Original subtitles

I'm Dick Strawbridge, and along with my wife, Angel,

and our two children...

Yay. Oh, well done!

..we've lived in this magnificent chateau for the past five years.

Look. Look.

Look, look, look, look.

Oh, my God.

That is so beautiful.

It's not just our home...

And we're up.

..but our business.

You may kiss your bride.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And all over France, there are other Brits doing exactly the same.

Oh, my God.

We'll follow a new wave of intrepid chateau owners...

If I open some windows, it might help get rid of some dust.

..and some familiar faces...

..as they take on these majestic buildings.

And we'll reveal more about our own chateau life.

Everyone ready?

Yeah!

There'll be triumphs...

This looks incredible. Do you like it, Laura? I love it.

..and setbacks... Oof!

..as they battle to renovate their homes...

..and earn their keep.

OK, I'm ready.

But no matter how hard the going gets...

This is probably...

Yeah, my worst nightmare.

..they get to live the dream as custodians of their very own castle.

Today...

LOUD POP Whoa!

Guess that's in half, then.

..one family prepare for a special party...

I feel like I'm having a hot flush.

..new chateau owners find themselves in a hole...

Can you get through the door there?

..as they take on a new challenge...

How's your claustrophobia?

No, there aren't too many fossilised mice.

..Angel goes bargain hunting...

I mean, the colour's quite nice.

The colour's quite nice?! It's called rust.

..and one couple search for perfection.

So, what's your thoughts? I'm not keen.

..as they aim to complete an ambitious project.

If it doesn't add to it, you take it away, so...

Honestly, I'm fine with that.

This is the impressive 17th century Chateau Domaine de la Salle.

With 31 rooms, several outbuildings and 52 acres of land,

it was snapped up for £315,000

by Mariam and husband Jono, who've been renovating it for 18 months.

I love making something happen, working on a project

and seeing the difference that you can make.

And I love bringing old places back to life.

Located 70 miles from Bordeaux, in south-west France...

..they want to run the place as a B&B and events venue,

having almost finished the work inside.

They recently hosted a celebration party...

The cocktails are actually going down extremely well.

..to officially launch their business.

Bonsoir! APPLAUSE

As usual, Mariam has carried everything off very well.

Oh, stop it already.

Now Mariam and Jono are turning their attention to a unique

building in their grounds.

A picturesque pigeonnier at the side of the chateau.

They discovered a magnificent bread oven,

and want to bring it back to life,

so they can trial a bread-making weekend in a few months.

Ah, there we are. That's how I remember it, pretty much.

Son Monty has been roped in to help empty it.

It's only really that bit there we need to clear out.

The wood can stay. Yeah, we need all the wood.

Look at that. Ooh.

That's one of those... Yeah, for the trees. ..nets for the trees.

I found some fire dogs for the gite fireplace.

Although clearing it could be a time-consuming job.

I find it very hard to throw things away

and I don't think you should throw things away, really.

Hear, hear - a man after my own heart.

Might be able to use that to make a shutter.

Inevitably, within a couple of days,

you need the thing that you've thrown away.

With the space at least half cleared,

they can finally inspect the state of the oven.

Do you think you can get through the door there?

Go on, have a go.

What do you think? How is your claustrophobia?

Fine.

No, there aren't too many fossilised mice, so it's not that bad.

Any bats hanging from the ceiling?

There are no bats, but Jono is intrigued by something else.

There doesn't actually look as if there was ever a door there,

does there? Not really.

They probably just put a chunk of... Wood there.

..metal in front, or something.

As far as we can see, the vault is in pretty good condition.

We just need to re-do the... Floor a bit. ..the floor a bit, yes.

Some of the original bricks are broken and need to be replaced.

Thankfully, Jono's got to know a local traditional brick maker.

Monsieur Pausat, the chap who makes the terracotta floor,

he still makes the firebricks.

It was probably his company that made them in the first place,

back in God knows when.

Luckily, Monsieur Pausat's company is just down the road.

