Original subtitles

This is me, Dick Strawbridge, my wife Angel and our two children,

in our glorious French chateau.

We haven't ever regretted what we've done.

It is so worth it.

We moved here three years ago to follow our dream of living life

in our very own castle.

[laughter]

Oh my god.

Dick: But it's not been easy--

I think I'm a bit too old for this.

--as dozens of other Brits know only too well.

Tim Alexander: Oops.

Floor needs replacing as well.

[laughter]

Dick: Because it turns out, we're not the only expats who

have bought a French chateau.

Woman: Wow, absolutely love it.

Michael Halpin: 25-year-old Bordeaux.

Jonathan Cooke: Motherlode!

Dick: In this series, we'll reveal how we're running out

Chateau as a business.

There's not a thing about making sausages that I don't find

humorous.

I'm still finding things that I haven't seen.

Dick: And see how these daring Brits are running theirs.

Dick: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa--this place is done up.

[chuckles]

Dick: As they face the ups--

Ashley Adams: It's really beautiful.

This is a rare moment, but I am genuinely at peace.

Dick: --and downs--

Philip Baillie-Smith: It's a lot worse than it looks.

Dick:--of their new lives in these crumbling and magnificent

buildings.

Michael Petherick: It is a bit of a fantasy, living in a French

chateau.

We might have a few problems on the way, but--

♪ ♪

--that's part of life, isn't it?

[chuckles]

♪ ♪

- Dick: Today. - Jonathan: Stop it!

Get away.

Dick: It's fun and games at one chateau, as it's prepared for

the arrival of its investors.

Jonathan: We need to get on top of it.

Get on top of the goats.

Dick: Until the investors actually arrive that is.

I was amazing at how anti people were.

I wasn't expecting quite the backlash.

Dick: It's a mad rush for one couple setting up an anniversary

party at their chateau.

Loads of nails fell into that sink.

Phil: Don't care!

Just exhausted really.

Dick: And a single mom struggles to get her chateau ready for a

visit from the local mayor.

Fiona Jones: I'm rushing.

Thinking about Louie.

Gravity--stay.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: The beautiful Chateau de Jalesnes.

It's managed by couple Michael and Jonathan.

We were civilly partnered five years ago, on a very joyful

occasion with all our family and friends.

And everything was going great--[laughs]--then we decided

to buy a chateau.

Dick: They bought it for ,£750,000 four years ago,

and with the help of investors, have transformed it into

what it is today.

Jonathan: It was great--it was fantastic--but then it all

started to unravel.

♪ ♪

We knew we were taking a risk, but we didn't think it was gonna

be this big a risk.

♪ ♪

Dick: Located in the Pays de la Loire, the chateau hasn't been

making money.

If they can't make it pay for itself by the end of the summer,

they may have to quit.

Jonathan: This is our home, it's all we've got.

Everything we have is now invested in this, and we haven't

got a fall-back option.

Michael: All our eggs are in the one basket.

Dick: And over the next few days, these eggs could be under

threat.

Jonathan: The investors week is coming up.

They can vote us out just as easily as they voted us in.

Michael and I could lose our jobs, it's as simple as that.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: So Michael and Jonathan have a plan for the chateau's

banqueting hall that they hope will please the investors.

We ordered some artwork, and--[chuckles]--they delivered

it to the farm next door.

So the farmer's kindly said that he'll bring it round here.

Dick: They're hoping this artwork will make the chateau

more appealing to perspective wedding clients, and in turn the

investors.

We had some feedback from brides who visited the place saying it

looks a bit of a blank canvas, it's hard for them to visualize

what it's gonna look like.

Oh, look--[laughs]--he's brought it on a forklift truck.

- Oh my god-- - Oh no.

- --is it hitting the ground? - Michael: Oh my.

How much did you say that's worth?

Ten grand.

Dick: They're worth ten grand, but thrifty Jonathan actually

got them for five.

It's crucial they aren't damaged.

- Michael: Good on 'em. - Jonathan: Only in France.

Jonathan: Fantastic.

Trying to get that through that box.

♪ ♪

Jonathan: That's all right, he can see it--he can see it.

