Us leaving our workaway gig in La Rochelle

When we started our French Workaway adventure we had no plans to visit La Rochelle. But as soon as we began working our way around France I stared to receive a steady stream of requests from hosts in France and nearby Spain and Italy, at first I was surprised and then I realized that I’d updated my location on Workaway, so they knew I was in the neigbourhood. We received and turned down lots of different requests, mainly because the locations were too remote.

Doing Workaway means you have quite a lot of time off to explore, and if there’s nothing nearby it can be a bit of a forlorn experience. Even though we had a full schedule of gigs lined up, one chateau turned out to be less than desirable, so we cut our gig short, as we had two weeks to fill until our next chateau.

Well, we fell in love with La Rochelle, and our host turned out to be a spectacular human being who we know we’ll see again. Another plus—our accommodation was nothing short of lush.

Our Workaway Assignments: Our Room

Here’s our room, which turned out to be the best suite in the house, this was the host’s bedroom that she moved out of, so that we could stay.

This Workaway gig was the full package.

So we ended up not going onto our next chateau, and decided to stay in La Rochelle (until we were forced to leave because of the Covid-19 outbreak).

We stayed in an 18th Century house that was part family home, and part bed and breakfast. Our host rents out stylish and beautifully decorated rooms, and when they go on holiday they also rent the house out.

This was the living room – which gives you a great insight into how stylish it was.

Our Workaway Assignments: Gardening

Our first assignment was in the garden, and we spent a week weeding and dead-heading the plants.

There’s something so therapeutic about gardening, even when the weather is grey and miserable. I loved getting dressed in my work gear and gloves, and working my way around the flower beds. You get a huge sense of satisfaction because it’s easy to see where you’ve weeded and what still needs to be done.

As the weather got better, we laid some slate flag stones to create a path down the middle of the lawn. That was a little more strenuous that weeding, but just as rewarding.

Our Workaway Assignments: Painting

The rest of the time Red filled his time with painting chores. A house this size and age always has a list of jobs to work on, and he kept himself busy by doing the metal railings, back doors and the statement front door.

<see the feature image for the finished door>

When the weather was less than stellar, we escaped inside the house and worked in the garage on a number of small painting projects.

Red revamped some of the second hand furniture that was scattered around the place, to give it a new lease of life for the new season.

And I lent a hand by doing a bit of painting and a lot of sanding.

Our Workaway Assignments: Sewing

I also made friends with the new sewing machine. I lengthened some of the window shades—a fiddly job, by adding a narrow strip of coordinating fabric to the bottom of each one.

There were three or four sets of tall double windows in each room, and I did three rooms.

I adjusted a stack of top covers that were going to be used for summer covers, and needed to be widened.

Then did a lot of hand sewing to convert flat sheets to fitted top sheets in two of the corners, so that they held their position.

This task was slow going, but I made good progress before we had to leave. And the working environment was better than the garage. The nicest sewing room I’ll probably ever inhabit.

Our Workaway Assignments: Time Off

This was such a fabulous gig because of the proximity to the heart of La Rochelle. After doing our five hour shift each day, we’d get showered and changed and explore the city.

It never got old. It’s known as the white city because of the stone used in the buildings, and when the sun starts to go down there’s a wonderful ambient glow to the town. Even on a cold grey and cloudy day, the buildings add a luminescence to La Rochelle.

In typical French fashion, lots of restaurants, bars and cafes are closed between lunch and dinner, so we spent our afternoons exploring every little nook and cranny of this town, in search of places that were open.

We encountered a few favorites that we kept going back to again and again, but we also kept exploring different areas of the town to see what new areas we could discover what was actually open. There was such a diverse collection of establishments open from hole in the wall bars to elegant cafes. We just had to search for them – but well worth the effort.

We’d have a few hours of exploration, and then head back home in time for dinner. We took the helm in the kitchen a few times, and what a kitchen it was.

We loved La Rochelle, and our workaway host was a memorable stay. Neither of us can wait to come back here again, and are so grateful to Vanessa and her three girls for opening up their home to us. One of the bonuses of doing workaway is that you have the opportunity of becoming part of somebody else’s family for a short while, and create bonds that will last a lifetime.

During our stay in La Rochelle, we also visited the host’s island house on Ile D’Aix.

Read about our 2020 Workaway and Travel Adventures:

1. French Train Strikes won’t stop us in our tracks
2. Toodling around Toulouse
3. Exploring the Castle at La Couvertoirade
4. Meandering around Montpellier
5. Our Workaway at an 18th Century Flour Mill
6. Chilling in Clermont Ferrand
7. Our Workaway at an 18th Century Chateau
8. Lingering in Lyon’s 1st Arrondissement
9. Our Self-Guided Walking Tour of Lyon
10. Making the most of Montparnasse Paris
11. Our Workaway at a La Rochelle BnB
12. Our Workaway at Ile D’Aix
13. Video: Our Workaway adventure through France
14. Our Memorable Food and Wine Adventures in France
15. …. the rest of our trip TBD because of the virus – but planning Bordeaux, Lille, Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam