Buildings Big and Bawdy

Many homes in this part of France are unoccupied, from little stone hovels, to enormous, grand chateaux. At hovel-level, one can assume that the owners simply move to a house with modern facilities; at chateau-level, perhaps the running costs can become too extortionate to face. Or maybe they're (seldom-seen) holiday homes. This particular chateau, somewhere beyond Montgibaud, is empty, but the grounds are very well-maintained. Places like this are always boarded up very effectively, so peeping at faded grandeur is tricky. I could almost hear the echoes of a string quartet playing as I skirted the chateau walls looking for a peep hole...



 I can just picture the couple (Ian and Carol) from their two-bedroom semi in Sidcup journeying out to this French chateau every August, gleefully climbing these steps, entering their musty palace, then running around each floor, throwing open all the windows and shutters... Now, there's a happy thought. Probably not true though, as this chateau is up for sale. No, I don't know how much they're after. Ask Ian and Carol.

Dogs can't read


Holy mermaid

Yes, I know- it looks like I've stretched the photo top to bottom, but, no. This little chapel really is this shape!

 Travelling onwards from the chateau, we stumbled upon what I thought was a pumping station, in the middle of nowhere...

No. It's a 'sex club'. I wasn't far wrong then...


Back on the ranch the next morning, the weather was being twitchy...

And now look what the weather's gone and done! 



The fallen tree is not on our land, but it's threatening to block our drive and fall onto our precious phone line! I've asked the mayor's secretary for advice.

Are we doing any renovating? Why, yes! Kevin's borrowed Steve's special drill in order to make new holes through the metre-thick wall. More outdoor lights and PIRs.


And me? Stripping ivy from the pottery and piggery. It makes me cough. Every time I pull out a particularly penetrating strand of ivy, a stone lets out a sigh of relief. And the building becomes just a tad more unstable.




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