♪ ♪

Superb.

Dick: Inside are twenty reproduction of famous

French-themed paintings, most of them by French artists.

[laughter]

I'm so excited.

I've never spent this much--can you imagine going to the January

sales with ten grand in your pocket, that's how excited I am.

I've never spent that much money--never.

We bought a house once.

Yeah, but no, that's a paper transaction, isn't it?

What are you doing?

How--hang on, you're ahead of me again.

You gotta go this way, gotta go this way.

Jonathan: No, I want this--

- There's nails this way. - Come on, come on.

I just want to see the top one.

- Michael: Seen it. - Stop it--get away.

- [chuckles] - You're so horrible.

Jonathan: Now I want to see what they're like.

Oh my god.

Pull it off.

Should we peel it more delicate.

No, no, no, no.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Take it, take it, take it, take it, take it!

Oh my god, I want to put it somewhere.

Absolutely magnificent.

Jonathan: These are digital restorations of the original.

Now we need to get these into the banqueting hall.

I can take two.

Dick: Tomorrow they start the task of putting them up.

♪ ♪

Dick: Two and a half hours drive northwest of Jonathan and

Michael is another chateau: Chateau du Bailleul.

It's the splendid home of husband and wife Philip and

Angelina Bailee-Smith.

It was all like, I said, "We're gonna go live here in a chateau

in France."

Showed her and picture and: "All right."

It was literally like that.

No it wasn't like, "All right," it was like, "Yeah, yeah, I want

it, I want it."

"Call them now, I want it, I'm signing."

♪ ♪

Dick: They're renting this 17th century place in the Pays de la

Loire region of northern France to try their hand at chateau

life before deciding whether or not to buy their own.

Phil: To me, the dream of living in a chateau and making it pay

for itself is alive and well and I couldn't genuinely think of

living back in London now, I just--I couldn't.

♪ ♪

Dick: As a first step to starting an events business at

the chateau, Phil and Angelina have taken on the challenge of

hosting a 50th wedding anniversary party.

Dick: Over the last eight weeks, they've cleared the grounds,

built a bar, and even a bridge.

- Last one's yours fella. - Right.

Dick: With a little help from yours truly.

Dick: Well done.

♪ ♪

Dick: Now the big day has finally arrived.

Looks stunning--really, really stunning.

Dick: And Phil and Angelina, joined by a few local helpers,

are working flat-out to get the chateau ready before the 50th

anniversary couple arrive in two-hours' time.

Angelina: Phil, I'm just a bit worried about the amount of

glitter ribbon.

I just don't think I have enough.

♪ ♪

Dick: With 60 guests expected, Phil wants to make sure the way

to the party is well signposted.

Phil: It's a bit stressful, if you park in the wrong place

French neighbours shouting "Why are you parking in my driveway,

and no, I don't, you know, this isn't a party this is my

house."

Gonna be a little bit embarrassing.

It's always a bit stressful for the start of the party.

We need to make a sign that's nice and clear for all the

visitors.

So we found a beautiful frame that I bought, I think it's

stunning, really full of character, very chateau-y.

- Angelina: You have a pencil? - Phil: No I don't.

- You have measuring tape? - Phil: Inside.

I'll go and get the ruler.

Phil: No, no, no--I don't need a ruler, I need a pencil.

♪ ♪

Angelina: Yeah, but I need straight lines.

Oh yeah, you get the ruler I'll get--

Angelina: Argh!

--a pencil will be helpful, thanks.

Dick: The pressure's starting to take its toll.

Phil: Gonna pull one of these out, give me two seconds to cut

this first, thank you.

Angelina: OK.

Put your hands on that, like that, OK.

- Shall we, really? - Yes.

The arrow is left for the party--

Angelina: Yes, that's right.

--the arrow is right for the parking.

Angelina: I know about that arrow--oh my god, I just wanna

kill you now.

Phil: Never argue with a man with power tools.

♪ ♪

Phil: I've got to go off and get the tables and chairs, which

shows me how far behind I am, 'cause it means once furniture

starts to arrive it's happening, isn't it, you know.

