If you are a little resourceful and manual, why not go and work for a few days at the other end of France, on a construction site, for a low-cost vacation? “For me, it’s a form of vacation, but above all a useful vacation”, says Nicolas, who has been leaving almost every summer for the past six years far from his Parisian region of origin thanks to the Remparts association. The principle: to behoused and fed in a small village, in exchange for a few hours of work on a building site.
The association brings together several hundred local groups. Volunteers with whom Nicolas and thousands of other volunteers of all ages restore, repair and rebuild heritage. His first job was in Villandraut, in Gironde.
“The castle was in very bad condition because for 150 years it was abandoned. And the castle looked like a stone quarry. The inhabitants came to use it to build things in their house”, remembers Nicholas. “We have restored an arch of a stone arch gallery which dates from the 17th century. A stone arch gallery looks a bit like a vaulted gallery.”
Nicolas learns the basics of carpentry and stone cutting on the job. And in exchange for his work, he pays nothing on the spot. At the time, Nicolas was followed by Pôle Emploi and a Local Mission, which helped him to train and find internships. They are the ones who cover the minimal costs for this two-week project. “I know that the other people had to pay 100, 150 euros and it was all inclusive, accommodation, food”, explains the Francilien.
A few outingson a lake and a leisure center close to the construction site are also free for him. Nicolas even went to Italy, three weeks in the region of Rome, for archaeological digs. “I had a little help but otherwise I had to pay only a hundred euros. In addition to a train ticket because I wanted to go there by sleeper train.”
“It allowed me to travel differently, to learn things that I didn’t necessarily think I would be interested in. If I had been told that I was going to cut stone, and dig in the moat of a castle, I would have opened my eyes wide. I am grateful to have benefited from this, it allowed me to find my way.”
Nicolas, member of the Remparts associationat franceinfo
A vocation was born on the Villandraut construction site, in Gironde, where Nicolas showed tourists around the castle. That’s where it clicked. Since then, he has since obtained a professional license as a guide-lecturer, and today supervises construction sites for the Remparts association.