Les Tourades

When we learned that Heidi had been accepted to LSHTM, we imagined that we would spend the next year travelling around Europe and the UK, whilst studying in our free time. We were not aware that one has to pay for such things, and so were sorely disappointed. Thankfully, we were able to make it to the Continent once. A Rocha projects often host volunteers (at the volunteer’s expense, but the rates are merely a pittance) from abroad who want to live and work at the various project sites. Amongst the European projects, A Rocha France is perhaps the most coveted place for a working holiday (somehow Minet Country Park does not have the same draw as the Bouche-du-Rhone, though this I will never understand). Nestled in the Vallee Des Baux, the valley at the mouth of the Rhone river as it flows southward to the Mediterranean, is a large house called Les Tourades, which was donated to A Rocha by a wealthy patron. Les Tourades, once the site of French resistance meetings during the Second War, lies just a few kilometers from the city of Arles. Arles, originally the Phoenecian city of Theline, was founded in the 7th Century BC, and later became a major centre for the Romans during the Gallic campaigns. By the reign of Constantine, Arles was considered to be the ‘second capitol’ of the Roman empire. The city was later conquered by the barbarian invasions from the north, but still retains much of the beauty that you would expect from a Roman city- aquaducts, an arena (still used for bull fights, using the famous bulls of the Camargue marsh, at the Bouch-du-Rhone). Another interesting bit of this valley is the Abbey de Montmajour, a beautiful old remnant of the abbey which was home to the French Pope, during that bit of confusion in the Roman Catholic Church when there existed two Popes.

We spent some time there, for a sort of working holiday, staying in their posh room—Le Chambre Royale, and picking apricots and watching for terripins and migratory birds.
Anyone who would like to work at an A Rocha project, please go to their website on my sidebar, which can give you more information on the various projects and working opportunities. And please, for goodness' sake volunteer for the less glamorous projects, too...