So Mariam and Jono decide to pay him a visit.

Alors, ca va? Bonjour.

The company have been making bricks here for 400 years.

SPEAKS FRENCH

1-6-3-0? Oui. Wow.

The original brick-making shed

has been preserved in the modern building.

With heritage like this, there's a good chance they'll have

the right bricks to match the one Jono's brought from the oven.

Oui.

But finding the right one may take some time.

260 miles north lies the 19th century, 30 room,

Chateau de Montvason.

With 8.5 acres of land and its own lakes.

This beautiful place is owned by Emma and partner Paul,

who've spent two and a half years renovating it

into a B&B and events venue.

The house was built for entertaining.

And it would be nice to see the house come back

to its full life again.

Located close to the Normandy coast,

this DIY duo have plenty of projects on the go.

They're renovating the west wing into a luxury two-bedroom suite...

Oh, my God!

That is really good, isn't it? Yep.

..and making more of their outside space...

All the overgrowth, it came to here, didn't it?

..where they intend to connect the newly-discovered dry lakebed

to the existing lake adjacent to it.

But the machinery they need to make it happen

is being used for the harvest season.

It would have been nice to have had this done,

but you get the picture.

With the lake on hold, they can now finish off the west wing,

which they first started well over a year ago.

So the west wing is where we've gone up a notch.

We're trying to incorporate Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts

and Art Deco.

It's not an easy task,

but, you know, we really want this to be very impressive

and it's going to be a private suite, so we want it to be amazing.

While one bedroom is complete, and the bathroom is getting there,

the second bedroom still needs a lot of work.

Today, to help get things moving,

they've brought in friend Mark, who specialises in ornate plaster.

Hello.

I'm just about put the ceiling rose up.

Oh, my word. So this is the Montvason?

Yes, it is, yeah.

It is absolutely stunning, isn't it, Paul?

It's lovely. And that's so Art Nouveau.

Shall we get it up and have a look? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

See where you think it needs to be? Yeah.

Mark's made the ceiling rose for free.

Buying something like this would cost about £100,

so he's saved them some cash.

That looks great.

That looks great like that, perfect.

The ceiling rose is just the start of many unique features in the room.

That is...

..really nice.

Emma is also getting creative.

She's designed wall panels based on artist Alphonse Mucha,

who was known for his classic Art Nouveau style.

I've always loved the Art Nouveau period

and I always had his books and I love the way he made women look.

Mucha was best known for his decorative theatrical posters,

and Emma's come up with her own impression of his work.

So this is a colour wash for the dress.

I'm trying to build up layers so that it's all a bit dreamy,

rather than hard lines.

I'm happy once I start blocking in,

because then I start to see it come together

and I really, really like this one.

It seems to be coming on nicely.

I can't wait to see what else they have planned.

Coming up...

It doesn't have to be too exact.

..Jono and Monty get themselves in a pickle...

How were we imagining this was going to fit,

because it's nowhere near fitting?

So how's the door job going, then?

Slow. Yeah?

..and one family face an altogether different challenge.

It's a proper job. OK.

OK? It's got to look nice.

We can give one a go, can't we?

In northwest France

lies the beautiful 19th-century Chateau la Perriere.

This 20-room stunner, with its own outdoor swimming pool,

was bought 15 years ago for £500,000.

To earn its keep, it's been renovated

into a luxury holiday retreat

and is rented out by interior designer Karen

and husband Paul, who runs a workplace design company.

Along with children Tom and Katie, they're currently based in the UK.

We're hoping that, eventually,

we will be able to come and live here.

That's the dream, that's why we bought this place.

It's relaxing, it's exciting,

but then we need to go back and earn some more money

to pay for the refurbishment of the chateau.

Located in the Loire Valley,

their latest project is to turn the old coach house

and stable block into a wedding venue.

It's a big old beam, isn't it?

Makes a change from what it was last time.

It's proving to be an expensive job,

as they've spent three quarters of their budget replacing the roof.

