Original subtitles

I'm Dick Strawbridge, and with my wife Angel and our two children...

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

It's heavy.

..restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

We have another capability at the chateau.

It's brought plenty of challenges...

Phew!

..but also some amazing rewards.

I love you.

Across France,

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

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!

..and downs.

SHE GASPS No, no.

But no matter what, these plucky Brits...

Ohh.

..will stop at nothing...

No! Steve, whoa! Steven!

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

I think I've made a hole.

..become their dream homes.

That is amazing.

Today, new chateau owners...

Teamwork makes the dream work.

THEY LAUGH

..make an unpleasant discovery.

Wow.

You'd love to know how many years

that took to accumulate, wouldn't you?

It does smell rather bad.

I've got a recipe for enjoying the spoils of castle life.

This'll go into the store cupboard.

Makes lovely little presents.

The start of the wedding season hits heavy weather at one chateau.

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

And it quite clearly will be in the rain.

And a chateau-buying quest heads south...

This is set up, obviously, as a...

It's quite small, isn't it? This is tiny.

..to the Pyrenees.

This is a fantastic room. Yeah.

It's the fireplace, it's just fabulous.

This is the beautiful 15th-century Chateau Lagorce.

Boasting 22 bedrooms and 70 acres of land, it's home to Edward and Anna,

who run it as a wedding venue.

We have about 32 events a year and around 30 of them are weddings.

It's very, very intense work, but we're making people happy,

so it's a nice business to be in.

Parents to four-year-old Charles, Anna is six months pregnant with

their second child, so Ed's stepping into her wedding planner shoes.

This season we have a little one on the way,

and so Anna's going to have to take more of a back seat.

Eventually, letting go bit by bit,

cos I'm not ready to let go all the way, I can't do that.

Located just outside Bordeaux,

Anna and Ed have started preparing for their first wedding of the year,

and the weather forecast isn't looking good.

I've had a message from the bride.

Mm-hm?

Because of the weather, she would like some mushroom heaters.

OK.

With cool temperatures predicted,

they've ordered heaters at the bride Vicky's request,

for her and groom Gordon's big day.

I'd like it to be outdoors and I'm happy to delay the wedding,

and delay walking down the aisle, until the sun comes out.

Now it's the morning of the wedding and the skies look ominous.

They're dressing the terrace

where the happy couple want their wedding meal to take place.

It's about 16 degrees, not ideal.

It's just, as long as it doesn't rain, cos that's my main worry.

The heaters have arrived, which is great news.

At least that's a relief,

so fingers crossed everything else is going to go according to plan.

Don't tell me you're feeling drops. Oh, my God.

We've just put the tables outside.

With the weather seemingly on the turn,

those half-dozen heaters could come in handy.

I can see five boxes, we ordered six.

Anna?

So there's only five heaters instead of six.

I already knew there was only five.

Well, why didn't you say something?

Because I didn't want you panicking.

I'm here, now.

Don't worry.

You get on, I'll deal with this.

Ugh, I can't get anything past Anna.

She's too quick.

While Ed makes a start on assembling the heaters...

These are looking good, actually, I'm really impressed.

..Anna's been worried about the flowers for the wedding bouquets

so is hoping that leaving them in a fridge overnight

has kept them fresh.

And this is good news, the pink ones have opened just right.

So I think some things are going according to plan.

Anna might have spoken too soon.

A dark cloud's descended on the chateau.

And the rain is getting heavier.

I'm gonna have to go and deliver the news to the bride that it is raining

and we have one less heater.

And if that wasn't bad enough...

I was making this heat lamp and I've seen that. The bulb is broken.

Out of the five, I have two smashed bulbs.

We're down from six to three heaters.

And it's absolutely chucking it down right now.

Basically, things aren't going too well, today.

He's not wrong, even a full complement of outdoor heaters

might not be enough to save the day.

The satellite forecast's showing there's worse weather on the way.

Anna? Oui?

We have a little problem.

