Original subtitles

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

and our two children... CHILDREN SHOUT

..we're nearly five years into our French adventure...

This is heavy.

..restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

We have another capability on the chateau.

It's brought plenty of challenges...

Phew.

..but also some amazing rewards.

I love you.

And, across France,

there are dozens of other Brits who've bought their own chateaux.

SHE GASPS Oh, wow.

Now Angel and I are once again lending a hand

to other expat chateau owners.

Sometimes simplicity is the way forward. Yes, yes.

We'll meet some old friends...

We don't need instructions. Only when it goes wrong.

..and new faces.

Ooh, look at that.

There'll be plenty of ups...

Oh! SHE LAUGHS

..and downs.

We can't ruin the wedding meal by eating outside in the rain.

..but, no matter what, these plucky Brits...

Ooh.

..will stop at nothing...

No. Steve, no.

Stephen, whoa!

..to ensure these once-unloved buildings...

BANG I think I've made a hole.

..become the homes of their dreams.

That is amazing.

Today...

OK. Mind the chandeliers.

..two B&B owners start their next project...

There's definitely worse jobs.

..but don't always see eye-to-eye.

Do you not like it?

No. What don't you like about it?

Well, everything.

Billie? Yeah?

One couple make an amazing discovery...

Almost perfect. Oh, my gosh.

No, that's perfect.

..and call on Angel to lend a hand.

It's like an old friend coming back for tea, with a trailer. Aw!

And new chateau owners have a battle on their hands...

..as they try to finish off their first colossal project.

I'm just looking at this,

it's supposed to be this gentle gradient to put a pipe in,

and it just looks like a roller coaster.

Trying to build up any chateau business takes time and money,

and can be especially tough during the winter months.

Lincolnshire couple Tim and Rebecca and their two children

moved into the 24-room Chateau de la Ruche 18 months ago,

and have opened it up as a B&B.

We've poured everything into it.

It's been kind of 24/7 - lots of hard work -

but having the opportunity to restore a place like this is...

We're just really lucky, and really privileged to be able to do it.

Located a stone's throw away from Angel and I,

in the Pays de la Loire region,

they have so far created two beautiful high-end suites.

And, after a slow start to winter...

Hiya, how you doing?

..they've welcomed their first winter guests.

It is really nice to have money coming in and to feel like

there's a possibility that the business will succeed.

Hello. Come on, then.

They now want to boost their income by opening a third guest suite...

Yeah, so if we get this bed out of here. Yeah.

..and have been collecting loads of stuff in one of their outbuildings.

In here, we've got various bits of furniture

that came out of the house. Yeah.

And lovely things that we've bought that we don't have a home for, yet.

Today, Rebecca wants to start restoring one of the old bedframes

they picked up at a local brocante...

When did we buy it? October?

I don't know, it was one of the first things we bought at, like...

October, 2017. Yeah.

..although Tim's not sure it's a good idea.

That's a LOVELY bed for the Meadow Suite.

Do you not like it?

No. Why did you let me buy it if you didn't like it?

Because it was, like, ten quid.

What don't you like about it? Well, everything.

What is there to like about it?

I don't know. It's fine.

As long as when it cleans up, it doesn't look like it's been sat

in some smoker's bedroom, where it clearly has been for the last...

It hasn't been sat in a smoker's bedroom.

It'll be fine.

It'll be fine. I'll make it look beautiful.

BANG Ooh. Don't break things.

Better grip on this, I think.

HE LAUGHS It's really awkward, isn't it?

SHE LAUGHS That's better.

There's probably untold disgustingness

going on our hair now.

The new room, which they've named the Meadow Suite,

is targeted at families, as it has two bedrooms and a large en suite.

It's on the ground floor,

so at least they don't have to take the bedframes upstairs.

Look, it's going to look lovely green. Don't you think?

Yeah, I'm all over that. No, you're not.

There's no point asking you, is there?