It's not a case of, "Uh oh, I can get away with this."

- Bye. - Angelina: Ciao.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today is Phil and Angelina's own first wedding

anniversary, but there's no time to celebrate.

If today doesn't go well, they may have to give up their dream

of a chateau life.

It's at the back of your mind, if I don't do it now and get it

right, should we carry on, on this sort of this or shouldn't

we?

♪ ♪

Phil: These are the tables and chairs.

There won't be enough to seat everybody, but not everybody at

the same time, it's quite an informal affair they want in the

evening.

Never ending.

I hope they appreciate it, coming into it.

Typical [sighs].

It's not glamorous, this, sometimes.

It's just hard graft.

We're doing it on a shoestring budget to try and start a

business to see if it works on as little as possible, so we're

doing ten people's jobs.

Dick: Seating sorted, that's one more job done.

But Phil's got plenty more on his plate.

We get it 75% right, we can carry on with this business.

If we make a mess of this today, we're just not cut out for that

sort of thing.

Do you know what, now I've thought about that, I can feel

the pressure.

Dick: It's proving to be one of the hottest days of the year.

Perfect for the party, less so for Angelina.

Because of the scale of the place, it's impossible, you end

up running 1,000 metres one way then 1,000 another, and you're

just exhausted really.

Well, I am now, I'm sweating, look at me--Sweaty Betty.

♪ ♪

Dick: There's now just two hours until the clients are due to

arrive.

And Phil seems to have forgotten his most pressing job of all.

Toilets need to be cleared up.

- Yeah--uh-- - It's about, what, 11:00?

It's, uh--I still haven't quite finished the toilets.

♪ ♪

Dick: Unbelievably, after eight weeks to prepare for this event,

Phil still hasn't sorted out the abomination that is the guests'

toilet.

♪ ♪

Dick: Just over 100 mile

Dick: Just over 100 miles southeast, Alan--one of the

volunteers at Chateau de Jalesnes--is helping Michael and

Jonathan put up the newly acquired artwork in the banquet

hall.

♪ ♪

The first part is all about measuring out and getting it

levelled, to them hopefully by the end of the day we should

have all of those up.

Knowing Jonathan, everything's gonna be spot-on perfect,

measured to within a millimetre, so I reckon will be the biggest

challenge will be getting Jonathan happy.

Dick: Michael knows his partner well, because one hour later--

♪ ♪

How's it going now--oh, blimey.

Alan's let me down a little bit, 'cause he's not centred this

picture.

I've got a good eight inches on one side, and a good three

inches on the other.

Shall I just mark the rest of your work while I'm here.

And what did you have in mind here, Alan, just for my

amusement?

Dick: After a bit more tweaking, Jonathan is happy, but will

Michael be?

Michael will not--he'll just come in an grunt at it and say,

"It seems a lot of money to pay for a poster."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Michael chuckles]

- What are you laughing for? - It's done isn't it?

They look good.

Why were you laughing?

It's a lot of nudity, isn't it?

Is that all you were laughing at?

I can cope with it, if it's just the nudity.

Yeah, they're cool.

They're brilliant.

They're big.

Michael: These are brilliant, these are good.

- Michael: And who's she? - She's Madame Pompadour.

And why's Madame Pompadour famous?

I know the name.

She is the mistress of Louis the 15th..

- Yeah, he's done all right. - [chuckles]

Michael: No, yeah--

I like--I like 'em.

- I like 'em a lot. - Good.

Michael: Yeah--yeah, I do.

I'm happy, he's happy, no row--[chuckles]--which I thought

was coming.

Dick: They're both happy, the question is, will the investors

be when they arrive in just two-days' time?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: The 13-bedroom Chateau du Masgelier.

Parts of it date back to 1174.

It has medieval dungeons, a chapel, and a 14-bedroom coach

house.

Now run as a holiday home.

It's all owned, run, and being restored by single mum Fiona

Jones.

Fiona: Oh, it's the best thing that I did.

Wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Dick: Slap bang in the heart of France, she and her son live

here in the upstairs floor while slowly renovating the rest of

the chateau, with the goal of eventually running the restored

area as a B&B alongside the holiday home.