I'm not happy to have it outside.

Can you see that massive wave of rain? That's going to hit.

So we need to tell the bride and groom that they cannot eat outside.

Point bar. Look at it.

There's no way we can do it.

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

and it quite clearly will be in the rain.

I mean,

it's not even a short period, this is from 10:00 till 3:00.

And look at that massive wave coming behind.

It's not this, it's worse than this.

I'll speak to the groom, see if there's somebody close to the bride

that wants to talk to her about it.

And then you go and talk to her about it as well.

Do you know where he is? What room's he in?

He's downstairs. OK.

With the fear of an approaching downpour,

the alfresco wedding is in jeopardy.

News no-one wishes to deliver to a bride on her big day.

While Anna and Ed have an established chateau,

interior designer Adam is at the very start of his chateau journey.

He's looking to buy and set up a business in the French countryside.

My main objective for the chateau

is to have a really comfortable home space,

a building that I love and fall in love with passionately.

Adam is hoping his £800,000 budget will find him a chateau

with scope for a B&B, where he can offer yoga retreats

and interior design courses.

I'm going to just give it a go.

Live the French dream.

He's travelled to France with good friend Lisa.

I'm quite a tricky, picky person.

At the first property near us in Mayenne...

Wow, this is absolutely unbelievable.

..Adam's self-confessed pickiness started to show.

I'm not convinced yet it's gonna be big enough.

And at another in Normandy...

It's a tiny, tiny kitchen, I don't like it at all.

Oh, Lord. Yeah. Ugh.

..friend Lisa was getting frustrated.

I'm gonna drive you mental over it. That's already happened.

Better steel yourself, Lisa,

Adam has lined up two more chateau viewings,

close to the ski resorts of the Pyrenees.

Chateau Serre Barbier in Saint-Beat is near Le Mourtis, a resort

that's particularly popular with young families and novice skiers.

It's beautiful.

Hi, there, Andy.

Showing them around is estate agent Andy.

Good to see you again. Nice to see you, nice to see you.

Built in the 19th century, the chateau is run as a guesthouse.

Including self-catering apartments and a separate gite,

there's a total of 16 bedrooms.

It also has a pool.

But it's above budget at £865,000 so would need some hard negotiating.

OK.

Here we are.

Oh, my goodness, it's amazing.

I love this floor and all of this panelling.

Is this a bar, here?

Yep, there's a little bar here. Oh, my goodness, that's amazing.

Sounds promising. Now for the reception areas.

So, welcome to the dining room.

This is a good-size room.

Wood burner, everything nice and warm.

I don't know, maybe it's just the decor, I'm not...

Look at... I thought you would love that.

There's some nice features, the fireplace is nice, the floor is good.

I don't know, I think it's cos it's... I don't know,

I wouldn't, perhaps, have it as this kind.

I think it's the furniture that I don't like.

I mean, obviously, it is the style, it is the colour.

Is that...? Would you say that's original, this? Yeah.

Everything, I think, is original. That's beautiful.

If you look back through that window,

you'll see the mountain range at the back, as well.

It is a beautiful view, but that doesn't change the room, does it?

No, I'm being...I'm trying to be nice.

How can you try and be nice when it's a stunning room?

No, it's... It's the furniture that you wouldn't have.

No, it's the decor that I can't cope with. That's simple.

Yeah, that's the bit I... I like the candlestick.

I just don't like this. I can't believe it.

No, I'm being deadly serious.

A purchase would be about business potential too,

and this chateau comes with a professional kitchen.

This is set up, obviously, as a...

It's quite small, isn't it? This is tiny.

But it's a proper commercial kitchen,

so you've got everything in here that you need to run the B&B.

It looks very compact.

It is, but it works really well.

It has a one-way system, as so many kitchens do,

so everything goes out this way, everything comes in the other way.

Yeah, yeah. So it's very well organised. Yeah, yeah.

This is a nice cupboard.

That's the bit I like about the kitchen.