We got the final bill, and it came in at fifty-three...

..thousand euros!

It's a huge amount of money,

and they want to start recouping the costs.

Now, it's four months on,

and they still haven't secured any wedding bookings.

But the dining area is coming on leaps and bounds,

thanks to some creative shopping.

We've had the electrician in, so we've now got lights.

And, um, I came over a couple of weeks ago

with a vanload of furniture that I've got off eBay,

but we've still got a lot to do.

Now they want to finish it off and throw a party for their friends

in two days' time.

Today, Karen's task is to complete the huge sliding door

between the coach house and the stable block,

which she designed and built with 16-year-old son Tom.

Now we're working on, um, putting a frame in,

so that we can put the metal mesh that we've got.

And it's going to sit behind the frame.

It is, essentially, expanded metal lathe,

that you use for plastering walls,

which is fantastic, cos it's super cheap.

It's a nice idea, but first they have to finish off

adding the frames for the mesh, which is easier said than done.

In fact, whilst I'm up here, Tom, could you write that as "Door 4"?

We've got to measure every length.

It would appear that every window is a different size,

cos, although we measured them when we were building it,

clearly, you know,

timber isn't always exactly the same size.

I'm going to blame it on the timber.

Tom is in charge of cutting the wood...

..which leaves Karen free to glue it into place.

We're trying to set them back slightly

so that we've got the right amount of gap at the back

to house the mesh.

It's a "rustic" door, shall we say?

So, how's the door job going, then?

Slow. Yeah?

How do you fancy...

..measuring and cutting these to size?

This is a proper job. OK.

OK, it's got to look nice.

No pressure then, Paul.

Give one a go, can't we? HE CHUCKLES

We could use masking tape to...

..demark the line where you're cutting.

If you mask it... Yeah.

..you're never going to get it accurate enough,

whereas if you do it by hand...

I'm staying out of this one.

STAPLE GUN FIRES

It just needs to be in so we don't catch fingers.

Cos I'll, eventually, I'll put a beading over it.

One down,

eight to go.

Over at Chateau Domaine De La Salle,

Jono and son Monty have swept out the old bread oven

and now want to replace the bricks

with new ones they bought at the traditional brick-maker's.

Monty's just positioning the first new brick, in fact.

He just needs to get the level of sand right

and then slot it into position, basically.

Yeah, that fits quite nicely. It's good.

But it's not all plain sailing,

as some of the bricks need cutting into shape

to fit in the circular oven.

It needs to curve around a bit, cos it's such a big circle.

I reckon it should be something like that.

Do you want to cut it? Yeah, sure.

The bricks need to be cut to the right size.

And it's best to have the right safety kit on when angle grinding.

After a quick blast,

it's time to see if it fits.

How does it look? A bit more...

Quite a bit more needs to come off at the bottom of the curve,

I think it needs to be a bit sharper.

Oh, really? OK.

That was phase one, a bit more trimming should sort it out.

It doesn't have to be too exact.

Let's hope it's second time lucky.

Fine.

Ah, yeah, that's brilliant.

One down...

..now they just need to do the same to the rest of the bricks.

How were you imagining this was going to fit?

Because it's nowhere near fitting.

After three hours...

Ah, hang on a minute.

..it's job done.

Perfick. Jolly good.

Job well done there.

Looks good, right? Very nice. I think we can...

We've earnt ourselves some lunch now.

Yeah.

By all means go and chill, but it still needs to be fired up.

I think it's quite exciting, really.

It will be fun to get the oven actually going.

Although I'm told that it takes a week to warm it up, but anyway.

HE CHUCKLES

260 miles away at Chateau de Montvason,

Emma and Paul are creating an Art Nouveau-style bedroom,

and Emma has headed to their 8.5 acres of garden

to search for inspiration.

I definitely feel like that leaf needs to be on my chimney breast.

The whole ethos of the Mucha Suite, Art Nouveau,

is using flowers and plants

and that whole period was all about nature,

so we want to incorporate that into the design.