If only you had thumbs you could help me.

Dick: This year she's focused on the first floor, and this dining

room is the last room to do.

Fiona: I've not found that one room here has just been simple.

Dick: In one week she's throwing a party for the mayor and local

community in an attempt to start promoting the B&B.

Fiona: The pressure's on now, it's a big job this room to

complete.

Dick: She's plastered the room and primed it ready for

decorating.

Today's jobs are wallpapering and filling in the problematic

gaps between the ceiling beams.

Having a lot of problems with bats, mice.

What's actually happening is the bats are getting in through all

of the tiny little gaps in between the beams here.

My idea, I'm going to attempt--I think this will

work--to spray foam all the way through that, and then I'm going

to varnish it so it's at least sealed.

And it would take a damn good mouse to chew through all of

that.

Here is goes.

♪ ♪

- Dick: Mm. - Fiona: Gravity!

Stay.

Dick: That doesn't look like it's really filling the hole to

me.

Fiona: What I'll do is I'll let be the bigger areas just dry,

and then I'll put some more foam in afterwards and just build it

up.

Add another layer and then that'll be fine.

What a mess.

I've not used this product before, it's a lot softer.

♪ ♪

Fiona: It shouldn't be dripping, like--not to this excess,

it's a real mess.

Dick: Fiona's going to have to come up with another plan if she

wants to finish this job in the time she's got.

♪ ♪

Dick: 170 miles northwest, Chateau de Jalesnes shareholders

are coming today to see how their investment is doing.

Their visit ends with an annual general meeting--or AGM.

The way the business has been going, it's likely to be a tough

one.

But Jonathan and Michael have a couple of treats up their

sleeves.

Hello, have you had a good morning?

[goat bleats]

Dick: One of them is goats.

What have you been doing?

Could you eat a little bit more for me please?

[goat bleats]

Jonathan: 'Cause they say that you won't eat enough.

Dick: They hope the investors will like the clever idea to

have the grass trimmed for almost no cost.

Look at that, somebody's been chucking their bloomin'

breakfast out there for the goats.

I didn't think that--you shouldn't be feeding goats

pizza, should you?

Dick: The other treat is the new paintings in the banquet hall.

It's definitely gonna be a talking point, I reckon.

♪ ♪

Dick: They'll show the investors the paintings tomorrow.

Tonight they'll wine and dine them.

They've started to arrive earlier than expected.

Michael: The meal starts at half--

Jonathan: Yeah, it starts at 7:00.

7:00.

So I'll got get drinks ready as well.

- Jonathan: OK. - So I'm gonna get changed.

All right, meet you back here in 10?

Done.

We've now got three investors all arriving at the same time,

and we've got to get the drinks ready for dinner tonight.

They were supposed to be staggered, but it will just turn

into a complete mess.

- [phone rings] - It's never ending.

Jonathan: Oui, allo, Chateau de Jalesnes.

Dick: It's not the best start.

I hope tomorrow goes better.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: 100 miles northwest, at Chateau du Bailleul, it's the

day of the 50th wedding anniversary party that Phil and

Angelina Baillie-Smith have spent the last two months

preparing for.

Loads of nails fell into that sink--

Phil: Don't care.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today's party is a test.

If it goes well they may stay in France.

If it goes badly they may pack up and give up the dream of

running a chateau business.

This is the life that I'm really happy we're currently living

and can't wait to continue.

So I'd be heartbroken if it ended.

♪ ♪

Dick: The guests of honour are due to arrive in two hours,

but Phil hasn't finished fixing the toilets he promised would

be ready.

[dryer hums]

Well, this particular toilet is almost finished.

Once this is in, the toilet's two screws and one pipe

connector, and then it's done.

I think I might have to cement the pipe to fill it up.

Dick: As Phil tests his speed plumbing skills, Angelina's

putting the finishing touches to the party signs.

I'll just copy this star, I quite like it.

God, all these swirly things.

That's a good arrow--that's a good-size arrow.

I mean, you know, you can't miss going in the

wrong--[chuckles]--direction.