That's my focal point.

That's beautiful, that cabinet is.

That'll get everyone fed, won't it? Yeah, that'll get everyone fed.

I don't like... If I'm honest, I don't like the kitchen at all.

Adam had set his heart on a French country kitchen.

But if he's going to run a business,

he needs to think how he's going to do that.

Upstairs, there are four self-catering apartments

ready to welcome paying guests.

So, welcome to the first... Oh, wow, this is interesting. ..apartment.

This is completely different, isn't it? Completely different.

Yeah, yeah. You're telling me you don't like these? Seriously?

Yeah. Oh, God, I dare ask. Which is...

I just love it. I mean, look at all this. I just wasn't expecting this.

Look at these. You just don't expect this, no, not at all.

A mixture of modern with the... Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

No, this... Yeah, it feels like you're in an apartment,

which you obviously are, aren't you? Yeah.

It's kind of just thrown me completely.

It also appears that even though she's not the buyer here,

Lisa's thrown, too.

I just think it's so lovely.

It's just unexpected, though, do you not think? It is unexpected.

And this kind of funky style works really, really well.

The chateau may have brought tears to friend Lisa's eyes,

but it's buyer Adam who needs to be won over.

It's got amazing grounds, there's funky elements to it, which I love,

the rooms are really light and airy, all of that really appeals to me.

It's an exceptional property.

It's very much a statement home, but it has to sing to me,

and at this point, I've just got a hum, not a big song.

I just want to carry on looking and seeing what else is here.

Coming up.

As the rain washes in, Anna is feeling under the weather.

She really wants it outside.

Everything is going from bad to worse

and I don't think I can make it happen.

Adam may have met his match.

It's understated charm, but then it has this amazing presence about it.

And two new chateau owners turn creative in the kitchen.

We've got a normal cake piping bag.

It's a mortar-dispensing unit.

SHE LAUGHS

This is the beautiful 17th-century Chateau de Sauge.

With four acres of land, 11 outbuildings and 45 rooms,

this little beauty has just been bought for £279,000

by Donna from Hartlepool and Scotsman Paul.

I love the peace and quiet of being here, just being able to sit

and listen to birds tweeting in the trees.

Located 50 miles east of La Rochelle,

Paul and Donna moved into the neglected chateau

just six weeks ago,

giving up their jobs to make the move, full-time, to France.

Now, with the help of Donna's parents,

they're embarking on renovating the place from top to bottom.

So, this shower didn't have any front on it,

so we came up with a net hook and a bit of tablecloth.

Could be worse.

There's a massive DIY to-do list...

Any of us can see what's needed doing and can pick up a job.

..to get the place ready -

not only as a home, but also for B&B and events -

to start generating much-needed income as soon as possible.

I think anyone that takes on a project like this

needs to be optimistic.

It needs work.

Yeah, this is pretty bad.

Now, they're tackling their first major job,

transforming the old scullery into a functioning kitchen.

This is going to be the working kitchen.

It will do the breakfast and everything out of here,

so this has to be done first.

This has to be fully operational

for everything else to start to move on.

Today, they're soundproofing the ceiling,

cutting and measuring insulation

to stop noise travelling to the planned guest room above.

Last bit? Yay!

Looks good.

Does that mean we can have a cup of coffee now?

Yeah, some din-dins.

Before we start the next bit.

As well as soundproofing,

they're determined to painstakingly restore the interior old stone walls

to their former glory.

You can see how clay-ey it is. It's just...

Some of it just literally falls apart.

Teamwork makes the dream work!

DONNA LAUGHS

Doing everything by hand isn't easy.

My hands are sore.

They have been for the last five weeks, and we've only been here six.

Everything's sore. DONNA LAUGHS

Yeah, I've found muscles that I didn't know existed.

Um, I've got no nails left any more.

Certainly, the manicures and pedicures are gone forever.

I've stopped them as well!

Me too!

There's no time for expensive luxuries if you're on a budget.