HE LAUGHS No, come on, show me.

No. Nope.

What's the other fabric for?

The other fabric is for cushions.

The thing is, I don't think my eyes see it the same as yours.

No, I don't, cos your eyes are special.

Yeah. It's your choice.

SHE LAUGHS What's wrong with it?

Nothing, I just see it...

It just...

I guess the colours just don't work for me.

Well, it's always difficult

when you've got a tiny weeny bit of fabric...

Yeah.

..and you can't see it, but it's going to look lovely.

Yeah?

While Rebecca makes a start on the upholstery...

..next door, in the en suite, Tim has a less creative task,

grouting the intricate patterns on the new mosaic floor tiles.

It's just a time-consuming job, really.

So...

It has to be done.

It's just not my favourite job.

It looks beautiful.

I'm sure it's worth the pain.

Mm.

The thing is, I'm halfway through that bag.

I've got another two bags after that.

It's just depressing.

Just, er...

Shut up. And go away.

You're so rude.

Keep at it, Tim.

As the saying goes, "No pain, no gain."

90 miles south lies the stunning 19th-century

Chateau la Grande Maison.

It's set in three acres of land and even has its own river.

It's owned by musicians Ben and Billie,

who live there with their daughter, Ella.

They've been renovating it into a guesthouse and events venue

for the last eight years.

We feel like we're custodians of this wonderful house

and we're passionate about learning and telling the history

of the place.

So far, it's been seven years' work

and we've probably still got another three or four years.

And then I'm sure there'll be projects after that, as well.

I think it's going to be a life's work. At least.

At least a life's work.

Located a few miles from the Loire Valley...

..the next room to be refurbished is the old library,

where they want to start hosting book club events.

OK there?

It's proved to be a tricky job...

..as most of their time has been spent restoring the old skylight.

I really love it. Well done, well done.

Thank you. It's excellent.

Now Ben and Billie can turn their attention to styling the library.

They're planning to celebrate the past,

including the renowned botanist who lived here in the 19th century.

The library, in its heyday,

was probably the creative hub of the house.

It's where the botanist did all his discoveries,

so we're trying to bring some of the history back to the room.

Today, they're on the hunt for curiosities

that lie even further back in time.

We quite often find fossils close to the bank or in the bank

as the water sort of washes by in the winter.

So, a good place we look is around by the edges,

around the bases of trees, even molehills,

cos the moles dig up all the stones and earth and we find them in there.

Unbelievably, they can find plenty of fossils,

as the chateau lies on a Jurassic seabed.

The area used to be completely covered in water.

So, er, ammonites...

There's a little bit of one.

..and things, we can find.

It's not a great one, but there's a fossil there.

Really? SHE LAUGHS

Well, that was obviously a shell at some point. Yes.

But that's not a very good example. No.

It's not a great example,

but we've only been looking for about 60 seconds.

The thing is, I always find the best fossils. I do.

No, you don't.

Mainly cos I'm closer to the ground, right? That's true.

But, no, that's a reject, so I'm not going to let him come fossil hunting

with me, if he picks up rubbish ones.

That's a reject? OK, let's carry on looking.

I mean, there's so many leaves on the ground... There you are.

Oh, you're kidding me? No.

That is definitely one, there you go.

To date, they have managed to collect over 150 fossils

that have passed Billie's quality control.

Here's one.

Billie? Yeah?

Got a great one. Are you sure?

Most definitely. I know I'm just going to come round and reject it.

No, you're not going to reject this one.

Almost perfect. Oh, my gosh.

No, that's perfect.

It's very small, but perfectly formed.

That is 150 million years old.

You win today's prize. Excellent.

That is really beautiful.

I don't think that's going to quite make a centrepiece

in the library, though, Ben.

It's still pretty special, though.

At our place, Angel is the queen of curiosities...

It's going to be like a big explosion of butterflies,

that are going to go up the wall and the ceiling.

..and has created many wonderful displays.

