CURRENT MISSION

After 10 years in China hosting lots of couchsurfers and visiting some too, and 10 more years trying to find the place to live and work, it's time to hit the road again when possible and meet new people.

ABOUT US

I got my son Camille in Beijing, China, before returning to France in 2013. And now, I work and live in a campsite just between Provence and the Alps. So unfortunately, i can't host while the campsite is opened (April-September). Camille is now 12, he learns english and italian, and he's really impatient to go to Italy meeting people.

PHILOSOPHY

Trying to keep open eyes without passing any judgment.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've allways participated even when i didn't know CS. I was invited to stay 2 months in the spare room of a guy in HK without knowing him. I had quite the same experience in China 3 times in a row 3 years later. So, from the moment I could have hosted people, I've allways done it.
After a year of hosting in Beijing, i started to surf couches as well but less frequently. I stopped when we returned to France and I think it's time to start again and see what had changed so far in 10 years.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I was hosting Marion and Ilan in February 2010 and we went to the village of my "Chinese Grandparents" near the Great Wall with Cliff, an other CS and Marion's friend. We climbed to enjoy the sunset on the Wall and after a great diner cooked by our host, LaoWang teached us MaJong before we had a night, the 5 of us, on a warm kang (bed made of bricks and heating system inside). We had a brunch outside since the sun was warm enough, had a walk till "the end of the wall" and enjoyed a fresh beer up there. That was an awesome week-end and my first CS experience.
From then till our return in Frnce, we hosted people as often as we could. It's really interesting to see how people are traveling (big backpacks or tiny backpack, quick or slow travelers) and what they want to see or do during their trip.
We love getting to know new people and specially people we have great chance to meet again in the future like Marion, Luna, Cliff, Sophie, Annie and Jonathan who came to visit us in France...

Interests

Cross-country skiing, hiking, reading and enjoying time with my son when he's not at his dad's home, enjoying simple life, trying to downsize...

• books
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• beer
• traveling
• hiking
• backpacking
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

A mix of profound and off-the-wall books/musics:

Books of : John Kennedy Toole, Douglas Kennedy, Roy Lewis, William Boyd, Paasilina
- Fred Vargas, Alice Ferney & Pierre Magnan (my madeleines de Proust),
- Shan Sa, Yan Lianke, Lao She, Yu Zhang, Qiu Xiaolong, Yu Hua

Comic books of Manu Larcenet, Corto Maltese, Peeters et Schuiten, etc.

Mostly French music (Higelin, Lavillier, Arthur H, Juliette, Dick Annegarn, Rita Mitsuko, Négresses vertes, Fatal Mambo...), Patti Smith, Kate Bush and Joe Jackson for the few Americans I listen, and Jazz (Chet Baker, Ahmad Jamal, Madeleine Peyroux, Roland Kirk, Eroll Garner, Yusef Lateef...). The playlist of the little boy is limited to Deep purple and ACDC.

Maybe some of you could make a portrait of us from that.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Touched the end of the Wall?
Being hosted by Jonathan and Annie in Luchun in their ghost house.
Quite a few related to hikes or mountain activities.

Teach, Learn, Share

Still learning Chinese. Need to practice, specially since we're back in France.

I want to learn calligraphy and would love to know more about the chinese herbs (some are much more efficient than medicine for a cold or sore throat for ex.). But would need time for that.

We love cooking so if you can teach us a dish, you're welcome! We could share some recipes. A notebook is waiting the recipes of our guests in their room so that we can keep memories of our guests.

Love sharing a few cups of tea with friends over interesting discussions.

Countries I’ve Visited

China

Countries I’ve Lived In

China

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