When you're putting all your energies into this

and there's no other income coming in,

there's always that time factor that you're thinking of.

How quickly can we get to a point

where we can actually get some revenue coming in?

To speed up the repointing process,

Donna's sure she's cooked up a genius idea.

We've got a normal cake-piping bag.

It's a mortar dispensing unit.

Hopefully, next time we have the piping bag,

we'll be making cakes in this kitchen. DONNA LAUGHS

Not with that one, I hope!

All I'm trying to do is kind of make sure

it's pushed right into the actual crevices in the stone.

That's looking good. Done.

Finished.

They've made a good start but, as Angel and I know only too well...

DONNA SIGHS

..renovating a chateau is an endurance test.

At our place, 125 miles north,

enjoying the good things in life

means growing your own fruit and veg.

Eat a tomato.

One! One, one.

One.

Oops.

Pick them up - we don't want to lose them.

Getting a bumper crop, such as our pumpkin harvest,

means we can enjoy the spoils for months to come,

if we look after the fruits of our labour correctly.

Ooh, me pumpkin store!

Right.

Every time you come in, just check your pumpkins.

We'll take the soft ones first.

Potimarron.

Two of those.

That's quite a lot.

I've got one of my favourite preserves in mind

for these little beauties - pumpkin chutney.

Chutneys are your fruits and your vegetables

and your balance of sugar and vinegar.

And you can experiment away to your heart's content.

Now, I'm going to be baking the diced pumpkin under,

so it's not completely cooked,

and then adding it in to the chutney at the end,

because it can go mushy.

So, I'm going to be putting in some sultanas.

I'll have apple and onion in here as well.

All part of my base.

With my pumpkin diced, that's step one complete.

20 minutes in the oven.

VOICE-OVER: Now to put together my other ingredients,

starting with sliced onions.

Then add plenty of vinegar and sugar,

as these preserve the finished chutney.

Very important you measure things exactly.

In with the chopped apples.

So, these are sweet apples.

And onto the stove it goes.

Sugar, vinegar, onion, apples.

Seedless golden sultanas.

Then all I need is my roasted pumpkin.

Softening, but not too soft.

This is candied ginger, which means there's a bit of sugar in this.

So, this has all softened now.

I'm going to add the pumpkin into here and cook it

for a very short period of time,

because I don't want to break this up too much.

I'm simmering it for ten minutes, to pull all the flavours together.

Oh!

Hot, hot, hot!

Good, works for me.

Right, let's go and get my sterilised jars.

Here we go.

Putting the chutney in very hot

stops harmful bugs getting into the jars.

This is a couple of hours' work.

This will go into the store cupboard.

Makes lovely little presents.

In a couple of weeks, the flavour will have developed,

and, left unopened in a cool, dark place,

the jars should keep for at least a year.

Delicious!

About 370 miles south of our place, interior designer Adam is continuing

his search for the perfect chateau, with the help of friend Lisa.

It's beautiful.

Next stop is the village of Chaum in the Pyrenees,

where they're having a second viewing of Maison de Maitre,

a 12-bedroom chateau with outbuildings and 23 acres of land.

The drive up is beautiful. Mm-hm.

And it's a sunny day and we're in the mountains,

in the foothills.

It's beautiful.

And what are the hills alive with?

Music, Lisa, the hills are alive with music.

Adam's already taken a peek at this chateau on his own,

so estate agent Andy is hoping a proper tour will let it really sing.

Second time round,

you're seeing things that you don't see the first time. Yeah.

And all the marble in the window frames,

I hadn't noticed that before, either.

The property is an old post house and, as well as the main house,

also includes a four-bedroomed holiday home.

It's on the market for just over £430,000,

leaving Adam a healthy budget for renovations.

This is the big barn.

This kind of space, I was thinking function space, design school,

yoga space.

It is singing to me, a little bit.

The barn's still striking a chord.

Now for the interiors.

OK.

Welcome to le chateau.

You probably remember this area.