One of the other things that I wanted to do, I actually like

cake decorating type of stencils.

Kind of like fleur-de-lis.

Lovely.

A bit of little swirly action there.

If you turn right instead of left, you're gonna miss the

party.

♪ ♪

Dick: Phil's attempting to get at least one of the toilets up

and running.

Phil [sighing]: How do I do this?

Dick: But unfortunately there's a new problem.

Phil: The actual water feed to the toilet has now decided

it doesn't want to play ball and is dripping.

This is an absolute nightmare.

♪ ♪

Dick: Phil promised his clients two working toilets to

accommodate the 60 guests, but he's struggling to provide one.

And even worse, golden anniversary couple Chris and

Anne, are nearly here.

It just seems five minutes ago that I met you and we got

married.

A lot of people who are coming today, I don't think have been

to a chateau.

Anne: We've got son flying in from England, and we've got some

Dutch--they've driven over 800 miles to get here, so that's

gonna be a special moment.

We've put our trust in them to make sure that they're gonna

make this a special day for us as well, as has been promised.

When we first saw it there was a tremendous amount of work that

had to be done.

Well, here we are.

♪ ♪

[car horn honks]

Phil: OK.

Dick: With Phil caught short, and Angelina nowhere to be seen,

there's no one to welcome Chris and Anne.

Anne: Gosh, I've forgotten how big the place was.

Chris: Yeah, I have.

I don't know where they are.

Good heavens, what a lovely way to spend 50 years of marriage.

Dick: Will they be happy with Phil and Angelina's preparations

for their big day?

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau de Jalesnes, the investors have been arriving

through the night.

By this morning they're all here.

Hello, how are you?

Jonathan: Come on, come on in.

Dick: The key part of the visit is the annual general meeting.

Jonathan: Probably the most important date in the diary this

year.

Dick: And because the business has been struggling, Michael and

Jonathan are worried.

Jonathan: They could say that they're not satisfied with the

progress and it's not an idle threat, they could say, "Sorry

guys, you've given it your best shot but now we need somebody

who knows what they're doing."

So they're hoping to impress the investors with their new

paintings for the chateau's banquet hall.

Thanks for joining the tour.

Jonathan: What I'd really like you to see is what we've done in

the main gallery.

Let's go through and see what you think.

The idea has been is to take the old, traditional oil painting

artworks of some of the French masters, but to display them in

a contemporary manner.

♪ ♪

It's a huge improvement, I think it's warmed up the room, and I

love it.

So how do you rate them?

It's not my favourite.

Man: Well, I'm particularly bothered by this one I must say

because it is a violent painting, and this is a room

that's gonna be used for weddings, for happy occasions.

Dick: It wasn't quite the vote of confidence Jonathan had been

hoping for.

[chatter]

♪ ♪

I suppose I'm disappointed that people were more opinionated

then--[chuckles]--they needed to have been.

It was the most momentous thing that we've done.

Cost us the most money.

Dick: And there's more to worry about.

The investors board has called a pre-meeting to discuss the

agenda for the AGM.

Thank you very much for coming.

I'll start off with Item #1.

♪ ♪

Dick: And they aren't happy about the goats or the fence to

keep them in around the chateau.

Man: I think a lot of people have the same view of putting up

a farm fence and farm animals on the chateau.

I'd be seriously concerned that's gonna detract from the

quality of people who want to stay at the chateau.

As with anything that we buy or sort out, there's normally two

or three weeks of us getting it right.

So point taken on board.

We'll talk to the sheep people today and we'll see what

improvements or modifications that we can make.

Michael: Three brides I have spoken to about it know about

it.

And they're fine with sheep, are they?

- And goats. - Man: Goats and the moat, yeah?

I think enough people sort of viewed the fence and said,

"What is that?"

I said to you all along that I had my reservations about it, I

said I'm going to try it, and I said specifically to the guys

bringing it in, "If I don't like it it's all coming out."

So thank you very much for attending, and I look forward to

seeing you tomorrow for the AGM.

Thank you very much.

- Man 1: Thanks. - Man 2: Thank you.

♪ ♪

Dick: The board aren't keen on the goats.