Da-nah!

Happy days.

Having already fitted an intricate ceiling rose,

Emma now wants to create some decorative,

nature-inspired plasterwork for the walls.

Let's go see what Mark thinks of this.

And mate Mark has got an idea using ivy.

Have you got what I asked you for? I have.

Well, I've taken a load, so I wanted to see if any of this might work,

cos I know you want to do it in sections, don't you?

I think if we go with the shorter ones first.

OK. Shall I go and get some scissors?

And then we'll add the bigger ones afterwards.

Perfect. Cos we're going to do it in two sections.

Oh, I'm so excited to see this.

OK, so shall I go grab some scissors?

He starts by pressing the ivy into clay to make an imprint.

And so, say, this one, I would put this one down here?

Yeah, put that one there, yeah. Just follow the shape?

Yeah, we need to go a little bit deeper, because obviously...

Really get the depth? Yeah. Three-dimensional.

Yeah.

So would this have been how they did it in the old days?

Yeah. Is this, like, an old method?

Yeah. I love all that.

Once pressed in deep enough, they can take it all off.

Oh, that looks really cool.

You can see the line of the leaf.

So, what we'll do now, we'll make a plaster impression of this.

Mm-hm. OK?

And then we'll make three individual moulds of those.

Yeah. To, obviously, give us that 3D effect.

Ooh, I'm so excited. Yeah?

After pouring plaster into the clay mould,

Mark adds a sheet of fibreglass to reinforce it.

Without the reinforcement,

you'll never be able to take it out of the mould.

OK, so...

So how long will it take to set? Normally about 10 to 15 minutes.

Is that all? Yeah, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Wow, that is so fast! OK.

Designing the bedroom is not the only thing they need to get done,

the Art Deco-style bathroom has been a while in the making.

How are you? Lovely to see you.

Last year, I helped Paul cut rare Vitrolite tiles.

It's rock solid. Yeah.

Come the next nuclear holocaust, this will be what's left.

You can imagine.

Now he's finally moved on to the floor tiles,

which just need finishing off.

HE GROANS

Let's stand on that, because I can't press it down.

He's contrasting black granite tiles with white Carrara ones,

to make the Art Deco look as authentic as possible.

The next one, this is the last little one.

And having picked up the whole lot for just £200,

he's got himself a bargain.

These are never going to be seen,

um, because they're going behind the bath.

HE CHUCKLES

At least you'll know it's a job well done, Paul.

As for Emma, she's eager to see what the now dried ivy plasterwork

looks like in the bedroom.

OK, so...

What we're going to do is

we'll start down in this bottom left-hand corner.

Obviously, once this mould is made-made... Yeah?

..we can repeat this pattern...

OK. ..up the wall.

Quick question to you. Yeah.

I thought it was going here. It's going...

We're doing the right and the left.

So we're going to have that pattern... On this side as well.

Mark's plan is to creep the ivy around the chimney breast.

You can put some in there or put one there or... Sure.

..put one there, or put one round the corner.

Oh, yeah, I love that.

With the theory out of the way,

it's just a case of putting it into practice.

Coming up...

45...

..Karen needs to sharpen up her act...

We're not sure whether the blade is blunt.

I think it's slightly curved.

Which probably isn't great.

..I set Angel a shopping challenge...

OK. That's probably right.

..and Mariam and Jono start to feel the heat.

Is it not meant to be at about 250 degrees?

Yeah, that's because I don't want it

blasting away at full temperature all the time.

In the Loire Valley...

..it's just 24 hours until Karen's party in the new wedding venue.

So we're going to need the... The jigsaw? ..the jigsaw cutter.

Today she's roped in son, Tom,

as she wants to create a three-metre-long buffet table

to fit beside an old stable partition.

45.

Karen's making it out of an old table.

The tricky bit is she's cutting it in half longways

to make sure it's the right length.

And already there's a problem.