I love the stone. Yeah.

And the colours.

Let's walk through this way. OK.

It's got a beautiful smell.

This is a fantastic room. Yeah.

The fireplace is just fabulous.

This is amazing, it's beautiful.

It's understated charm,

but then it has this amazing presence about it.

It has an amazing presence.

A great party room. Sure, absolutely.

I can see people dancing here on the tiled floor,

and I think there's a piano up there at the moment.

Adam may be imagining the house-warming party already,

but there's more to explore

before he'll know if this chateau is cause for celebration.

130 miles north, at Chateau Lagorce,

the weather's taking a turn for the worse

at Anna and Ed's first wedding of the season.

Oh, my God.

Six months pregnant,

a reluctant Anna's gone to talk to the bridesmaids.

We have the function room, that's not the problem. OK.

We have the space, it's just that she really wanted it outside. Yeah.

I think she wants to wait, if she can.

How long?

I don't mind waiting, it's just that there's still a risk at five.

She wants to get married outside.

She really wants it outside.

Would you go and have a quick chat with her before I come?

If we set it outside, we haven't got time to move it back in.

OK.

Come rain or shine,

it seems the wedding might be going ahead outside.

Everything is going from bad to worse and...

..I feel bad.

I really want everything to be like the bride wants it to be

and I don't think I can make it happen.

I'm going to have to go and talk to the bride,

because I don't have another solution.

Here's hoping Anna and the bride come to an arrangement.

I know that you don't come to France to sit in a reception room,

but what can you do?

If the weather says no, the weather says no, you know?

Every minute counts now.

Moving the wedding inside is no small feat.

Already delayed, it could push things back even further.

These minutes seem like hours.

Poor Anna. She's up there, probably negotiating.

Anna, what's going on?

She said yes, but it's cleared now.

I'm not taking the risk.

I'm really happy that it's not raining now,

because we can do the ceremony

and we can have the canapes outside.

There is no way there's going to be no rain.

Although the ceremony and reception drinks can be outside,

the bride's given the go-ahead for the wedding meal to move indoors.

So, it's all hands on deck to get the function room ready...

..whilst the groomsmen dry off the seating for the outdoor ceremony.

Have we done all these bits? There we go.

With a small break in the clouds, there's a window of opportunity.

Guys?

I think...

I think it's going to be...

It's going to be now or never.

Right.

Finally, the ceremony can get under way.

But how long will this dry spell last?

Coming up -

new chateau owners Donna and Paul are smoked out.

By the time we'd come to bed, this was absolutely full of smoke.

We've literally just moved rooms until we can get this sorted.

It's a rush between rain showers...

So, I've probably got about 15 minutes to do two of these.

All fun and joy!

..as Anna and Ed determine to deliver a dream wedding.

The drinks area has been moved twice,

and hopefully the bride can have partially what she wants, so...

And Adam's chateau search...

It's amazing up here!

..leads to lofty ideas.

This would make a fantastic master bedroom.

Near La Rochelle in western France,

Donna and Paul are in the middle of essential work,

transforming the old scullery into a kitchen

where they can cater for B&B and events.

But they've been forced to down tools

by a smoking issue in their bedroom.

It's still smoky from last night.

Yeah, you can still smell it.

It's really bad,

so I think it's possibly coming through the rest of the floor.

Smoke from the fire in the salon below

has been seeping into their bedroom above.

By the time we'd come to bed, this was absolutely full of smoke.

We've literally just moved rooms until we can get this sorted.

I think the initial fix

was just to try and stop the smoke coming through the floor,

which is why we've tried to tape some of the joints.

It's just found another path, hasn't it?

The integrity of the chimney is an issue, so it needs to be fixed

as soon as possible, and that could be expensive.

We've decided to just call a professional out and have a look.

They want to know exactly what's going on,

so have called in a specialist, Paul, who lives locally.

How are you? Grand. Lovely.

Righty. Come on in.

We had a fire last night. Yeah.