But what they really don't like is the fence.

Michael and Jonathan will need to think what to do about it

before the AGM tomorrow.

I was amazed how anti people were.

I wasn't expecting quite the battle, actually.

So the sheep might have to go if they're voted down tomorrow.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau du Masgelier, owner Fiona Jones is slowly

renovating parts into a bed and breakfast.

She's just worked out she's been using the wrong foam filler to

plug the gaps in the ceiling beams of the dining room,

and has now bought a type better suited to the task.

Right, let's hope this works.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Look at that, fabulous.

Dick: Fiona needs to get a move on.

This whole room needs to be ready for the unveiling party

for the mayor in just one-week's time.

I'm just gonna leave that for a little while and then I'm gonna

cut it all out so that you don't even know that there's foam

there.

♪ ♪

I've got some insulation foam, which I'm going to pack the

bigger holes out with initially, and then I'm going to spray foam

that.

♪ ♪

Dick: Fiona will wait for that to dry, then she'll be able to

trim and neaten it up, and wood stain it to match the beams.

Even if it looks like a mess right now, it'll be fine.

♪ ♪

Dick: In the meantime, she's got the wallpapering to craic on

with.

I haven't used this wallpaper before, but I've got it from

England.

I was just looking for something that was sage green with a gold

effect.

Dick: She's cutting it fine.

She needs to collect her little boy Louie from school in just an

hour's time.

♪ ♪

So that is completely out--OK.

That is completely out, I knew it would be.

Oops, it is.

Dick: The problem with all old chateaus is that the walls,

ceilings and floors are never at right angles, so hanging

wallpaper becomes a real test of patience.

It's important to get the first piece straight.

♪ ♪

Dick: If just one strip of paper is pasted at the wrong angle,

all others lined up against it will be wonky too.

♪ ♪

So that's perfect, look at that, straight on the bubble--it's

perfect.

Dick: She's got the line up right, but the heat on this

scorching summer's day is causing her other problems.

Fiona: It's 32 degrees today.

The edges are drying out too quickly and curling.

I need to go and get Louie as well, this is the problem, I'm

rushing thinking about Louie.

I can't do it.

I don't know why the edges are drying so quickly.

I've never had this happen.

Dick: She's only hung two strips, but she's run out of

time and has to go and collect Louie.

She hasn't finished either the foam filler or the papering she

needed to take off today.

With the big party looming, will she be able to finish the room

in time?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Meanwhile, back at Chateau du Bailleul, golden anniversary

couple Chris and Anne have arrived, and their party's due

to start in less than an hour.

Chris: I don't know where they are, should be go towards the

terrace, or?

Dick: But Phil and Angelina are still rushing to get the chateau

ready.

♪ ♪

Angelina: I hope everyone can see this.

This parking signs represents a very long drive ahead, and then

you gotta do a sharp right.

Self-explanatory.

We are not doing great for time.

- Angelina: Hello! - Chris: Hi there.

Anne: Hello.

I haven't seen you for ages.

- Chris: This looks lovely. - Angelina: Thank you.

Anne: Hello my darling.

Oh you look gorgeous, and smell amazing.

- I'm sorry, I am-- - It's all right.

--in my work mode.

Anne: It's OK, you've been working, haven't you?

We have many surprises for you.

- Anne: Ooh! - [Angelina chuckles]

Dick: One surprise they may not like is Phil's still struggling

to plumb in the toilets for 60 guests.

Phil: I think I might have to get Angelina to stall them

slightly.

I need gloves.

This is way too hot, I need my gloves.

They're here.

We're trying to shepherd them in one direction and away from

certain rooms and others, so we're currently playing a tag

team of making sure they're all right and don't need to go

anywhere.

Dick: Angelina's hoping to buy a few more precious minutes by

showing Chris and Anne the bedroom she's renovated for

them.

Angelina: Ta-da!

- Anne: Oh, it looks beautiful. - Chris: Look at this.

Anne: And the butterflies are amazing.

Angelina: It's a lovely cold room.

I've made you lovely bath balms if you wish to take a bath

before the party starts.