There's so much to see in here, isn't there?

So Billie's paying a visit...

Hello.

Billie! Ahoy.

..to see if Angel can come up with some creative magic for her fossils.

It's like an old friend coming back for tea, with a trailer. Aw!

I know. This time...this time the trailer.

Oh, my God, it's totally light. Oh, that's better.

Billie's hoping to display them in an old second-hand coffee table,

but needs some help converting it.

I actually wrapped this up like a Christmas parcel.

OK. Nice.

So...

Here we go.

Right, OK, I see. You've got two bits of glass.

Two bits of glass just sit in there.

OK. So, I'm thinking of, like, your relic cases?

The old display relic cases?

Yeah. Yeah, I know exactly.

Gorgeous. I love a display cabinet.

I can't wait to see what Angel comes up with.

Coming up...

..it's all hands on deck for Tim and Rebecca...

It's hard on your knees,

but apparently good for my bingo wings, according to Tim.

So, this...

..Angel sets out to inspire Billie...

I've got some ration books in here, these are...

Look at this. I love it.

..and one couple...

I think I've broken the shredder.

..take on their biggest challenge yet.

We have a digger.

How hard can it be?

This is the beautiful 13th-century Chateau le Rosieres,

which lies in 130 acres.

It's been home for the last 12 months to Brit Amy

and French husband Marc,

who fell in love with the place as soon as they saw it.

As we drove down the driveway, we started to see this sort

of magical forest atmosphere and the house emerged from the forest.

And you could see for miles, you could see the Alps in the distance.

We felt really peaceful and happy in the land and then came the house.

Located an-hour-and-a-half's drive from Lyon,

they want to run the chateau as a B&B

and host yoga retreats in the outbuildings.

But it all needs updating.

That includes putting in a whole new sewage system.

I've often felt very overwhelmed.

Are you overwhelmed?

I am sometimes overwhelmed.

And, then, when I look at the view,

I find it's so nice to live here that I'm not any more.

TRACTOR HORN BEEPS

LAUGHING: Stop it. Leave it there.

They've recently started plumbing the chateau,

but now need to sort out where the waste will end up.

They want to be eco-friendly, so have decided to create two

natural waste ponds 100 metres down a slope at the end of their garden.

It's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped down here.

The thing was we had some ash trees growing around

and ashes drink water.

So, we had to cut them and move them out of the way and we'll

plant other trees nearby instead that will not plant their seeds

in it and won't drink the water and destroy the lining and things.

Cutting down ash trees is just the tip of the iceberg

on this massive project.

We are down here because we're going to put

two sewage ponds side by side.

Pipes are going to run straight up where the tractor lines are

and, then, they branch just below the wall around the original

fortification, and there will be pipes that go off to every

building so that this will be the sewage pond for all the buildings.

It's an epic task and they're planning on

doing most of it by themselves.

We have a digger.

How hard can it be?

There's so much to do before they can even dig out the ponds.

Marc has to remove the tree stumps.

So, that's one done,

but five more to go.

Amy's job, meanwhile,

is to get rid of the branches through a wood-chipping machine.

But she's already struggling.

Right.

I think I've broken the shredder.

Did you break the tractor?

Not the tractor.

It's possible something happened to the shredder.

Hup.

Oh.

Oh, hello.

Yeah, that is a bit jammed.

It's all a bit caught up.

So, I didn't...it wasn't my fault.

A little bit, I would say.

LAUGHING: That's very polite.

Jamming a shredder is reasonably easy

and is usually caused by putting in over-sized branches.

Luckily, it's an easy fix.

Amy.

Stop, stop, stop.

I've stop-stop-stopped. I've stopped.

I don't know why it keeps jamming.

It wasn't even a big bit.

Smoke is not a good sign in a machine.

There's still a bit in here.

Hold on, I can't reach.

It is working,

but I notice he's only putting very tiny twigs in there, so...

..either he's being sensible or cheating, I can't work out which.