In fact, that ember is still on.

You can see the underside of the...

I presume that's the upstairs fireplace.

So far, nothing obvious in the salon.

Can we have a look upstairs, then? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. It is quite black, isn't it?

It's strong, isn't it?

Yeah.

Right, is it possible to take this off to have a look inside?

Yeah, we can do. Yeah?

Is that all right?

Interested to see what's behind it.

Ah.

Wow.

Do you think there's been something nesting in there?

Wow, indeed.

It's thousands of dead bees.

An unexpected sting in the tail,

but they aren't the cause of the escaping smoke.

It's the cracked and broken render at the back of the fireplace.

Yeah, you can see, I think there's holes at the back, there,

where obviously smoke is coming through from downstairs.

I'd certainly recommend cleaning this out

before you burnt anything down there again.

At least they won't be stung with a huge bill,

as this fix is one they can do themselves.

It's quite shocking, isn't it?

You'd love to know how many years that's took to accumulate,

wouldn't you?

It does smell rather bad.

Do you think we'll get them in?

Dear me.

I think the quantity of what we found was quite startling.

I didn't quite expect it to be that bad.

Now that the fireplace has been cleaned out,

Paul can get on with sealing the holes

where the smoke has been seeping through.

I'm sure we'll find this sort of thing in every fireplace we open up.

It would have been nice if we'd found some buried treasure

behind one, for a change.

That would be quite nice.

With nine more fireplaces that still need sorting out,

fingers crossed there'll BEE treasure in one of them.

120 miles south, near Bordeaux, a break in the bad weather

means Anna and Ed's first wedding of the season

can finally get under way.

Half an hour later than planned, bride Vicky can at last

make her grand entrance for the open-air ceremony.

We have been invited here today to share with Victoria and Gordon

a very important moment in their lives.

For Anna, there's no sign of relief.

I can see blue sky.

Hopefully it's going to hold for a little bit

until the ceremony's done.

I don't know what to say.

I'm pretty, pretty stressed.

They've got 90 minutes to move all the tables

into the function room and get it set up for the wedding meal.

Two important things in France and Bordeaux.

The first one is love.

The ceremony is in full swing, and the clock is ticking.

Ed's back assembling outdoor heaters

in time for post-ceremony drinks and canapes.

So, I've probably got about 15 minutes to do two of these.

All fun and joy!

There's no let-up for Anna prepping the drinks area, either.

The drinks area has been moved twice,

but now we're setting it all up here, and hopefully

the sun will come out and will stay just for the drinks a little bit,

so the bride can have partially what she wants.

Setting up the function room from scratch for the wedding

means they've really got their work cut out.

I got the room clean, we got the tables in.

I think the chairs are getting there

and then it's going to be all hands on deck

getting the place settings ready,

because Anna will want it how she wants it, so...

Halfway through the ceremony...

They have decided to live together as husband and wife.

..and the weather's holding out,

leaving them wondering if they were right to move the meal inside.

You can only go by what the radar's showing you

and it showed a massive storm cloud,

but it's still showing a lot of rain still to come.

I mean, you pay so much money for a wedding. You can't take the risk.

It's too late to change tack now.

And there's still plenty to do

if they're to deliver the dream chateau wedding reception inside.

135 miles south-east in the village of Chaum,

designer Adam's second viewing of a chateau

looks to be bringing his French dream a step closer.

So, here we are in the marble room again.

I love this room.

I like the floor. I like all the little plinths.

The marble I find fascinating.

It's all from the different regions.

Yep, that's right.

All the villages in the area traditionally

have got different colour marbles and stone.

The local marble is also found in the Palace of Versailles.

Decor fit for a king,

but what about the catering side of things?

OK, so let's have a look through here.

This is an area, here.

So, this would make a great kitchen.

And there's water in here already. Yeah. Oh, brilliant.

So, that's no problem.

Yeah, this would make a really good use of this space.

It's good that Adam is considering practicalities.

Time to take a look upstairs.