We're not sure whether the blade is blunt.

I think it's slightly curved.

Which probably isn't great.

It is better if they're straight

but, having found no other blades,

they'll have to make do.

And with the stable block next door being put on hold for now,

they have more space to manoeuvre.

First task is to cut the table top in two.

That's about halfway.

Let's just hope the blade isn't as bad as they fear.

You need to come over to the left a little bit.

It's a bit... It's really blunt.

Really difficult to keep the blade, isn't it? It's REALLY blunt.

Like, super blunt.

With no other option, they're going to have to soldier on.

It's not very straight. It doesn't matter.

You're doing a good job,

you've just got to make sure you meet up with that one. OK.

Go for it! It's bound to meet in the middle.

BANG! Oh!

So, guess that's in half, then.

With the table top safely separated,

they're halfway there. OK.

Now they need to do the same with the base,

which, thankfully, is more straightforward.

We've trashed a table, Tom.

Do you want to grab one?

Let's see how it fits along the stable partition.

Look at that, that's amazing.

So now we need to find a way of...

..pinning it back to the partition.

Let me just think about this.

This could be bracketed... OK.

..back to the partition. It sounds like a plan.

Although there's seems to be a hiccup.

I've got no idea if we've got any brackets.

We need to go and have a little bit of a rummage around the tool room.

Oh, God, it's quite heavy.

Oh, nice new jigsaw blades...

..they would have been helpful.

Better late than never.

But still need those brackets.

We could rob them off the swimming pool fence.

We can replace them before we have our next guests.

We could take one off the top,

because the other one's still securing it.

There you go.

Do you think that'll do the job? It should do, yeah.

Well, there's one way to find out.

Solid.

It's worked a treat.

With the whole base now attached, it's mission complete.

How's it going?

And just in time to show Paul,

who's been food shopping for the party.

It's really good.

It actually turned out better than I thought it would.

Yeah, now it's down to you to cook and make the food look amazing.

I'll do my bit.

Best of luck, Paul.

Over at our place,

we never miss an opportunity to turn something old into something new.

When it came to transforming the boot room,

we wanted to find an interesting way to disguise an old radiator.

Having drawn a blank in the chateau...

This may cover the radiator,

but won't cover that length of space.

..Angela set off to one of our favourite brocantes.

Dick said, "Find yourself a radiator cover that looks nice."

Here, they specialise in salvaging ironmongery.

Sure enough, Angel found a disused old iron balcony

she thought would be perfect.

See, this could work. OK...

That's probably right. OK?

Back at the chateau, the big question I had -

is it going to work?

You had no choice, this was the only one they had, was it?

No, but I thought that was the nicest.

Absolutely perfect. HE GRUNTS

I mean, the colour's quite nice.

The colour's quite nice? It's called rust.

One, two, three.

What do you reckon, Mr Strawbridge? That's pretty good, right?

That's lovely.

I'm probably going to buzz off these little sticky-out bits here,

because they're just going to get in the way. Yeah? Yeah. OK.

It was a great find, but first it needed a good old scrub down.

When Dick asked me to find a radiator cover...

SHE CHUCKLES ..it was apparent

that they were all ugly.

Like, seriously, the only one that I liked

was this Spanish-inspired

custom-made cast-iron and wood,

and it was beautiful.

It sort of had that functionality

and it was very elegant and it was thousands.

So this is our alternative.

And instead of being thousands, it was 150 Euros,

which I think is a bit of a bargain.

150 Euros? You never told me that.

And after a quick paint job...

..I removed those sticky-out bits,

which probably cost 10 Euros...

It's quite heavy, isn't it? It is.

..and added a wooden shelf to sit on top of it.

Stained, that's going to be gorgeous.

That's a result.

It took no time at all,

and the new radiator cover is a great feature in our boot room.

It just goes to show how a little creativity

can go a long way.

CAT PURRS

160 miles away in south-west France,

Mariam and Jono's challenge is heating up.

