I have lived with my husband in Saumur for almost 30 years. Our son Adrien is always travelling the world for work and leisure and we meet him half way around the world quite often.

Over the last few years, we flew to Singapore, Indonesia (Java & Bali), Cambodia, South Africa, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, Cuba, USA, and of course most of western European countries. Looking forward to keep going. Each time we go backpacking, sleep with locals, sleep overnight in creapy buses and trains, go hiking, etc, most of the time using Couchsurfing. My son often says we are kind of badass parents!

Everytime we fly back home we feel bored and want to go back traveling the world. Meanwhile, our son uses Couchsurfing on a regular basis and told us we can ourselves become Couchsurfing host and have foreigners staying over a couple of days.

We live in a house 3km away from Saumur, a beautiful french city with castle, good wine, the Cadres Noir (best horse school in Europe and maybe in the world), the world-famous Loire Valley, etc, and 2h drive from the Atlantic.

I am 63, former banking employee, ending my career working as a teacher assistant in a primary school as I love children. My husband Stephane is still working as a social worker for the French State, basically taking care of every citizen in need, from the former inmate till drug addict, homeless people or illigal (or legal) immigrant.

We would be glad to show you around!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

- To travel from home: we love travelling, backpacking or with our motorhome/RV, definitely not with tourists and tours
- To have people discover our beautiful region of the Loire Valley
- To practise our english
- to break the routine: having someone staying around is enjoyable!

Interests

• gardening
• hiking
• teaching
• adventure travel
• trekking
• choir
• accounting

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: mostly classical music, Bethoven, Mozart, religious latin songs from the choir.

Movie: really into documentaries, National Geographic, and french versions. Also french Comedies, like "Qu'est ce qu'on a fait au bon dieu", "Asterix et Obélix", etc.

Books: biopics/biographies in general, Dan Brown Books (Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, Inferno)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Climbing a 4000m high Acatenango volcano in Guatamala, with tent, mattress and supplies and catch sunrise.
- Climbing Ijen volcano in Java Indonesia, to see the blue lava flames at night inside the crater and catch once again sunrise on the way back
- Finish the Tugela Gorge Trek in Drakensberg National Park in South Africa, with a bit of climbing too
- Discover the Angkor Vat temple in Cambodia, Tikal temples in Guatemala and Calakmul in Mexico
- Spend Christmas with Cubans in Habana, drinking Rhum and dancing Salsa

Teach, Learn, Share

- Teach: French "Art de Vivre": drink good local wine, delicious food and cheese, maybe eat "chataigne", "bernache", oysters or mushrooms depending on the season

- Learn: English mostly, with Stephane we realized that our english classes were very far away and needed to practise to be independent travelling with our son. Stephane speaks a bit of Spanish as well.

- Share: Local culture and travelling stories, France is a beautiful place to live in

What I Can Share with Hosts

See above!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Belize, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United Kingdom