It's lovely.

Chris: A couple of questions.

We don't intend to spend a great deal of time in the room.

Yes.

Chris: I mean, we've not seen around the rest of the house.

♪ ♪

Dick: With Chris keen to start inspecting, finally there's a

very welcome--if slightly weird--sound in the guest

toilet.

Makes a bit of a noise.

[toilet squeals]

We'll certainly know if they get stuck in there.

You can press it a few times, give more signals, can't they?

Dick: Well, Phil's got one of the toilets up and running.

Angelina surreptitiously ushers Chris and Anne past and outside

to the main event.

Phil: Straight through please.

Dick: Will they be satisfied with the party venue?

Phil, should we go through the different areas?

Phil: We've got the area for those that want to have a fire,

out the way.

Angelina: On the other land over the bridge.

Yeah, we haven't got the smoke coming across here.

Anne: And look at your bridge, it looks amazing.

Phil: Yeah.

We've laid out a decent amount of seating.

- The outdoor bar. - Anne: Oh, that's amazing.

- Anne: Really beautiful. - Phil: Yeah.

- Chris: Lovely. - [laughter]

Dick: They seem happy, so Phil decides to confess.

I've got one last thing, I'm down to--I've managed to get one

of the downstairs toilets finished to completion.

The other one, there is issues with the pipe work--

Chris: You can only use one at a time?

- Phil: Yeah. - [Anne laughs]

- Chris: OK. - Phil: All right.

Dick: Well, that went better than I thought.

What I'll do is I'll leave you go and greet some guests while I

get changed.

Yeah.

Phil: You go and have a shower first, I'll deal with gates and

what have you.

- Fantastic. - Well, they've pulled it off.

Yeah.

Anne: They've done wonders, absolutely.

A perfect place for a wedding.

Chris: What they've managed to achieve, it's totally

delightful.

I can't sum it up any better than that.

♪ ♪

Dick: With the guests starting to arrive, and after eight weeks

of hard graft, it's party time at Chateau du Bailleul.

Phil: To Chris and Anne, 50 years!

[cheers]

Phil: It's great, we've done that out of literally blood,

sweat and tears.

I'm seeing it come to reality, and I can see other people right

now really enjoying what I envisaged, so that actually

other people are as wowed at it as I would hope they would be.

Maybe my crazy dream is maybe not as crazy as it sounds in the

first place.

We've done really well.

- Phil: And-- - Yes.

- --on our wedding anniversary. - Yeah, that's true.

- Love you. - Love you too.

[chatter]

Dick: At Chateau de Jalesnes, the board of investors aren't

happy with the fence surrounding the chateau.

Dick: Jonathan admits they may have a point.

I realize that the imposing nature of our driveway here,

has been completely compromised by the fact that these posts are

right on the edge.

So what was a lovely tree-lined avenue has now

got--[chuckles]--this sheep enclosure impinging on it.

Jonathan: It's our calling card, that very first thing that they

see, and if it's a load of rough wooden stakes in the ground,

that's not gonna do us many favours.

Exactly.

Dick: By moving it down the slope of the moat, the fence

shouldn't be so prominent.

Merci bien.

OK.

The plan so far is that they're gonna finish off doing the

fencing tonight, come and put the last bits of that in, and

the sheep will arrive tomorrow.

[goat bleats]

Dick: There are six sheep arriving in addition to these

goats.

But the board has agreed to defer deciding their fate until

the annual general meeting.

[goat bleats]

Dick: And there's another problem.

They've just said another problem we've got is if we

put a male and a female male--they never put male goats

with customers because male goats smell quite strong.

These men can smell goats?

Michael: Yeah, they can tell the difference between the male and

the female's smell.

I can't smell anything.

Now they've mentioned it, I can smell.

- That's ridiculous. - They can smell male goat.

So what do they say, we would have all females?

Should have all female.

Jonathan: Well, we need to get on top of it, don't we?

Get on top of the goats.

Let's just see how it goes.

- Jonathan: Come on. - Where are we going?

- Where are we going now? - What?

Work!

Dick: There's no more time for goat talk, they need to prepare

the financial report for the AGM.

