as it was an area I was unfamiliar with and knew it would yield great surprises. I have not been disappointed in that regard.

My visit to Bordeaux revealed a beautiful ancient city brimming with gorgeous architecture, delicious dining spots and a fascinating history dating back to prehistoric times.

Forays to the Atlantic Coast delighted with beach resorts that rival the Cote D’Azur but with less people. I have to thank my literary fourth grade friend Peter for opening the doors to such vast fields of exploration. I don’t know if my travels will bring me back to La Giraudière ; after all Peter made it all around the world. I still have other continents to conquer.

Travel writer Terence Cremin describes his experiences while volunteering at La Giraudière, France