St. Michel

So we have officially arrived at our first workaway, but it was a bit of an adventure getting here. To make a long and frustrating story short, we ended up at the wrong train station and had to get a hotel at around 10:30 at night. There were maybe 2 hotels open in Limoges, so finding one was an adventure in itself, but we survived. It just so happened that our host had an eye appointment in Limoges the next day, so she just offered to pick us up on her way back to St. Michel (the farm). Well this plan was all well and good until her car broke down and we had to take a 120 Euro taxi ride to St. Michel. The taxi driver didn’t seem to have any concern for safety or speed limits, but we got there in one piece.

The sign on the front of the gate

The main house at the chambres d'hotre

The area around St. Michel is absolutely stunning. There are beautiful hills and charming French farmhouses dotting the countryside. There are also four other workawayers here; Lucy, Josh, and Sam are from England and Lew is from America. Lew actually lives in Ohio (quite a small world). We have all become good friends in the short time that we have known each other. I’ll snap pictures of everyone when I get a chance. Also, tent living isn’t as terrible as I thought it would be. We have a nice mattress, pillows, and blankets, so we don’t really have any reason to complain. Actually, I think that it may be better because I guess it gets really hot inside the house at night.

View from the back of the house at sunset

Beaucoup du vin

Our humble abodes- ours is the green one

Another view of the main house- through the doors is the kitchen

Pretty flowers that are all over the countryside!

View from the back of the house 

The work is pretty easy from my end. I mostly clean rooms, wash windows, iron, etc. Our work is decided by what is appropriate for women to do and everything else is given to the men. Jake has been subjected to more grueling tasks such as cleaning the barn and pool. He said that he inhales spider webs and asbestos all day. Overall the work is fine and we really only have to work for a few hours in the morning and then after dinner. During the day, we lie by the pool and go for walks because that is really all there is to do, but that’s OK with us. C’est la vie. 

Two night ago, the guests played the guitar after dinner and were all singing various French songs. I recognized a few of them, but have absolutely no idea what they were called. It was really fun to hear them all singing. I think they were all quite drunk, but who knows? Last night Jake, Lucy, and Josh all played the piano for the guests. Lucy played Beethoven, Josh played "My Heart Will Go On", and Jake blessed us with "The Can Can." Jake and Lucy also attempted to perform "Cecilia" by Simon & Garfunkel (I have this on video, but I don't know how to load it). It was a good night, needless to say :)