📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
The municipality has been developing a large project to restore its local heritage, especially through international workcamps. For over 6 years we have been renovating old streets, washhouses, fountains, and hiking trails. This year you will redecorate the “Napoleon Column“, one of the town\'s landmarks.
💼 What the programme involves
From Luz-Saint-Sauveur, the Pyrenees Mountains are all yours. All the best hiking sites, peaks and highlands in the Pyrenees are easily accessible from Luz. There, you will find the freedom to breathe freely, to move and broaden your horizon!
Luz-Saint-Sauveur was a thermal hub for the noble and wealthy throughout the 1800s: the medicinal bathing sites attracted emperors, artists, intellectuals and more. Amongst the historical figures that often visited Luz was French emperor Napoleon III (grandson of the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte). In love with this picturesque town, he encouraged its development throughout the 1860s. Today Luz is perhaps the best-conserved heritage from the Second French Empire.
You will help build an access for disabled people (wheelchair ramp) and other arrangements at a lookout area from which visitors will have a view over the whole valley. This ramp will be done with local stones used in monument constructions throughout the ages. You will learn the art of masonry, accompanied by a technical facilitator.
🏠 Accommodation on site
You will be accommodated in a local apartment building with shared rooms – bring your sleeping bags and floor mat – you will have access to showers and toilets. The group will share the cleaning tasks and prepare meals together. You will prepare the meals in turn and participate in the organization of the collective life (planning, cleaning, shopping, etc.). We will encourage the purchase of local and seasonal products.
📍 About the location
The great French Writer Victor Hugo described Luz as a “charming old town… beautifully situated in a deep triangular valley… When the miquelets (Catalan militia men) and Spanish smugglers arrived from Aragon … they saw a great light… They named this town light, or Luz.”.
Luz-Saint-Sauveur is in the Hautes-Pyrenees County, in the south-west of France near the pilgrimage city of Lourdes. It is close to the most beautiful natural sites of the Pyrenees Mountains such as the Midi Peak, the Gavarnie Valley, the Bridge of Spain, the Neouvielle Natural Park, or the Pyrenees National Park (with its numerous highland lakes).
The beauty and diversity of this county entail a great historical, architectural and environmental interest, which you will discover throughout your workcamp experience.
⚠️ Requirements
Foreigners from the European Union must bring their personal EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), and all participants must bring their insurance certificate. If health issues arise during the program, volunteers will need to cover all costs; they will be reimbursed upon their return to their home country.
ℹ️ Additional information
Bring working clothes, gloves, and closed shoes for outdoor activities. Bring a warm sleeping bag, as nights might be cold due to the altitude (we may also sleep in the mountains). To enjoy the mountains, bring your hiking shoes. For the brave ones who want to take a dip in the river, bring your swimsuit. Feel free to bring a piece of your region/country such as photos, games, musical instruments, etc.
