Place: Le Thor (Vaucluse)

Participants: Adults
Working at height on scaffolding.

Workcamp description:

In the cool of the Sorgue riverbank, you will be restoring a section of approximately 18 linear metres of the town's ancient ramparts dating back to the 12th century. Using scaffolding, you will restore this wall, which is 4.50 m high and one metre wide, by removing the many plants that have grown into the joints and the head of the wall, then repointing the stones with lime mortar. Swimming is just around the corner, as are the warm, lively evenings of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

Work programme:

• De-vegetation
• Stripping
• Repointing

Building technique: Traditional lime masonry

Special bonus : The site is on the banks of the Sorgue, so you can cool off regularly.

Event during the workcamp: Lavandissima Festival, a big lavender festival in the centre of the village. A festival that smells like Provence!

Accommodation:
You will be accommodated at the municipal stadium, where you will have access to the changing rooms and common areas of the stadium. The refreshment area will serve as your kitchen. You will sleep in tents large enough to accommodate two people. Cots will be available for those who do not have their own camping equipment. You can bring your own tent, camp bed or mattress.

Workcamp life:
During your stay, you will be supervised by 2 activity leaders. The technical supervisor will teach you all about traditional building techniques, and the educational supervisor will help you organize your daily life and leisure activities.

Adults spend around 30 hours a week working on the site. Work on the site takes place in the mornings, starting early because of the summer heat. The afternoons, evenings and weekends are devoted to outdoor and discovery activities, providing relaxation and pleasure. Two vehicles are made available to the supervisors to organize outings.

You will take it in turns to prepare meals as a team. You'll take it in turns to prepare meals as a team, giving you the chance to share recipes from your own region and sample countless specialities from other parts of the world. If you're already a “chef”, that's perfect; if you're not... Get cooking!

On all our sites, we want our volunteers to play a real role in their stay, so we invite them to work together to propose the activities and events of their choice, in keeping with the values that the association wishes to uphold.

Some ideas for excursions: Avignon theatre festival, Thouzon castle, Isle sur la Sorgue, Fontaine de Vaucluse, walks in the Dentelles de Montmirail, Mont Ventoux, Monts de Vaucluse, swimming and canoeing in the Sorgue.

A little bit of history:

Le Thor is a farming town and ancient heartland of both Chasselas wine grapes and “garance” plant dye. It has managed to keep relics of its past, such as the ancient fortified monastery on the Colline de Thouzon hill and its impressive, listed Romanesque church on both sides of its 12th century opus piscatum, herring-bone ramparts.

Legend has it that the town’s name comes from a tale of a bull that knelt down several times to drink from a trough fed by the Sorgue where a small statue of the Virgin Mary was found.

In reality, the word "Tor" was an often-used geographical term in the 12 and 13th centuries, to describe boggy areas.

The ramparts of Le Thor date back to the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, and were pierced by four gates, only one of which remains today: beneath the recently restored belfry.

The association has been working in partnership with the local council for several years. Volunteers have already restored and secured part of the medieval ramparts that encircle the town centre, before working on the banks of the Petite Sorgue and returning in 2024 to restore the ramparts.

Conditions of participation

Participation fee: €150

Registration fees: see the website www.rempart.com 

Living expenses include: food, collective accommodation; leisure activities and travel during the work camp; civil liability insurance and association membership.
Not included: round-trip travel costs; personal and health expenses.

REGISTRATION (soon)