Hi, with my husband currently working abroad it is me and my 8 year old son who take care of our old Provençal house in a beautiful hilltop village in the South of France. And a very cuddly cat Krakette.
We are very international in our family. I was born and raised in Russia, I won a green card in a US government lottery, I met my husband in Los Angeles, together we moved to London, and after our son was born we came to live in the South of France.
My son and I speak English, French and Russian.
I love going out, I love singing, dancing, yoga and meditation.
We are not vegetarian and we eat fish, however we don't have meat in the house, and most of our everyday meals are vegetarian.
I love black, acoustic and folklore music, and I organise outdoor jam-sessions with my friends -musicians once in a while.

My son Maxim is used to switch between the 3 languages, he is curious pretty much about everything - from the way the body works to building a space shuttle. He may be a little bit bossy (we work on that! :)) but the positive side of it is that your mistakes in French will be scrutinised and hopefully it will help you to speak a better French or to learn it if this is one of your objectives.

We are friendly and funny (so people say), so there is no way to get bored around us. I am a very calm, open and laid-back person, however I tend to be hectic in my everyday routine, I am not very well organised yet responsible person. I may find my mobile phone in the fridge at times but don't worry I will not forget to meet you at the airport.

I am passionate about ancient architecture, especially medieval. We have just finished the first stage of house restoration, and we are renting our studio with vaulted ceiling to the tourists.
We live in heaven - beautiful for the most part pedestrian little village on the hill with gorgeous landscape all around. Close to Aix-en-Provence, and also halfway between Marseille and Avignon.

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

This is why I would like to host:

My family is far away, and I find myself alone with my son during a week. I love big families, having friends over, I love people, communication and exchange . My son Maxim needs to be challenged physically and intellectually, so I may use extra hands/ feet and head to do it.

Since we don't get as many occasions to travel as we would like to, let the world come to us! I can't imagine more exciting experience for my son and myself then getting to know people from different countries and cultures. When I see all of these amazing couchsurfers on this website, I have to really control myself not to invite all of them to come and stay with us at once (we would need a much bigger house :)) I am really looking forward to start hosting.

Música, películas y libros

Music: Otis Redding, Etta James, and many many more other artists

Movies: Fight Club, Forest Gump, Knocking on heavens door

Books: Siddhartha by Hesse, Hopscotch by Cortazar,
Tolstoy, Chekov short stories, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov "Master and Margarita"

Algo increíble que he hecho

Sang as a part of a choir sharing stage with Aretha Franklin
Took care and saved a life of a bird that bumped into my freshly washed window glass
Bought a 300 year old Provençal house and started renovating it
Lived and worked in 4 different countries

Enseña, aprende, comparte

Languages: Russian, English, French
If you are a musician we can play or sing together

Qué puedo ofrecer a los anfitriones

Friendship, table, a meal, my house, my life story...

Países que he visitado

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales

Países en los que he vivido

France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States