After our Italian holiday we got back to work in France. We had an overnight 12 hour bus ride out of Milan. It was pouring rain the entire time and the bus was full of characters but we managed to get some shut eye and arrived in Narbonne the following afternoon. We were picked up by our hostess Julia and her son Dominic at the station. Dominic was visiting and had 3 friends with him from London, they were winding down from a holiday, leaving the following day. So our first day at Château Ventenac was spent out on the beautiful patio playing games and enjoying the sun with 4 very fun and funny Londoners our age.
When we were shown to our room (above) we were so excited to be able to stay in one of the rooms usually rented to guests, it was a gorgeous room with windows overlooking the garden! The view from one of our windows (below)
The Château Ventenac is a lovely B&B and education center in the town of Ventenac on the Canal du Midi.
The town is quite small but has a little bakery, 2 restaurants and a winery, conveniently located next door…
After our 5 hours of work each day we would either walk around the town or take the bikes out an bike along the canal or to a nearby town. Here are a few photos from around town…
Here are some photos from the nearby town of Canet…
Looking across the canal at the Château and gardens, plus one of the many cool boats we saw during our stay…
The patio was bursting with wisteria! It smelled heavenly and provided nice shade we had our lunch there just about every day!
We had a lot of outdoor work at the Château, helping the hosts to prepare for the spring and summer seasons when they will have classes or rent the entire place out to vacationers. I sanded and stained all the wood patio furniture, sparking inspiration to refinish some pieces of furniture when we return home, can’t wait to refinish the coffee table!
John was put to work in the garden, above is the grotto, he helped to clean it up and put in the rocks as a floor so that it can be made into a space for guests once a table and chairs is added. He also patched turf on the lawns, layed down mulch and wood chips and carried countless buckets of rocks to fill in spaces that needed it. I weeded so much that I was tempted to continue weeding the weeds coming out of cracks in the concrete in town, after work. We also painted some rooms in the house. My favorite daily assignment, and perhaps the most important, was to walk along the canal to the Boulangerie to buy fresh baguettes every morning. I loved this daily ritual!
Some after work activities; ping pong, taking photos around the property, sightseeing around town, biking on the canal and simply laying in bed after dinner drinking wine and reading!
This was our last Workaway and it was the most posh atmosphere of them all. The Languedoc region of France is lovely, rolling hills of vineyards, the canal and plenty of sun. A great way to end our workaway experience and welcome the warmer months to come!
sierrajohnrambleon 