Week 1 - from Chez Filth to Chez Tony, and beyond...

Bienvenue and welcome,

It's been a week since I left the shores of the UK for France - a momentous week which has seen England doused by torrential rainstorms, Gordon Brown become PM and smoking become illegal in pubs. Is it just me or have I managed to avoid a really crap week? Right now I am gloating as much as the devious French waiter who has found a discarded centime on the floor of his Bistro. (Notice how I'm picking up the lingo.)

The journey began last Saturday (23rd June), when my mates Laura and Anthony waved goodbye to me and my ginormous sack (oo er) from Manchester airport [1]. A quick two hours of planeage later, I arrived in Toulouse. As it was late I decided to search for a taxi so I could get to my hostel and hit the hay - a room was waiting for me at the wonderfully-named Chez Tony [2].

Despite said hostel lying only ten minutes down the road, the robbing b*****d taxi driver charged me 40 euros! I think this is what they call in France le rip-off. I was its latest victim. I felt encouraged that I was understanding French culture already, and once I got to my room [3] I ran myself a hot bath to celebrate.

I've got to give Chez Tony a thumbs up as my room was en suite, despite only being 35 euros per night. However there was no rubber duck to go in the bath; yet another terrible example of the animal cruelty that seems commonplace on the Continent.

The next day I caught a train over to Vielmur-sur-Agout (a village about an hour from Toulouse, in the Tarn area of France) where I met up with my WWOOF hosts Paul and Alison, who introduced me to Chateau Brametourte, where they live [4] [5] [6]. They are from England and for the last two years they have been working round the clock to restore this fantastic place to its former glories, whilst also setting it up as an organic farm.

At any one time they have a number of people staying with them in the chateau who help them renovate it, in exchange for board and food. It is a farming community and everyone lends a hand cooking, cleaning and working. Paul and Alison are being assisted this summer by Bin and Geoff, a great couple from Australia who are travelling round the world, plus Ryszard and Pavel (a father and son from Krakow in Poland). I've also met part of Alison's family (Dominic, Begonya and Tristan), and Bin and Geoff's friends Peter and Sarah, who are all really cool too.

On my first day Paul showed me round the nearby village of Lautrec and gave me a tour of the chateau and its many gardens. He showed me the ingenious well they use to water the Potager (vegetable garden) [7], the chateau's spiral staircase [8] [9], and the room where I would be sleeping (with my own four-poster bed!) [10]. Then we all sat down outdoors to admire the view [11], and enjoy cake and the finest wines available to humanity.

I was awestruck, like the poor grubby-nosed kid from the wrong side of the tracks that I am. It's fair to say that I'd forgotten the taxi driver incident. Even the rubber duck episode had lost its sting. I was deep in the French countryside and loving it!

WWOOFing is no holiday though, and I knew that from the outset. Once the last champagne cork heralding my arrival had popped, it was down to work. This week I have been quickly getting used to gruelling manual work, thirty degree heat, mosquitoes, nettles and snakes [12]. On Monday and Tuesday I helped Paul and Geoff dig out trenches for electric cabling in the attic, and for the rest of the week I have been busy excavating a historic part of the potager, which features a 700-year-old stone wall [13] and a famous fountain used in medieval pilgrimages [14]. After three days of clearing shrubs and trees, my arms now look like I've been arm-wrestling with Edward Scissorhands, but I honestly find this much more satisfying than office work. Plus the chicks dig a man who relishes pain.

I'm being very well looked after and after living off a diet of mostly junk food back home I am finally enjoying some wholesome vegetarian nosh. I've been out and about in the surrounding area lots too. On Wednesday we went to a local market at Realmont [15] [16] [17], visited an art gallery opening in Toulouse [18] [19] and nibbled upon fancy canapes (for future reference I recommend the prosciuto ham ones), and also saw some of Toulouse's sights and architecture [20] [21]. On Friday we were treated to a dinner party at a chateau belonging to friends of Paul and Alison [22] and swam in their pool! [23] [24] (I am the sexy one in the foreground.)

So I've got another week to go until it's time to leave for Paris. This week has flown by like you wouldn't believe. I have been trying to record as much of my experiences as I can, but also to enjoy the moment. At times it's been tough but I feel like I'm fitting in more and more with other the people here every day, and I hope I can make a positive contribution to Paul and Alison's work. Even the grubby-nosed pauper has his purpose in life.

Bondmeister over and OUT.