
Statement staircase
Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to find out what we have been up over the past week.
This week was insulation week (see post: Mysterious Objects). A van backed down the drive on Wednesday morning filled with fab insulation to make this house a little cosier – all part of the French government’s scheme to reduce energy waste. Kittens scattered and Bear had to be tucked away as he doesn’t really like people he doesn’t know visiting the house! (A bit of an understatement but we are working with him on this!). Attics had been emptied, Max had been toiling to fill holes in attic floorboards and had started on the job of fixing the floor of the belvedere so we could insulate the tower nook from being exposed to the cold from the belvedere, 4 floors up, and the pigeonnier 5 floors up! The outside loo at the bottom of the tower was also getting insulation in the ceiling so the 3 floors in between in the tower wouldn’t be so glacial!

A busy day, taking refreshments to our team of two, one guy from Romania and one from Moldova. Language was a little challenging as their French was limited, but we managed – most of the time. There was a hysterical misunderstanding over lunch though. As we are out in the countryside with no shops nearby, I asked if they needed lunch. Non merci they had some food. By about 2.30pm they hadn’t eaten so I checked again and they said yes please to lunch, but I should choose what to give them, plus some beer please. Max was swiftly despatched to Cordes for some supplies as I hadn’t planned for beer (silly really). On his return, I put out a table and some chairs, sorted out some food and as they were outside asked them to come and eat. Non merci – they had eaten already as they had food in the van! I now have no idea what we were talking about earlier, but the beer was not turned down!
Then with typical Ali and Max luck – we had a powercut. One of the guys was terrified that he might have put a staple through a cable. However I think he might have noticed if he had. Actually there was no mains power at the outside junction box. Great! Tools were downed while I called the electricity company. No chance of any assistance until the evening. Work was stopped for the day, insulation reloaded and off they went – after another beer! One attic was done, one half of another was done, with the tower attic plus cellar and outside loo still to do. We have stuff everywhere having emptied the attics. Ah well, c’est la vie or notre vie anyway! They are back for half a day on 3rd June – not sure that is enough time to finish the job – perhaps they will be here very late!
Whilst all this was happening, Max was busy up in the tower, sorting out the belvedere floor (see post: Up to the Belvedere) so we can insulate underneath. To do this, however, he needed more boards and the plan was to use the floorboards that were currently being used as a wall to close off the attic space in the tower. So down they came, along with the door, marked with a big red ‘Défense d’entrer’ sign, inherited with the house.
Today he finally finished the floor, one part of which is made from another old door we found in the attic – perfect. It is great to re-use material. My lovely husband has done an amazing job.




I popped up to admire the handiwork and the fabulous view – all a bit safer than last time I went up! Now we will be able to go up and enjoy the view from the 4th floor of the tower!

Now the big reveal, which I have partly given away already! By using the old boards, Max has opened up the space at the top of the tower staircase. This is something we had planned to do. It actually feels like we have done a bit of renovation at last! I am so excited to share this moment with you – we have been looking forward to this for a while. It looks like the third floor originally had a landing at the top of the stairs, with doors off to two spaces – one leading to the future reading nook, belvedere and pigeonnier and the other to the attic space – maybe once used as a room, who knows. Now it is back and we are so pleased. We still have a way to go but it transforms the third floor.

The door to the belvedere and pigeonnier is in, so no stray owls, bats or anything else can drop by to visit the house. The original door to the attic space (future studio space I hope) was still in the attic. It is rather impressive and will be put back in place, once the door frame is reconstructed. It even has a working key! Aside from the huge old front door key, this is the only old key that actually works in the house. There are a few keys in doors dotted around, mostly stuck for now in their locks and definitely not working.


It is lovely to see the bannisters exposed again and the view all the way down this beautiful staircase. The tower staircase is quite narrow and curves its way up the tower to the top. How stunning to look down at this swirl of stairs. We have work to do, treating woodworm, filling, sanding, waxing and generally bringing the wood back to life. Can’t wait.
From the top looking down From the bottom looking up
In other news, the kittens are nearly 9 months old – haven’t they grown?

We also recently had a night-time visitor – a bob tailed cat of sorts – well a cat with a stubby tail, not the actual Bob Tail breed. It looked very well cared for and wasn’t scared by us, so didn’t rush off. It did keep its distance but watched us calmly. The photo is very grainy as I didn’t go too close and it was dark. Can you spot him? Great eyes! We had seen one or two of these before – maybe someone has these cats somewhere in the area.

I thought I would also share another mysterious object we found in the attic (see post: Mysterious Objects). Any ideas? I have some plans for it but would love to hear your ideas too.

The sun is out, the temperature is rising – finally, so I am hoping for a weekend outside, some long-overdue planting (and weeding) and hopefully a swim as the pool is heating up – well 19°C so far but that is better than 15°C! It isn’t a bank holiday weekend here, that was last weekend. It is however la fête des mères (Mothers’ Day) here in France on Sunday. So to all mothers everywhere bonne fête des mères. Find some time to relax and do something just for you. I am planning a late and hopefully long lunch in the garden with a couple of friends and some nice chilled local rosé!
Have a great week.
A bientôt
Ali xxx