Shredding branches is always a long old job.

Over at Chateau de la Ruche,

Tim and Rebecca have moved on to cleaning the floors

of their new Meadow Suite in preparation for varnishing it later.

It's hard on your knees,

but, apparently, good for my bingo wings, according to Tim, so...

They're hoping an extra room for the B&B will bring in more income

and help make the chateau pay for itself.

There's definitely worse jobs. Like grouting that bathroom floor.

I'm never doing a bathroom floor like that again.

It's done now.

With grouting of the bathroom floor finished,

a shower's been put in and a washbasin fitted.

Now Rebecca wants to begin styling the rest of the suite

and has a clear idea of how she wants it to look.

The theme for this room is kind of loosely Arts and Crafts.

So, this end of the house, they started to build it in 1910.

So, originally, the chateau was the main, central piece and,

as you look at it, the right-hand wing.

And, then, this wing, they started it in 1910 and had to stop

because the First World War broke out,

and then they finished it after the First World War.

So, yes, there's kind of a loose sort of Arts and Crafts theme to it.

So, I've got some lovely William Morris fabric for the cushions

and I wanted it to be quite...it's kind of green and pink and gold.

So, quite kind of rich and...

..opulent and...

..a bit glam, but not overly glam.

First stage of her vision is to finish off upholstering the old bed,

which she's covering in green velvet fabric.

It's very physical, upholstery.

It looks easy, but it's bloody hard work.

That looks good, doesn't it? Yeah. I think so.

I need to put the trim on, and then we'll see.

Yeah, it's cool.

CAT PURRS GENTLY

Having got Tim's seal of approval,

Rebecca has set him a challenge of his own.

An electricity meter sticks out of one of the walls...

..so she wants him to find a way to hide it

behind a specially-commissioned picture of their chateau.

So, the plan is...

..what?

How are you building this box, cupboard thing?

I'm going to... With your superior carpentry skills?

With my amazing carpentry skills,

I'm going to cut four bits of wood

and I'm going to use the classic butt joint...

..to screw them together. OK.

And I've got... I bought some hinges,

like kitchen cupboard hinges.

And how are you fixing this to the wall?

I haven't thought about that, yet.

OK, good. It'll be fine.

It's a simple idea.

Tim wants to build a cupboard around the meter

and use the picture as the door, which should hopefully do the trick.

Although, it always sounds easier than it actually is.

Yeah.

My hastily chosen hinges mean that I've made a cupboard that

closes perfectly but can only open about halfway.

So, I'm going to have to lift these hinges up.

Oops.

If in doubt, Tim, try and try again.

There's no other answer.

That'll do.

It works.

Wow.

That's the technical bit done.

Now it's time to see if it gets Rebecca's blessing.

Can you hold it by yourself so I can look at it? Yeah.

I think it looks lovely.

It hides that ugly thing. It's much prettier than that thing.

It's not very heavy actually, either. No.

You're so...

Good effort, Tim.

But there's a lot more decoration to be done

before this suite is ready for guests.

Over at our place...

Ah, gorgeous.

..chateau-owner Billie is hoping Angel can help her transform

a coffee table into a 19th-century display cabinet for her

collection of prehistoric curiosities.

Oh, wow. These are...

# ..super do-do-do #

In our area, in the garden, we find ammonites, fossils,

Stone Age tools, so...

So, these are from your garden? Yeah.

That is amazing, I cannot believe it.

In terms of free art, it couldn't... It doesn't get any better, does it?

No. Especially, you know,

it's a bit corny, but you always think your chateau chose you, yeah?

And the wallpaper museum, the walled garden for Dick, I always

feel there's a romantic story that we were meant to find this chateau.

I think for you... I think so.

I feel like a bit the same. I feel that too, as well.

It's like a little piece of paradise that we live next to.

So, basically, you have got a museum. Yeah.

This is incredible.

For the display cabinet, Billie has brought along her own material.