On to the landing.

There's rooms either side. They're all doubles. Yeah.

They've all got beautiful beds in them.

Again, one either side here.

And then through into the attic.

It's amazing up here. It's absolutely fantastic.

This would make a fantastic master bedroom.

En-suite through there. Yeah.

Or dressing room through there, perhaps.

Would make an amazing bathroom. Yeah.

And also maybe even put that copper bath. ANDY CHUCKLES

But can you imagine that,

with a great big shower head over the top? Yeah.

I love it, I love it. I do love it.

But you hate it? No, I love it.

So, would you put an offer in?

I'm tempted to really think about that.

It does have an amazing wow factor to it, it really does.

Thanks, Andy. You're very welcome.

It's a beautiful property. There's a lot to think about.

So, you've even got some ideas. Yeah.

I'm going to give you a call.

Adam's not made his mind up about this place,

but hopefully he's getting closer to understanding what he wants.

Probably the next time you see me,

I'll have a beret on, with a stripy top and some onions

and I'll be riding a bicycle through the streets,

kind of saying hello to all the bakers and candlestick makers,

all that kind of stuff.

And a baguette under one arm, probably.

Coming up...

No half measures if DIYers Donna and Paul

are to complete their new kitchen.

We cannot afford to make any mistakes.

It's got to be right first time.

And Anna and Ed are hoping the dash for cover won't spoil the wedding.

Whether the bride's going to like it or not, I don't know.

Obviously, she was passionate about being outside,

but I'm happy.

Let's hope they are!

Near La Rochelle in western France, Paul and Donna are preparing

dinner for visiting family at their newly purchased chateau.

Right, what have we got? Rogan josh.

Be nice... Bit of Rogan Josh, then, eh?

With work unfinished on their new catering kitchen, feeding

extra mouths from the chateau's old run-down one is a bit of a struggle.

We've got two rings that are working.

We've got a makeshift kind of bench here.

Everything is kind of on top of each other, there's no real work space.

On the upside, they've come on leaps and bounds with the new kitchen.

As well as insulating the ceiling and repointing the stone walls,

they're in the middle of installing the new kitchen cupboards.

Today, they're fitting the worktops.

I'm usually in charge of the instructions and...

Otherwise, normally, Paul won't look at them.

Sadly, instructions aren't included for getting a worktop to sit

flush against that old stone wall.

It's hitting this piece of stone here.

It's just pushing out a few mill, which is enough to not make

the worktop kind of true right the way along the front.

We like a challenge, otherwise we'd have never took on buying a castle.

I might pull it in a bit more

if I put another fixing straight through here.

All it takes is determination and a really strong fixing.

DRILLING

That's pulled in. Yeah? Saw it move.

That's spot-on. Yeah, it's level there now. Yes!

Now they have to cut out the worktop to house a double sink.

We cannot afford to make any mistakes,

it's got to be right first time.

Any error will be costly as the worktops weren't cheap.

And as it could take weeks to get a new one, there could be delays.

So this was what, about 300 Euros?

I can't remember, now.

Well, you'll remember if I get it wrong.

Draw where the sink is going to go. I have.

Which is which bit? Here.

Is that 815? No.

Is that right? It's still quite big.

Remember, "measure twice, cut once".

Sure? No.

Now for the moment of truth.

I'll just lift the back in.

That's it.

So we're calling that in, yeah? SHE LAUGHS

That's an install. That is superb.

Beautiful.

Paul and Donna have spent a lot of time watching DIY videos

and it seems to be paying off.

Excellent.

We're saving thousands by doing it ourselves. It's money well saved.

Couldn't agree more, Donna?

Excellent! OK, well done.

Paul and Donna have stripped back walls, built a ceiling,

installed lighting, fitted new units and put in plumbing.

After three months of hard work,

all that remains are a few final touches.

You've got a fingerprint on that one now.

You need to have some white gloves. SHE CHUCKLES

There we go.

