Part of what makes Workaway great is getting to be where you want to be and getting to do what you want to do. Every once in a while the two converge and you end up in an incredible place. Such was the chance that got me to work in Roquebrune Cap-Martin, France. In May 2019 I took an EasyJet from Berlin to Nice and when I saw the beautiful coast from the plane I thought “Holy cow, I’m actually here!” The Côte d’Azur is home to Cannes, Monaco, Nice and St. Tropez. I had dreamt of being here since I was conscious and I was finally here, ready to take it all in.

I hopped on a train from Nice to the Cap-Martin station where my host, Bridgitte, came to pick me up in her old 4-door Peugeot hatchback. She drove me up the exceedingly narrow and twisty road like a bat outta hell. Suddenly there was an opening in the trees and houses that let me see just beyond, and BAM! There it was: the unmistakable skyline of Monaco. I felt like I was in a spy movie. This was going to be a good time.

Overlooking the French Riviera

We eventually drove up the very steep driveway to her house and I realized “Oh my gosh. This is a beautiful house.” It was a two story house built sometime early in the last century. It had a terra cotta tile roof, lots of windows with shutters, and a beautiful large terrace surrounding the swimming pool. Lots of potted flowers throughout and a grapevine that wrapped around the entrance to the kitchen, which was just starting to bloom. 

Bridgitte took me inside the house and showed me around. She told me that there were other people who lived there whom I would meet later, and that unfortunately there was no more room in the house. And that’s when she introduced me to the 1970’s Volkswagen van where I would be staying. For the rest of my time there I slept in that van. Hot nights were hot. Cold nights were cold, but I didn’t care. 

All of the People in one House

Indeed, there were lots of people living there. The first night I met a guy from Venezuela who told me he was in the Venezuelan Marines, but was essentially AWOL from the government. That same night I also met a girl from Ireland who was there studying French, but who paid for her stay by working for Bridgitte. The rest of the people I would meet as I worked or as we shared meals. 

First there was Nico, who was from Argentina, but was trying to make a life in Europe. There was Timu, the blond, long haired teenager from South Africa, who was there on a gap year trip. Of course there was also Bridgitte’s family: her son, his wife, and their 2 daughters. There was also myself, Bridgitte and even a guy who was a commercial SCUBA diver working on a land reclamation project in Monaco. All of these people living in the same house, but only one bathroom. 

Our Workaway Tasks

Anyway, the task that I got hired to do was to help build these kinds of studio apartments or cabins on the property. Bridgitte planned on using these either to host more workawayers or to host travelers through Airbnb and such. The structure for the apartments was already built on the hillside away from the main house, and our job was to help complete them. Every day there was something new going on. 

We had to erect some posts for a carport, so we had to measure out the distance where the posts were going to be, we had to dig the holes for the posts, we had to mix concrete to secure the posts, etc. I had to build some steps for the back of the cabin, so I had to gather stones, dig out the shape of the steps into the earth, mix concrete to make it all fit, and create the shape with wooden boards. There was a lot of wood cutting that needed to be done to finish the windows, the floors, the walls. There was a lot of sweeping, a lot of cleaning up the mess of the day. Outside there was a lot of clearing brush, cutting trees, moving rocks and gathering rocks to build a retention wall. Bridgitte did it all on the cheap.

Bridgitte, was a thin older lady, with very short gray hair and a fiery attitude. She spoke French, English, Italian, and Spanish and had a ton of energy. Every day she wore these brown leather pants to work in. I have no clue how she wasn’t burning up in those things, but every day she was out there working with all of us, always directing, always inspecting, and always helping. 

Even though she had like 6 or 7 people working for her, the most workawayers I’ve ever seen, she always had something for all of us to do. She was definitely trying to be as sparing as possible, and trying to progress in her projects, but the result of having all of us do the work was pretty janky. None of it was really beautiful because none of us really knew what we were doing. It was all kind of a hodgepodge put together. But Bridgitte didn’t seem to mind how it looked. What mattered was that it worked, which made the vibe relaxed and fun. 

At exactly 1 in the afternoon she would call us all for lunch. This was the only real meal we all shared together. Breakfast happened whenever you wanted so long as you made it to the work area by 8 in the morning. Dinner sometimes wouldn’t even happen at all. Still, lunch was great and afterwards we had the whole afternoon to ourselves. 

What We Did With Our Leisure Time

We had a lot of leisure time. The issue with that leisure time, though, is that we were about a vertical kilometer above sea level. So, if we wanted to get to the train station, which was right next to the beach, it would take us like 40 minutes to go down, and it took about an hour to come back up. Going to Nice, for example, would take about 2 hours each way. It was a chore, but who cares! There was so much to do in this area that we went down pretty much every day. 

At this same time, my friend Erica arrived from the USA. She was only in France for vacation, but we had arranged to meet in the South of France so we could go to the Monaco Grand Prix, and then head to Paris together. She got an Airbnb in Menton, one train stop down from Cap-Martin, and she was there for a little over a week. She eventually did end up staying about 4 days up at Bridgitte’s house, which ended up working perfectly for the night after the race. 