Their bread-making weekend starts tomorrow

and they need to ensure the old bread oven is working perfectly.

He's been stoking this for about a month now,

on and off,

because you have to build up the heat in the bricks.

Can I just ask, is it not meant to be at about 250 degrees?

No, you have to get it up to 350, around.

300, and it's only 120 today?

Yeah, but that's because I don't want it blasting away

at full temperature all the time.

The wood would be gone in five seconds. OK.

I can easily get it up to 300 and something without too much problem.

Well, Jono's happy, he seems to have it under control.

Now they just need to add a cast-iron bargain of their own -

an oven door -

which they bought online for 40 euros, a little under £35.

HE GRUNTS

Let's hope it fits.

There we are, a bit of brute force always does the trick.

With the oven door safely on,

when it heats up, they should be able to keep it

at a constant temperature.

It can shut like that and there we are.

Absolutely perfect.

But several hours later,

Jono notices smoke seeping through the outside of the oven wall.

You can see where the smoke's been coming out.

If smoke is escaping, the heat will too.

You have to mix it up a bit first.

Jono's going to attempt to fill the cracks in

with traditional lime and sand mortar.

It... It's actually a lot harder than it looks,

this bunging it at the wall.

Luckily, stonemason friend, Dudu, is around to oversee.

Dudu is the master mason,

so he's been giving me...

..lessons on how to do it.

Looking good, Jono.

Here's hoping it does the trick in time for tomorrow.

In Normandy,

Emma and Paul are finally close

to completing their Art Nouveau-style bedroom suite.

Now Emma wants to try adding the final bit of the jigsaw.

When I was looking around in the attic,

I came across the old bed canopy that used to belong here,

so we thought it'd be brilliant to restore it

and put it back in the master suite,

which is the Mucha Suite.

Hopefully, that will just be the finishing touch

on the beautiful Art Nouveau bed that we've got.

Having restored the frame,

Emma and Paul are dressing it with white silk.

No, no, what I'm doing is we're stretching it to that corner,

I'm saying, like this. Oh, OK.

Yeah? OK, yeah. And then we do a bit in the middle. Yeah.

She wants to create a traditional sunburst pattern.

See? That's lovely.

And Paul's task is to pleat the fabric,

then attach it to the frame with a staple gun...

..but it's easier said than done.

I would say that this is...

..quite frustrating. Let's see.

No, I'm not happy with that at all.

I'm not happy with any of it.

Paul might want to brush up on his pleating skills,

and before he does any more,

he wants to see what it looks like above the bed.

So, what's your thoughts? I'm not keen.

Your eye is being taken off of the bed

and it's looking at that.

Mm-hm. And I don't...

I mean, with the little beds in the other room,

the ciels de lit really work, right? Mm-hm.

Because your eye is not immediately drawn to them. Mm.

But when you walk in here, you've got this big,

brown thing on a light wall

and your eye immediately goes to that.

You don't look at the bed. Mm-hm.

The bed is, like, the room. Fine. I'm fine with that.

I'm just... I want you to be happy. Yeah.

Yeah, there's no point spending all this time

doing this if it doesn't add to it, you take it away.

So, I'm... Honestly, I'm fine with that.

It was worth a try, Emma.

A few months ago, this room was nothing more than an empty shell.

Now, it's been transformed into an elegant Art Nouveau-style bedroom.

With the help of friends, they've managed to recreate the era

with ornate plaster work

both on the ceiling and the walls,

using ivy from their own garden.

While Emma's hand-painted wall panels

pay tribute to her favourite artist, Alphonse Mucha.

This has been the most work and I think it shows.

We've definitely achieved what we wanted, it's gorgeous.

Apart from the bed canopy, obviously.

Yeah, that's...

Swiftly moving on.

And, a year in the making,

the Art Deco bathroom is also complete.

Their two-bedroom suite in the West Wing is officially done.

I just can't believe we've come such a long way

since we started this West Wing.

To see it finished, it's absolutely amazing.