I think, especially seeing this red now,

that makes me think of the old Victorian, sort of,

curiosity cabinets, cos they were really dark and rich, weren't they?

Yes. And do you think... I mean, I was wondering if it might look

a bit flat just on the wood,

or whether or not to maybe pad it a bit? I like, you know,

those sort of relic jars they have here? Oh, I see.

Yeah. I don't know if maybe a little bit of padding might work.

Do you know what I have got?

I've got oodles of Dacron.

So, like, the spongy stuff that when you do chairs,

you do it to smooth it over.

Right. However, you may not need it.

It may sort of add a shadow to them that you don't like.

Oh, right.

Because the display cabinets that I've got upstairs,

I've just laid them sort of flat.

Over the years, I've built lots of display pieces for Angel.

One of her favourites is kept in our Boudoir Suite

and is filled with some of her most treasured possessions.

Oh, yes. So, this is just one of the display cabinets.

So, I've got some ration books in here, these are...

..this, look at this. I love it.

"Hang my nylons".

"Hang my nylons"? So, you take that with you on your holiday.

Oh, there's teeny-tiny pegs.

Adorable, isn't it?

And there was a time in my life that I used to wear stockings every day.

Wow. Every single day. That's a commitment.

It's a commitment.

Now I'm permanently in green trousers, boots.

My life has changed. Yeah.

But one thing I just want to say on here is, actually,

what I did was literally varnish the piece of wood underneath.

Right. Yes, the wood itself

looks so nice, you don't need anything else, do you?

Yes, so that's...so, sometimes simplicity is the way forward.

Yes, yes.

And that is the way Angel is planning to tackle

Billie's display table.

OK, this is the stuff you mean, isn't it? Yes.

The first step is to see

if padding will enhance that all-important look.

OK.

Do you know, I'm not...yeah.

See, I... I'm not sure, now.

You see, I think you need cleanness, personally.

I think you're right. I think you're right.

I think I like the idea of the sumptuousness,

but, then, once it's under glass, you're not going to be touching it.

Yeah. So, it's only what happens when you look at it.

It's whether, from my perspective,

it's whether you want to have really a decorative object,

or you want to keep it true to how they used to display curiosities.

Yeah. And it was much more just letting people know the information.

Yes. I mean, this, on its own...

These are quite weighty, aren't they? They are.

So, they're actually already pulling down on that.

Let's just take the Dacron off and put this back on.

Right, is that long enough to...

This is so much cleaner already, isn't it? It's better.

Yeah, I think so.

Do you like it better? I do, you're absolutely right,

it's much cleaner, flatter lying. Oops.

And now they stand proud instead of sinking back into it.

I think that's it.

That's your classic "less is more" definitely working, there.

I knew Angel would come good.

Can't wait to see what else she's planning.

Lovely.

Coming up...

Oh. ..Tim and Rebecca get that SINKING feeling...

Is it supposed to make that noise?

..and Amy and Marc run into more problems.

I can feel the ground shaking here.

In south-eastern France, Amy

and Marc's eco-friendly sewage system is taking shape.

They've disposed of all the ash trees and dug out the waste ponds.

Today, they face a different challenge

as they want to start digging trenches for the pipes.

Pull it tighter cos the wind is blowing it.

That's not going to be a straight line if we leave it like that.

They need to connect the trenches to all the outbuildings

and process the waste.

So where's it going to join here?

Down here, into that poo box.

SHE LAUGHS

They also have to work their way down a 100-metre slope to the filter ponds.

One of the difficult bits is we're up

here on the mount of the medieval castle, and the ponds

are down here so, actually, the slope isn't, overall, a big problem.

But we have a long bit on the top of the level to get through,

so we have to make sure the slope continues to descend.

So that's what I'm relying on Marc

and his amazing mathematics to calculate.

I'm a perfectionist, me.

It's going to be a big job.

There's a baby pigeon on the doorstep, Marc - just be careful.

