When I left my job before heading to Costa Rica, I was dreaming of doing the WWOOF exchange - in France! Since I have become so interested in gardening and sustainable urban living, and love France (I was a French major, speak it pretty well - and have many fond memories of times spent there; studying, volunteering, working, traveling), it seemed a great way to get some more experience growing things, have my own intercultural experience (what I am trained in helping others to navigate), and to practice my French and learn some new and useful vocabulary.
France is also a place where people are passionate about what they do, and how they live their lives. I have no doubt that I will meet people who are really inspired to be living in a way that is not only gentle to the earth and the creatures that inhabit it - but very much in tune with the natural world, too. It should be a time filled with vitality and richness of experience; of true exchange (of different kinds).
I'm going to try to keep my costs down as much possible, and may even blog about that (any interest out there?). To start with, I have a free round-trip ticket on Virgin Atlantic (thanks to voluntary delay in trip across 'the Pond' in 2009!) that I must use by April 8th. So, my departure is set for February 10th from a Washington, DC airport. I have to fly direct and non-stop, so I'll go to London (where I have some friends and family), then go on to France from there.
There are some friends that I have made over the years, and friends of my family, too, that I hope to visit along the way in France. I am in the process of figuring out which farm (or 2?) where I will stay as a WWOOF participant - but I know that it will be in the area known as the 'Gard'. This is home to Nîmes, Montpellier, the 'Pont du Gard', Camargue, and the Cévennes National Park that I have always wanted to visit. I love the south of France, and have loved what little I've seen of this particular area. It is also traversed by some of the old Pilgrimage route to Spain, and contains Cathare history (where Mary Magdalene is said to have settled).
I forget sometimes, having so much to do to get ready, that I am excited! And don't want to forget to write... I will let everyone know that I'm posting again. Please tell me what you all want to hear about, and that will help me to keep it up!
Allez...! (Let's go!)
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