And to have the Art Deco bathroom done as well,

the whole West Wing's now finished

and that's just such an achievement.

I couldn't agree more.

It's been a busy summer,

as they also hosted a big event for the 75th anniversary of D-Day...

As we say in America, it's been awesome.

..and made great strides in transforming their outdoor space.

We've come a really long way,

and now he's not allowed to mention anything else

for at least six months,

but I'm pretty sure, in the next week, he will.

I bet you he's got a huge to-do list,

but however long it is, I wish you the best of luck.

Coming up...

It's all systems go for Karen.

I always find it actually works to my advantage

being completely oblivious of the time,

cos then I don't have to get so stressed.

And temperatures start to rise for Jono.

550 degrees, which is a bit too much, I would say.

I hope I haven't overdone it.

In the Loire Valley, there's just a few hours to go

before Karen and Paul's party in their new wedding venue.

I always find it actually works to my advantage

being completely oblivious of the time,

because then I don't have to get so stressed.

Karen is dressing the space using bargain buys

she's picked up from local brocantes,

as well as using things from their grounds.

Even some of the green, Tom, is quite nice as well.

In the chateau...

How's the tomatoes going?

..Paul is preparing some appetisers

with a helping hand from sous-chef and 12-year-old daughter Katie.

That is nice.

Shall I tell you what the worst thing about that is? What?

Daddy can't pinch any. If I pinch any of them,

you'll spot it, won't you? Yep!

Paul is hoping to impress his guests with samples of the local cuisine.

So, just finishing off now with the smoked fish.

This is something they do quite a lot here as well,

which is smoked tuna,

then we've got smoked eel...

Just really different, interesting things which are just delicious.

He has it under control,

but with time ticking, Karen is feeling the pressure.

I'm getting all flustered.

I feel like I'm having a hot flush.

Tom, what time, is it? 6:23.

Half an hour.

Half an hour.

Oh, my word, that looks amazing.

There.

Wow.

That's great.

And I'm actually really pleased with it,

I'm genuinely really excited about seeing everybody's faces.

I know you haven't had time

for one of these for about a week and a half,

but there you go, you got it.

That's it, done.

Six months ago, this coach house was a neglected outbuilding.

Now it's been transformed into a stylish dining area,

which takes them a long way towards being able to host weddings.

With Karen's design skills, creative ideas and shrewd shopping,

it certainly looks the part.

Now it's time to show it off to their friends.

I'll let everybody in. Right, come in.

Wow. You've done a great job.

It's absolutely amazing.

When I saw them, they were all still tied up in a knot.

I'm really pleased with the table.

It's certainly made an impression.

What are they? The actual original...? Original papers.

They're really lovely.

Fabulous. Karen and Paul have done an amazing job.

Come on, then, quickly, join, join.

What a fantastic place. I'll raise a glass to them,

if I still can in a few hours' time.

It's proved to be a success

and means Karen and Paul's hard work has eventually paid off.

We did it, we launched the space and it's fantastic.

I'm really... It is really, really good.

It's really nice to see how the space will actually

work for an event.

There's more good news, as they've managed to secure their first

wedding booking for next season.

So there's lots to celebrate.

To the next chapter, cheers. Cheers.

Cheers, everybody, thanks for coming. Cheers.

LAUGHTER

100 miles away in southwest France,

it's the day of Mariam and Jono's bread-making weekend,

which they're trialling with friends and family.

Today is very much a soft opening.

It's a test run of the bread oven,

it's a test run of us actually organising the whole thing.

I was going to have beautiful linen aprons with La Salle

embroidered on them.

Guess what? I forgot.

To teach the art of bread making, they've roped in mate

and master baker Mark... How are things? Perfect. Good.

And it's brightened up. I know. We are lucky, aren't we?

Hello. Very lucky. How are you?

..who knows all the pitfalls of using a tradition wood-fire oven.