The trench has to get deeper as they cross the lawn.

Neeeoow!

With Amy busy digging, Marc needs to make sure

the trenches are sloping enough to allow gravity to do its thing.

I need to check if the slope is right,

so, for that, I use my spirit level.

I take the horizontal along the pipe,

and I just measure the gap between the pipe and the horizontal.

So this spirit level is 80cm, which means, if I have a 5cm difference

between my pipe and the spirit level, it means it's a 4% slope.

Let's check that.

Actually, it's not so bad.

I have 4cm, which means that

the slope would be a bit over 3%,

so that's really good.

With a slope like that, the sewage should run to the ponds freely.

Although it appears Amy's unearthed a problem.

How do you break rock?

She's hit bedrock, which is too tough for the digger to cut through.

Why have you got my pigeon?

Does she want to come with me?

Is it too rocky?

I think so. Um...

Look, watch what I do here.

I can feel the ground shaking here.

What do you think? Um...

Can I go round, or...?

No, we can't, really.

The problem is that we've come down, and then there's suddenly

a nice big lump of bedrock,

so we can't continue the slope down, unfortunately.

We need to measure the slope, really.

Bedrock in the middle of their planned pipe route is

the last thing they need,

especially when they still have hundreds of metres to lay.

So that's, yeah, this bit is not so good.

Yeah, here we have less than 2cm in this portion,

so we need to try and break this bit.

I might...

I might just have a go with the jack hammer for that.

Finding a solid obstacle like this is a big blow

as they've barely covered ten metres from the chateau.

I'm just looking at this - it's supposed to be this gentle

gradient to put a pipe in, it just looks like a roller-coaster!

Maybe the sewage just gets up some speed so it can get over the bumps.

It looks like their big job is getting a whole lot bigger.

In north-west France,

work in Tim and Rebecca's Meadow Suite has been slow going.

A bit to me.

They've varnished the floors and restored an old bed frame.

But they were hoping to have done a lot more.

Mind the chandeliers.

Having been fully booked with guests,

they've simply not had the time.

Watch out. Ooh!

That's in.

So they've had to make a big call.

We've closed the two chambres d'hotes

rooms we've got at the moment, just for a couple of days,

so we can crack on with renovations, but, obviously,

that means that we don't bring any money in, so it's always that

juggle between getting on with renovations to open a third room to

give us more money and sacrificing bookings for a couple of days.

So, tricky.

Few decisions are easy.

Come and lie down.

That's nice. I like it.

There's no time to rest, especially for Tim...

I've brought tea towels, as requested.

..as Rebecca's spotted that he's put the wrong taps on the wash basin.

So in the drawer...

The nice taps.

Yeah? See? Look.

The reason I like them is cos this shape matches this shape.

It's beautiful.

And they're a bit more Art Deco.

Yeah, that's fine.

OK, shout me when you need me.

I will. Thank you.

I've got a bit of a thing for collecting old taps.

So whenever...

I'm always on the internet, looking for old taps,

or buying them in brocantes, or anything like that.

You can buy them when they've all been refurbished,

and they cost a fortune, or you can buy them in really bad

condition and they're relatively easy to make work yourself.

We quite like them when they've got that patina on them, anyway.

So there are the taps with which...

..Rebecca wants to live here.

I prefer the other ones!

I think they're fine. I quite like them.

They're a bit different.

I think you've already lost this battle, Tim,

but there's only one way to find out.

Taps. Oh, yeah, they look nicer.

Yes? Yeah. Happy?

What's left to do is test them out.

Right, you ready?

Yep.

Oh!

RUMBLING

Is it supposed to make that noise?

I've never seen a tap make that noise before.

Hot's all right.

Just turn that on a little bit faster.

RUMBLING

What's that? I don't know.

RUMBLING

That doesn't sound healthy.

It's different, isn't it?

Looks like Tim's going to have his work cut out for a while yet.

