Arriving: living here

Practical information for anyone arriving: how you actually live here. How the house runs day to day is in household.md. Ask us anything this doesn't answer.

Where we are

We'll send you the full address directly. Use it freely for anything official — a phone contract, a delivery, a form.

Rural Dordogne, south of Bergerac. A farmhouse with fields around it, not a village. Next door is the Life Itself Farmhouse hub — shared kitchen, dining hall, studios and gardens, with people coming and going. Plum Village monastery is five minutes away.

Getting a mobile plan

You will want a French SIM. Coming from outside Europe you need one; coming from inside the EU, your home plan will roam but usually with a data cap and a time limit, so a French plan is still worth it.

What we recommend: SFR RED or Sosh (Orange's low-cost brand). Both are SIM-only, no commitment, cancel any time, and land around €10/month for a generous data allowance, with EU roaming included.

The catch is the paperwork. These are French contracts and normally need a French address, and sometimes a French bank account (RIB) for the direct debit.

• The address is not a problem — use ours, above.
• The bank account can be. If you can't set one up quickly, we can take out the plan and you pay us back — simplest as a deduction from your monthly pocket money. Say the word; it's routine and we're happy to do it.
• An eSIM from either provider can often be activated before or on the day you arrive, which avoids a trip into town.

For the first few days, before any of this is sorted: use a short travel data pass on your existing plan, or our wifi at the house. Please message us when you board and again when you land.

Driving

You will drive, and it matters. The school run to Bergerac is a near-daily job and it can't be covered without a driver.

• The car is a manual (Fiat 500). If you have only driven automatic, say so early — it changes nothing about whether we want you, but it changes how we plan your first two weeks.
• We will support you practising. Someone experienced goes with you until you're comfortable — normally the outgoing au pair or Catalina (Sylvie's mother, who lives down the road).
• The roads here are the easy kind to learn on: back country lanes, very little traffic, no city driving unless you go into Bergerac. It is a much gentler place to build confidence than most.
• The aim is that you're comfortable driving alone with the children within about two weeks.
• Personal use is fine — the car is yours to use locally, including trips into Bergerac, and we cover petrol for normal local use (roughly within 30 minutes). Longer personal trips, you cover the petrol.
• Driving on the right, French road rules. We'll insure you on the car.

Shops and services

Sigoulès — 5 minutes by car, ~15 by bicycle. A small supermarket, a pharmacy, a bar, and a few other bits. Enough for day-to-day; this is where you go for a forgotten ingredient.

Bergerac — 25 minutes by car. A proper town: large hypermarkets, shops, cafés, bars, restaurants, cinema, gym, a market. This is where you go for anything real, and where most evenings out happen.

There is no useful public transport here. A car is effectively required for anything beyond the immediate area, which is why the driving matters.

Time off, and what people actually do with it

You will normally have 1 to 1.5 days off a week, arranged with us in advance rather than negotiated at the last minute. What people have done with them:

• Bergerac — town, market, gym, cinema, restaurants. 25 minutes.
• Bordeaux — 1h25 by car, a proper city, easy day trip or a weekend.
• Save days up for longer trips. Days off can be banked and taken together for a longer break — Spain, the Pyrenees, Paris, the coast. Talk to us early and we'll plan around it; this is normal and we're happy to make it work.
• Châteaux, villages and the river. The Dordogne is one of the most-visited parts of France for a reason — Saint-Émilion, Sarlat, Monbazillac, bastide villages, canoeing and swimming on the river in summer.
• The Farmhouse hub next door — shared meals, gardens, and a steady flow of people from all over. The single best answer to "will I be lonely out here". Plum Village, five minutes away, is the same.
• Study or work. Several previous au pairs have used the time to study, take a course online, or keep freelance work going. There is a lot of quiet here and good wifi, and we actively support this.
• French classes — 10 hours a month, arranged and paid for by us. Either a local one-to-one tutor about 15 minutes away, or a school in Bergerac or Bordeaux.

Living in the house

• Your own room, and normally your own bathroom (shared only when we have occasional guests).
• Food is provided, including things you would like for yourself. Tell us what you eat and we'll buy it.
• Mostly vegetarian household — we eat meat maybe once a week. You are welcome to cook meat for yourself.
• Cooking for the children counts as working time. Each of us also cooks one family dinner a week, which is part of living together, not work — see household.md.
• We are a family, not an employer with a spare room. You eat with us, you're part of the household.

What to bring

• Weather: September can reach 30°C; October and November turn properly autumnal and it gets cold and wet. Pack for both.
• Good boots. It is countryside and it is muddy.
• Anything you need for driving — your licence, obviously.
• Adaptors: France is 230V, two-pin European plugs.

Money and admin

• Pocket money is paid monthly, on the 8th. Exact amount is in your agreement.
• A UK or home bank account is fine to start with; a French account is easier long term and we can help you open one.
• Anything we buy on your behalf (a phone plan, say) comes off the monthly payment, agreed with you first.
• Bring your passport, driving licence, and — if you have one — your EHIC/GHIC or equivalent health card.

Contacts

• Rufus — rufus@lifeitself.org
• Sylvie

We'll send you our phone numbers directly.

• Catalina — Sylvie's mother, lives down the road. Your nearest help if we're both out

WhatsApp is how the household actually communicates. We'll add you to the group before you arrive.