Hello all,

I am a 22 year old American college male student who has just kind of on a whim purchased a plane ticket from Montreal to Paris (found a sub $600 fare) and I will be in Europe from June 9th- August 5th without anything concrete planned and nothing to really hold me back from doing whatever I want.

To quote Simon and Garfunkel “Looking for fun and feeling groovy”

I have previously traveled to Europe three times, twice in high school with highly organized school tours and once as an 18 year old with a group of 4 high school drinking buddies. This will be my first time travelling alone like this for such a long period of time.

Since I have already seen most of the tourist traps on my previous voyages and will have a pretty bare bones budget for this trip ONE OF MY GOALS IS TO NOT SPEND A SINGLE EURO ON LODGING.

In order to make this a reality I am planning on participating in a work exchange program called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (Known as WWOOF, pronounced like the dog sound). here is The way this program works is that participants are asked to work five hours a day on a farm in exchange for three meals a day and a place to sleep. Minimal stays of one week are expected. http://www.wwoof.fr/… (The website) Days between farms would be supplemented by couch surfing.

I am wondering if anyone on here has participated in this program anywhere in Europe and if they could give me regions of France (or even other central European countries) where this is common and even any farm recommendations.

More generally for those who have traveled extensively in France I am hoping someone can help me identify what region of France I would enjoy.

My interests include hiking, I am a big fan of the beach, I am a beer snob, lover of history, political science, philosophy and consider myself somewhat of a minimalist i.e. I don’t own a car, smart phone, television etc. Some would use the term hippy to describe me.

I realize that working on a farm means rural areas of the country however it would be nice to be relatively close to a city. Also when traveling I really enjoy spending time in towns, cities and regions that are not typical tourist spots. One of my goals for this trip is to discover “the real France” whatever that means.

My initial feeling is that somewhere in the hills of Provence would suit my interests well.

But based on my descriptions of what I want out of the trip and my interests I am open to any and all recommendations of really any areas of Western Europe that sound like they may interest me and where I would find other like minded young people.

FYI I am completely conversational in French it is my minor in school (fluent is a term I shy away from but for all conventional purposes I speak French). This is part of the reason I am drawn to France as the country provides me with a chance to communicate in the language of the locals.

Any and all advice is appreciated

Thanks Merci Danke Jerrejeff Gracias