The First Step

When M.Chabiosson came to do a Devis for our staircase he said it would have to be a completely new one as what we had was rotten. I didn't think it was in that bad a condition.

Maybe I was wrong.......

Simon

The Stones of Preuilly

I love this wall; all texture, colour and history. The are a lot of walls in Preuilly, but this is one of my favorites.

The roof from inside

We received the final bill for the roof yesterday.

This means that all work has now finished, and we have (hopefully) a fully functioning, rain excluding, roof with gutters and downpipes.

To celebrate, a photo taken from inside the granary while the slates were off.


In France you do not get quotes for work to be done, you get a devis (pron. devvi) which is a very detailed estimate of costs. Once the devis is signed it is a contract. For large jobs it is customary for one third of the devis to be paid when work commences, one third half way through the job, and the balance on completion. As it is an estimate rather than a quote, the final bill has the potential to be a bit of a fright. Our bill came in under estimate - so we pay less than expected. This is a good thing.

Simon

St Savin

The Abbey church at Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe is world renowned for the quality and quantity of it's frescoes. The building was World Heritage Listed in 1983 because of the paintings. Because of this the church has a huge car park (well - it's really the market square) and a visitors centre.

Something I suspect that isn't seen so often is this view of the oldest part of the church, taken from the river. The original building is the cruciform piece under the tower in the centre of the picture, which was started in the 11th Century. The little chapels you can see were added slightly later.

The huge tower that is usually the feature shown on postcards wasn't built until the 14th century, after the addition (in a couple of instalments) of the long nave.

A full description of the frescoes (in French) are here

Simon

Suffering from withdrawal symptoms

The French have a word for do-it-yourself. The word is Bricolage, and it is a national past-time. No self respecting Frenchman would consider for a moment NOT building an extension onto his house, including doing his own masonary. Mad for it, they are

To cater for this, there are brico stores everywhere - Bricomarché, M.Bricaolage, Castorama, GammVert, Brico Dépôt - and they are only the chain stores. In addition, every supermarket and corner store carries a small range of tools, electric plugs, paint and sandpaper. Many carry a lot more besides.

I have been back in London for 2 weeks, which means I haven't been to a brico for at least two weeks. When restoring a house you can count on visiting a hardware shop every second day.

This is the first in an occasional series of "Brico shops I have visited". This one is Bricomarche in Yzeures.

Simon

The restored windows

I am rather pleased with the results of my window restoring, even though the architect did ask if I intended replacing them with PVC double glazing. I think they look good, anyway.



(by the way, the answer to the architect's question is a resounding "no")


Simon

Chapelle de tous les Saints

All Saints Chapel was built at the end of the 15th Century as a cemetery chapel. The cemetery is now parkland (actually an arboretum) and the new cemetery is across the road.

The chapel is now apparently derelict, but restoration is being talked about, as apparently there are some interesting frescoes inside.

Simon

The river at Chaumussay

Demolition, French style

Removing the last piece of the hangar was so momentuous that I thought it should be preserved in moving pictures. As with all the pictures of the roofing, I had to wait until I was home before I could load this up.

This was taken using my still camera, not a video camera. This is why the quality is a bit hazardous, but it should give a taste of how things are done.

Simon

Sunsets

These were taken in late september, 2 days apart


Simon

Cyclamen

On a previous post we received a comment about the cyclamen growing under the trees at the chateau.

Here they are.

Simon

The Well

Our well

Simon

roofage!!

Our new friend Bengt, who lives in Sweeden but has a house in Preuilly took these photos on Friday.

Bengt occasionally comments on the blog - which is where he discovered we exist. We met him the day before we left Preuilly last time - the day he arrived after a 17 hour journey.

Simon

Excitement, Preuilly style - the pictures

The Big green machine on fire



Simon

The Roof in Progress, week 3 (and a bit)

Monday morning:
After 30 minutes of trying to manouver the big green machine though the gates and into place, I graciously allow the roofers to demolish the fence. This saves me a job in the future.
Monday afternoon:
Trestle in place and the first load of tiles coming off
Tuesday morning:
With the tiles and battens removed, it is easy to see how "in the rough" some of the roof is.
Tuesday afternoon:
Chocks are placed under the roof braces so that they are somewhat level.
Wednesday morning:
Battens are going on.
Wednesday afternoon:
More progress
Thursday Morning:
more tiles off
Thursday afternoon:
and more battens on
Friday afternoon:
Susan contemplates the new roof for the first time
Wednesday Morning:
Work has been delayed by rain and a little job that "came up" elsewhere. This is the roof as we left it

Simon

The Roof in Progress, week 2

Pictures of week 2

Monday afternoon:
8 days in. most of the slates are replaced, and the sheeting is off the "hangar".
Tuesday morning:
The frame of the hangar is being cut down.
Tuesday afternoon:
The Hangar has gone and demolition of the first chimney starts.
Wednesday:
The chimney is demolished and work has begun on the hole over the stairs. This requires a bit of redesign so that the problems of rain entering the house don't reoccur. Work continues for 2 days
Friday morning:
The area over the stairs is finished.
Friday Afternoon:
The second chimney is demolished.
Simon

Demolition Man

The staircase

going

going

gone

The bit where we find the Puits named in the street

Susan arrived last Friday after an eventful trip. More of that in another post though...........

On Sunday we had a visit from a nearly local architect who we are thinking of employing. While he was with us he asked what was under the concrete hatch behind the house.

Surprisingly, we didn't know. We had always assumed that it was something to do with sewerage or drainage or something yucky. The architect, however, is made of sterner stuff. He lifted the hatch to find........ a stone lined well, complete with water about 18 metres down.

This is exciting, and news to us, even if we do suspect that we are the only people in town who didn't know it was there somewhere.

Simon

Something you wouldn't hear in Australia

M. Chaboisson came to quote for the new staircase and some windows.

We were discussing a new front window and Susan and my ideas, when M. Chaboisson shook his head and said "ce n'est pas joli".

Which is the equivalent of an Australian builder saying "No mate - that wouldn't be pretty"

Simon

Autumn is here

By Jingo it's cold!

On Monday evening I'd had enough of sitting in the gloom, dirty and cold, so I booked myself a night at l'Image.

After the mother of all baths I had dinner in the restaurant, and then I had a chat about stuff with Christophe. I don't think he quite believed me about house removals in Australia - that is, putting a house on the back of a truck and carting it off somewhere else. At some stage he will have to be shown photos.

A good night's sleep in a comfortable bed meant that I was able to cope with the advent of telephone engineer in French. They are no different to Australian Telecom engineers - lots of swearing under the breath and shaking of heads.

Today (Wednesday) EDF should arrive to connect the electricity and give us a couple of plugs. I have an electric heater waiting..........

Simon