📝 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 5 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 are easily accessible. Here, you will find the freedom to breathe freely, move, broaden your horizon and enjoy!
Luz – Saint-Sauveur was a thermal spring area 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 Napoleon the Ist). In love with the town in the mountains, he encouraged its development throughout the 1860s. Today Luz is perhaps the best-conserved heritage from that era in France and elsewhere.
You will work on a fountain emerging into a public square. You will replace the old concrete with old-style natural whitewash and coating, and hence make place a landmark in Luz once again. You will learn the ancient art of masonry, accompanied by a technical leader.
🏠 Accommodation on site
You will be accommodated in a local apartment building with shared rooms with showers and toilets. Bring your sleeping bag and camping mat. The group will share the cleaning tasks and prepare meals together. You will prepare the meals according to the shifts and participate in the organization of the collective daily life (planning, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.). We will encourage the purchase of local and seasonal products.
📍 About the location
The great writer Victor Hugo described Luz as a “charming old town… beautifully located 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, southwest of France near the pilgrimage city of Lourdes. It is close to the most beautiful natural sites of the Pyrenees Mountains:
• Midi Peak,
• Gavarnie Valley,
• Bridge of Spain,
• Néouvielle Natural Park,
• Pyrenees National Park (with many highland lakes).
The beauty and diversity of this county presents a great historical, architectural and environmental interest.
ℹ️ Additional information
Bring working clothes, gloves, and enclosed shoes. Bring a sleeping bag for cold weather, as nights might be cold due to the altitude and we may also sleep in the mountains. To enjoy the mountains, bring your trekking shoes. For the brave ones who want to take a dip in the river, bring your swimsuit. Feel free to bring activities from home such as photos, games, musical instruments, etc.
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.