I've never in my life seen a tap do that.

Over at our place...

We're not going hang around today.

..Angel's helping chateau owner Billie transform an old

coffee table into a 19th-century display cabinet.

How many hours of sanding have you done since you opened the chateau?

You know what? I've no idea.

I don't know, 100?

Billie's hoping, once the curiosities are added,

it'll be the centrepiece of the room.

So tell me a bit about the library.

It's going to be sort of multipurpose.

I'm going to run a book club, so we're going to launch that.

Amazing!

And it's like a book club weekend, so it's a bit of...

..well, combining food with books, really.

The rest of the time - sitting, researching, reading.

Chilling out.

So it's pleasure, but it is also business?

Yes. Yeah. It's both.

Sounds like the ideal combination to me.

With the sanding done, Angel gives the coffee table a dark varnish.

I like that.

But she's not finished yet...

Lovely!

..as now she needs to attach Billie's material to the display shelf.

That's looking nice.

And before it's even properly finished,

they can't wait to test it on the table.

And... Yep.

Well, there we are.

Oh, that's gorgeous! That looks gorgeous.

Amazing!

Well done, ladies.

Now it's just a case of adding Billie's wonderful curiosities.

And you're just laying them out, exactly how I would do it!

Straight lines - how I would expect to see them, you know?

And you know what? When you put that bit of glass on, that is

going to be a gorgeous moment for you.

That's working for me, I tell you what.

That really is. I love it!

Well done. It's really good.

Thank you so much for your help. A good use of a coffee table...

Yes. ..that was average.

An average coffee table - superb historic display.

That is going to make the room.

It's certainly going to look impressive once Billie puts

the glass on at home.

The idea of coffee-table-meets-display-cabinet has come together brilliantly.

It's going to really be a nice centrepiece for the library.

It's going to really echo the theme of curiosities and science,

so it's great, couldn't be better.

Travel safely, and I'd love to see a picture of the coffee table in situ.

I'll send you a picture.

Please. Thank you so much.

Bye, take care.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other plans Billie

has for her library.

Coming up...

I don't like it!

..the finishing line is in sight for Tim and Rebecca.

Slightly wonky,

but then most of the pictures in this house are slightly wonky.

And as their giant project nears completion...

..Amy starts to have second thoughts.

This looks like it would be a really good swimming pool!

What a waste!

In south-eastern France,

Amy and Marc's eco-friendly sewage system is moving a step closer.

They've smashed through the bedrock and laid all the pipes.

Now they're ready to create the first of the two ponds,

and deliveries are already coming in.

First load, second one to come.

Before they can do anything with the gravel,

they first have to prepare the base.

The tarpaulin's what stops the sewage from just randomly leaking out into the ground.

So it's just a big pond, really.

The tarpaulin is the same as you do when you line a pond.

Although this is not your average pond -

they're planting reeds to process sewage.

As I understand it, the reeds have an ability to digest

all of the sewage that comes out of the toilets.

So you have these two different ponds and one -

the sewage flows into it, it soaks down through the gravel

and sits there, and the reeds just kind of eat it.

And then it gradually feeds through to another pond,

which takes out the nasties like the nitrogen from it and makes it...

..essentially purifies it.

And then it's just normal water and can flow out into the woods around.

So what we're doing at the moment is just the first pond because you need to establish...

Because it's plants, you can't just stick them in and expect them

to work straight away -

it will take a couple of years to be fully up and running.

So we have to get the infrastructure right for it, put some

plants in, and then gradually expand it until both ponds are working.

It's taken all morning for Marc to put down the lining

for the first pond.

Perfect.

Their next task is to transport ten

tonnes of gravel down the 100-metre slope.

Ooh!

It's not going to be easy.

Do you want me to do it? Yeah.

So Amy offers to help out.

Jobs like these require a very steady hand.

Sorry! Practice will make perfect.

To help speed things up, they've roped in mate Kate.

