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Welcome to David & Vivian
About us
Welcome to "La Suisse Normande"
Our names are David and Vivian, a married couple. David is a retired British mechanical engineer and Vivian is an active degree qualified Teacher of English from Chile, a native Spanish speaker.
David is passionate about sailing, cooking, reading and writing. He wrote and published his first book called "Flaco and The Terror" which tells the story of a young man in Chile. You can access the book on Amazon here: http://tiny.cc/Dwhitebook
Vivian loves teaching, learning, reading, writing, singing, swimming, and riding her bike. Vivian has also published a book on Amazon, a collection of poems written in Spanish throughout her life. This is the link to access the book: http://tiny.cc/Vgodoybook
The sea, fishing, the countryside, and picnics are activities we both enjoy in our leisure time.
We enjoy hosting people because we can utilize our personal skills, with Vivian teaching formal English lessons and David providing support including language conversation following the formal English lessons.
We have always taken pleasure in hosting very nice and interesting people who can introduce us to other aspects of French culture.
Bon voyage, à bientôt!
HOUSE RULES
1. No smoking in the house.
2. No running inside the house.
3. No pyjamas or baseball caps at the table.
4. No cell-phones at the table.
I am a qualified teacher of English. I studied for 5 years at the University of Chile and have more than 20 years of experience in English teaching in different countries, levels, and ages.
A typical day with us
A typical day at home, first thing in the morning, breakfast, then an English lesson, followed by some free time or an outdoor activity such as going for a walk, riding a bike, or visiting nearby villages. After a busy morning, we have lunch (a picnic on the weekend if the weather is nice or a restaurant meal if agreed upon in advance). If we go to a restaurant or a paid attraction, each person pays for their own expenses.
We encourage the individual to keep a record in English of the day's activities, which is reviewed the next day along with the English lesson. Before dinner, if there is time, we might play a board game with a young person or go to a pub for a beer/wine with an adult. At the end of the day, we have dinner and then everyone is free to do as they please. David enjoys watching the news or some English series, while I prefer to check my emails before going to bed.
Activities
As part of the entertainment activities, guests are welcome to bring their musical instruments to practice, or their board games to play: Chinese checkers, chess, role-playing games, card games, drawing, and painting. Discussing news, cultural and historical topics can also be part of the daily learning process. Watching and discussing films in English, reading aloud, acting in theater plays in English, assisting in online research on a topic, writing a diary or fiction piece together, or creating a game and its rules together.
Vivian offers activities like dancing, yoga, meditation, Pilates, gentle gymnastics, playing instruments, singing, and listening to music and lyrics. David provides free cooking lessons.
Other activities include fishing in local trout farms, sightseeing (nature or cities), cycling, walking, swimming at the local sports center, playing golf, having picnics, going to the cinema, dining out, visiting the local market on Thursday mornings.
Notes:
Lessons: The guest's language ability is assessed on the first day and lessons are customized for them based on that assessment.
Meals: We have all our meals together with the guests. They are provided with a daily menu at breakfast time.
Getting out: If there is an opportunity for a tour to a nearby town or village, the expenses are agreed upon in advance. Normandy has many historical places to visit, such as Caen and the Normandy beaches. Some other places include:
(list of nearby cities and local tours)
Activities depending on the age of the guest(s): For guests without transportation, tours or visits are coordinated with us and expenses are covered accordingly. Guests with their own transport are free to organize their trips, and we can accompany them if they desire.
From 813 € / week
+33 7 49 08 56 74