The oven could get too hot, the bread could therefore

burn on the outside and overcook, so we need to try

and time it right, so we heat it up then let the temperature drop,

cos what you need to do in a wood-fired oven is cook

in an oven where the temperature is descending

and let the bread cook gently, as it were.

Jono could have his work cut out,

as it's up to him to ramp up the heat.

Right, we're just putting some faggots of wood on now,

to try and superheat it.

He needs to get the oven to 350 degrees.

So, the beauty of faggots is that

it's small wood, tightly bound together

and it basically burns very quickly at a very high temperature.

Hence, it was the preferred form of wood

for burning witches and bishops.

Savage times indeed.

Now, centuries later, Jono is using

a state-of-the-art thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature.

THERMOMETER BEEPS

550 degrees, which is a bit too much, I would say.

I hope I haven't overdone it.

The oven has never got to this temperature before.

I'm just hoping the whole thing is not going to

collapse at the last moment, as I've rather fired it up too much.

Cool, off you go, get mixing.

Over at the chateau, Mark already has everyone making bread...

Yeah, you're not far off at all,

just get those dry bits around the edge.

..kicking off with a sourdough loaf,

which will be amazing straight from the oven.

Yeah. That looks lovely. It smells good, too.

So we want 200g, which isn't very much.

Even Jono's getting stuck in,

while he waits for the oven to cool down.

The determination on that face.

Oh, look at that!

Today is very much experimental, really,

both from the point of view of the workshop

and particularly of the oven...

..as we've not too much of an idea what we're doing.

With the bread dough being left to rest,

Jono wants Mark to check on the temperature of the oven.

The oven is about 370 at the back.

That's OK.

We need to clean the oven as quick as we can.

They need to empty the ashes to make way for the bread

and don't want to waste time.

Attention, Pierre, derriere.

And then we'll check the temperature in a sec.

Now they have to mop it clean.

And then, go back and back.

OK. Shut the door. 169, we want it about 140.

Yeah, shut the door, we've got about 10, 15 minutes.

Perfect.

This is really the moment, yeah.

So we're now going to be baking bread in this oven

for the first time in...

..well, probably nigh on 100 years, I should think, so...

Yeah, it's all quite exciting.

Perfect. We need someone with a timer, 30 minutes, please.

Close her up. Mind your head.

30 minutes and a prayer.

Now it's a waiting game.

In just half an hour, the bread is baked, and looks amazing.

But the proof is all in the taste.

It's great, isn't it? Very good.

It's absolutely delicious.

It's a thumbs-up from Jono

and it seems family and friends are also impressed.

It's the best bit of making bread, breaking it when it's still warm.

It's lovely, yeah.

The highlight of the day was definitely eating what we'd done.

The hard work of restoring the bread oven was really worth it.

It was pretty satisfying at the end to bring something back to life,

basically.

We definitely, definitely want to do the sourdough weekends.

They're really good fun, it's such a buzz.

This year, Mariam and Jono have come a long way.

From renovating rooms in the chateau...

..to transforming the outside grounds.

And now, finally, they have everything as they want it.

I think we're pretty much ready now, to host events

and have guests come to stay.

La Salle is looking pretty good at the moment.

It's really good to live in.

Just need to have a bit of spare time to sit down and enjoy it,

but anyway. The cats do, they're always lying around, sleeping.

I'm sure it won't be long until guests come flocking in.

Next week, we follow the trials and tribulations

of a new bunch of chateau-owning Brits.

This is it. Oh, my God.

At this place, it's moving-in day.

He doesn't care, he's coming straight through, regardless.

Watch out, watch out, it's going to go.

One couple attempt to hatch a new business idea.

There will be a lot less pigeon poo here when you're practising yoga.

Is this the first handstand in this room?

I reckon so.

These owners go camping...

Just the essentials.

..chateau style.

We like crazy, what's the point of being normal?

The language barrier becomes a brick wall...

IN FRENCH:

Um...

..and a long-awaited delivery spells disaster.

Oh, no. This is not good.

This is a very, very bad sign.

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