escapefromthechateauDIY

Pick a region, any region One of the things that I would like to elaborate on in the book about Series One Escape to the Chateau DIY that  I'm finishing, (working title 'Beyond the Pool Pump' ) is the different regions featured, or rather not featured.  The show was about the people and their castles, not their place in France.   The clusters of castles selected were not situated in the ‘millionaire's playground’  the côte d'Azur nor the  'region Parisienne' but in less visited and less known areas tucked away in France's regions.   The region where a chateaunaut lands inevitably betrays an insight into their personality and dreams and as well as the fascinating histories and characteristics attached to the region that merit more than a fleeting glance. The great majority of chateaunauts from Series One had had a dose of visiting France as children.   Francophile parents, family homes, campsite holidays.   Fond memories of orangina, ...

1824 cadastre of Village and Château of St Ferriol, Aude More pictures below Cadastrophic When Channel 4 first conceived the programme that became Escape to the Château DIY the working title was Château Rescue. It was a good name for the collection of Plucky Brits who took on neglected French castles and, with all our might, tried to breathe life back into them. Here is a little tale of how it is not always what we think matters most, that makes the biggest difference. I was sitting in the notaire’s ‘bureau’ again. Fascinated as ever by the folders of Actes lining the book shelves in chronological order back to the 18th century. I’d sat there many times since 1996 when our first compromis de vente, a legal document which commits you to a sale (sometimes including clauses and exceptions) had been signed in this office with this notaire. The Château St Ferriol (www.st-ferriol.com) had been divided and redivided and changed hands many times over the years. The first...

Château de Lalande, kept in the family for centuries In English, when we think of the French word château, or the plural châteaux, we think of the fortified castles brought to the British Isles by the Normans. We think of crenellations, moats and stone spiral staircases. That is not what château means in France. In France châteaux range from medieval forts to a farm estate producing wine. You will find examples of them all in the legendary Loire valley. Fortified royal castles, ‘wedding cake’ palaces, manor houses, hunting lodges inspired by fantasies of antiquity and residences of the vineyards built up by wine producing families. There are examples of each of them also in the first series of ETTC DIY. Alison and Paul’s Château Brametourte, ( http://brametourte-test.com/home/weddings/wedding-service-options/gothic-courtyard ) in the Tarn department, is an example of a fortified building that has been little altered over the centuries. Eleventh century Roman v...