This still just looks like it would be a really good swimming pool.

What a waste!

A bit late for that now.

You see the roots?

With some of the gravel in...

How deep?

It's just about stabilising.

..Amy's planting the reeds.

It's very satisfying doing this bit, it feels like we're reaching...

I know it's not finished finished, but it feels like we're reaching

the end and we're creating something quite special here.

I know it's sewage,

but it's quite cool to be able to do something so sustainable.

I'm with you there, Amy.

It may look like it's not terribly spectacular at the moment

but, from that little bit, we'll gradually expand it.

As the reeds grow,

we'll put more in, and the whole thing will just emerge organically.

So, really, what we need to do now is pour some

water from the spring down the pipe and let nature do its work.

Ready?

Allez!

Oh, that was dirtier than I thought!

SHE LAUGHS

I just pooed in the pipe!

It's very glamorous, chateau life.

We get excited about things like sewage.

I find sewage quite exciting.

Yeah, well, you're weird, though.

It's been an epic task, which is a couple of years from being finished.

However, it's the first crucial step towards completing

the eco-sewage system.

I mean, there's a slight limit as to how excited you can get about

sewage, but I'm quite pleased that we're actually coming towards the

end of a major project and, yeah, just having an answer to the immense

sewage problems of the chateau would be very, very satisfying.

Yeah, I'm quite pleased to start seeing

the light at the end of the tunnel.

He's been working on this for so long.

Yeah, I'd really like to start another project now.

Yeah.

This one has been lasting a bit too long. Yep.

In north-west France...

You all right? Yeah.

Tim and Rebecca are so close to finishing their new family Meadow Suite.

I don't like it!

Here we go.

Good. Let's get it up.

Slightly wonky.

But then, most of the pictures in this house are slightly wonky.

In the suite's second bedroom,

Tim is constructing some old bed frames left by the previous owners.

We think it's nice to use stuff that was in the house

rather than getting new stuff every time.

They don't need much work, either -

nothing a little bit of glue won't sort out, anyway.

Yes.

So they just finish them off nicely, they kind of add to the...

They're very chateau-y, they're quite traditional French beds,

but they're quite grand as well.

In the bathroom, Rebecca's adding the final bits of decoration

and is very happy now the noisy tap problem has been resolved.

All it was was a loose washer kind of vibrating

when the water was coming through under pressure.

So Tim's just put some new washers in, I think.

I don't think he was particularly pleased with me cos he liked the other taps better.

But I like these ones and now they work, so that's fine.

So we're all good.

It's taken three months, but Tim and Rebecca have finally done it.

The old room has been transformed from an empty space

into an elegant family guest suite that has style and sophistication.

I had no idea what it was going to look like. That's cos you're not in my head.

Literally, right up until it was done.

Dressed in opulent fabrics and rustic furniture, the arts

and crafts theme honours the history of this wonderful chateau.

In the second bedroom,

the antique bed frames give it the charm of centuries ago.

While the bathroom combines modern fixtures with vintage finds,

creating a stylish mix of old and new.

I feel a bit relieved that the Meadow Suite's complete

because it's been a long time coming. Yeah, I feel relieved as well.

Having three rooms ready for guests is going to be a big help financially.

We can see that we can survive this year now

where, at the beginning of the year, we really couldn't see that we were going to survive this year.

So we feel comfortable now that we won't have to pack our bags and leave, which is nice. Yeah.

Here's hoping they have lots more guests to stay.

Next time...

..I check in on Ben and Billie...

This is a big old build.

This isn't a trivial sort of amount of work.

..as they start the next stage of their library.

I think it's working out. I've actually really,

really enjoyed doing this.

Tim and Rebecca face an uphill battle.

I think we are 10-15% in, which doesn't feel very good.

And Amy and Marc have their work cut out...

..as they go in search of chateau relics.

He won't be able to leave this now.

Every time he has five minutes to spare,

he'll be in here with the jack hammer.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media