Menton is a cute, colorful, and quaint beach town right on the border of Italy and France. I went down there quite a bit to hang out with Erica. The studio that she rented consisted of a literal couch, a balcony, a tiny kitchen, and a tiny bathroom. That’s it. No bedroom, or other space. It was just that. We spent a lot of time there watching TV and having coffee and croissants, but we also went out a lot, either to go explore, or to go to the beach, or to go to Nice or Monaco. 

Nice is a really cool city. It’s the biggest in the area and it’s very multicultural. The first time that Erica and I went it was a cloudy, rainy day. We walked around exploring all the cool neighborhoods in Old Nice, and seeing a lot of street art. We found the Parc du Mont Boron and we hiked to the top of it to see the castle and old fortresses. You can also see the whole city from up there, and the view is quite nice, (pardon the pun). Eventually we met up with Nico and Timu and we got Indian food. Every time we went to Nice we went with some excuse, like getting a haircut, or to do shopping or whatever, and afterwards we would end up at the beach or at some restaurant or a bar. 

The Principality of Monaco

Monaco was a bit different for two reasons: it’s expensive and it’s inconvenient. Everything is so crammed together. Monaco is so tiny and everything is on the cliffside, yet they built all these giant skyscrapers there, so if you want to get from one place to another there’s going to be a lot of obstacles. The way they solved this problem was by building a network of tunnels to help people get around. Even the train station in Monaco is one giant tunnel! And all of them are full of advertisements for Richard Mille watches. 

One night Erica and I went to an AS Monaco soccer game, and it was a ton of fun. I used to think that everybody in Monaco would be kind of serious. Really prim and proper, and uptight, but no, they were excited! They were having fun shouting, “Allez Monaco! Allez Monaco!”. The home team ended up winning and we got out at around 9:00 p.m. Thankfully, Erica decided to get us an Uber to take us up the hill. I remember that was the first time that I rode in a Tesla Model X. 

Meeting My Future Yacht Designer

One day I went on a 8-mile run to Monaco accidentally. I like to run, and running when I’m in a new place is a great way to explore. My goal was just to cross into Monaco and come back. Well, lo and behold, since Bridgitte’s house was only a kilometer away from Monaco, I got there pretty quickly. So I thought, “I’m gonna keep going.” And when I made it all the way to where the skyscrapers started I thought, “I’m gonna keep going.” And so on, until, eventually, I made it all the way to the Formula One track right next to the ocean. 

I was feeling pretty good, high off of the downhill run I just completed, but now I had a problem in that I needed to run 4 miles back up to Bridgitte’s house. I remember my calves hurt for the remainder of my time there. So, before running back, I took some time to just admire the view of the famous Port Hercule. The city was very quiet. Nobody was out, and I was free to enjoy the view surrounded by yachts, buildings, and money. 

Suddenly a gentleman dressed in a baby blue suit who approached me and with a heavy Italian accent asked, “Excuse me, do you know where to find the such and such and such place?” And I was like, “I’m sorry, I’m not from here, I’m visiting.” He said “Oh, okay. Where are you from?” I said, “I’m from the USA.” He’s like, “Oh, wonderful, wonderful. America, good place.” And he said, “Well, if you ever need any help, uh, designing anything, here’s my card.” When I looked at his card, I saw that the guy was a yacht designer! Wonderful! I still have it just in case I get rich enough to have a custom yacht. 

The Oldest Tree In France

Near the end of our time there, some of us went to Menton to hang out and do some shopping. Rather than taking the train and then climbing up the short route to Bridgitte’s we hiked all the way from Menton. On the way back we passed the medieval town of Roquebrune where there is an ancient castle. Just as we were walking out of the medieval town we walked past this huge olive tree. The Olivier Millenaire is all twisted and convoluted and sprawling, yet according to the sign it is the oldest tree in France and it is over 2000 years old! Seeing that made a lot of things mentioned in the bible click. 

On the last weekend some of us went to the Monaco Grand Prix. It was a fantastic experience. When we all came back we found that Bridgitte had made dinner for all of us and opened a 10 year old wine bottle. We all shared stories of our time there and talked about where we were all headed next. We took a Polaroid picture and then went to bed. The next day, Erica and I hauled our stuff at the crack of dawn down to the train station and made our way to the Nice airport and then made our way to Paris.

Go See It Yourself

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, to show you what is possible. Maybe you’ve been sitting on the fence about going somewhere and trying something new. Maybe you’re in a lull or you’re hitting a quarter/third-of-life crisis or maybe a mid-life crisis and you want to find that spark again. Why not go out there and find it? C’mon! Get yourself out there! You never know what amazing things will happen. 

I hope this story is encouraging to you. If you know somebody that you think this might be encouraging to as well, go ahead and share it with them!