CAT MEOWS

They've turned a neglected old scullery...

..into an all-singing, all-dancing, working kitchen.

It's beautiful, I love it, absolutely love it.

I do feel very...

I don't know, it's a warm, fuzzy feeling.

SHE LAUGHS

They should be happy.

Getting this kitchen done professionally could easily

have cost tens of thousands of pounds.

By doing all the work themselves,

they've kept the price down to 4,500.

I think it's great. I think we've got the balance between old and new

and it's the first room that we've done as opposed to rooms

that we've inherited.

I'm very excited to start baking.

I don't want to renovate, I want to cook!

I hear you, Donna, but there's lots more renovation to be done.

Further south, 13 miles from the centre of Bordeaux, Anna and Ed's

first wedding of the season is not going to plan.

They're rushing to get the tables set as the wedding breakfast

has had to be moved inside.

Sauvignon, jaune.

As the guests file over for post-ceremony drinks...

Hi, guys, please come over for a drink.

..after arranging tables and chairs, checking the seating plan,

and laying the place settings, they're almost done.

It just needs a few final touches...

Non, non, non. There.

..to Anna's exacting standards.

Voila.

I think it's looking really nice.

The tables are looking, classy.

Whether the bride's gonna like it or not, I don't know.

Obviously, she was passionate about being outside.

But I'm happy, let's hope they are.

Slightly later than planned, the reception meal can finally begin.

Let's hope the newlyweds are happy.

CHEERING

WHOOPING

As the wedding feast gets well under way,

the decision to move indoors proves to be a wise one.

I was definitely right to have it inside.

It's coming down more and more all the time.

It would have been frozen out on that top terrace.

To sit down and eat in the cold is no fun for anybody.

One person who's been feeling the heat...

These are sugar-coated, that's all.

..is pregnant wife Anna?

I don't think they would use nuts.

It's the unknown that I think upset Anna today.

My role probably is going to be a bit more.

This summer, just taking off that extra stress from Anna,

and then now, I've got to try and get her to sit down

a little bit, instead of on her feet.

Practice for the next two, three months.

Anna? Eat. Yeah, I'm gonna go.

Have some bread and some cheese. I'm going to have my dinner here.

OK. It's time for a sit down and have some dinner.

I've sat down. OK? Yes.

It may not have gone as originally planned,

but the happy couple have had a memorable day.

It's turned out to be an amazing day.

It was a bit stressful with the weather,

but you can't control that, at the end of the day.

Obviously, you'd want to be outside by the lake,

and in the beautiful surroundings, on the grass,

but the inside of the venue is just as stunning as the outside.

But the best thing is Anna and Ed, probably.

Just cos they make it amazing for you, they do everything for you.

ANNA: The bride and groom look happy now. Everyone is merrier now.

It was a hard day. Yeah. You got a little bit upset, that's normal.

Yeah, well. Cos you're pregnant.

Ladies and gentlemen, the first dance!

It's not been the easiest start to the season.

Even though it's been a tough wedding for us, to see

that they're happy, that's the main thing.

That's why you do the job, really. Edward did so much more.

It's the first wedding so of course

you're going to want to run round and do everything.

I think it's only going to get better. Mm.

Fingers crossed the rest of the year goes smoother.

Next time...

As Paul and Donna race to give her parents a home from home...

They are really looking forward to it being their little home.

And I think it's going to be a really nice, warm,

cosy space for them.

..Mum and Dad are finding chateau life a struggle.

Everything was so cold know and we thought, "Gosh, what have we done?"

It's touch and go when we catch up with one couple...

That one's falling out, quickly. There, that one.

Oh!

..on their new round of projects.

Every time you put your hand in, Steve... Whoa! Steven.

The annual toad migration kicks off at our place.

Oh, look at them all around your feet.

They're all over the place. Whoa.

And a chateau-owning family battle to stop their ancestral home

from cracking up.

Another big crack coming, which is even more worrying.

You can put your fingers in the crack.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media