We should make an operating profit around 9,000 this year.

What's left over here--seven.

Five.

5,000--and we'd get half of that.

Jonathan: 2,500 euros between the two of us, that's 1,250

euros each.

- Michael: For a year's-- - For a year's work.

Michael: Three year's work [chuckles].

Dick: As they go through the books, they start to wonder if

it's all worthwhile or whether they should give up of their own

accord.

Jonathan: When do we start to earn?

No quality of life.

Working 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

Are you going to give it a go for another year?

Jonathan: Are you happy to do it?

[birds chirp]

♪ ♪

Dick: In the heart of France, Fiona spent five years

renovating her chateau in the hope of one day running it as a

B&B.

For the last week she's been trying to renovate her dining

room in time for an unveiling to the local mayor.

♪ ♪

Dick: And she's made it.

Fiona: It does give you a nice sense of achievement that you've

not just gone into a room and just decorated it, it's really

had to be gutted and the whole room's had to be reinstated to

put it back to its originality as best that I'm able to.

♪ ♪

Dick: Finally, the man who she hopes will bless her business

venture, the mayor--Michel Nevah--arrives.

I'm going to take him inside now, just let him have a look.

♪ ♪

Fiona: I just kind of finished wallpapering yesterday.

This is literally the last room on the ground floor that is

complete.

Dick: What does he think?

[Mayor speaking in French]

He insisted to--

[Mayor speaking in French]

Hmm--yes, he insisted to have a visit with you because he was

very curious to see how it had become, and he's so happy.

- It's a very nice surprise. - OK.

Woman: And I think he thinks a lot of people would be very

pleased to visit it one day.

Dick: It's the official seal of approval.

♪ ♪

Dick: But there's one thing bothering the mayor.

[Mayor speaking in French]

- Woman: Oh-- - What's that?

[chuckling]

--he would be pleased if you'd learn the French language.

- Yes-- - [woman chuckles]

- --but tell him-- - Woman: He can help you.

Fiona: No--but tell him I'm so busy working that I don't get

out to have a good time and talk with French.

Dick: It's been a great day for Fiona, and what?s more, the

mayor seems enthusiastic about her plans for a B&B.

Fiona: He's full of excitement and ideas for the chambre d'eau.

Gives you more motivation to just continue.

♪ ♪

Dick: So what's next for this one-woman renovation army?

Fiona: All of the windows need to be painted, and the panes of

glass need to be replaced, and any of the woodwork can be

repaired.

And then I'll be finishing off the large servants'

staircase.

And um, yeah, after that, start hitting the bedrooms on

the first floor--get the business up and running.

Dick: I wish you all the best Fiona, and with your energy I'm

sure you'll manage.

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau du Bailleul, Phil and Angelina's first ever

paid event is in full swing.

Woman 1: It's just wonderful.

I think it can be a real business for them.

I know that Angelina, she's just really passionate about that.

Woman 2: I've had a fabulous time, absolutely brilliant.

A chateau is meant to be alive, and that's exactly what it is

tonight--it is alive.

♪ ♪

Dick: With the party and chateau earning rave reviews, Phil and

Angelina can finally turn their attention to a celebration of

their own.

Angelina: Everyone's having a great time, that's only a good

sign, isn't it?

Yeah.

[cork pops]

Ooh, early start--let's celebrate.

Phil: Hey, we've done everything we possibly can.

Yeah.

Everything we've promised, which is great.

Thank you very much.

- [Phil sighs] - [glasses clink]

Phil: The first party, first event.

Angelina: Yeah.

It's the first of so many.

And I was--I was coming close to pulling the plug.

But you know what, I see the future.

Nothing more we can do tonight.

- No. - It's a great party.

- We pulled it off. - We pulled it off.

Phil: Well done.

Angelina: May there be many more.

First of many.

Angelina: I look forward to some sleep--sleep 24 hours.

[chuckles]

[glasses clink]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau du Jalesnes in the Loire Valley, it's almost

time for the AGM, and Jonathan and Michael could find

themselves out of a job if the investors aren't happy with the

way the business is going.

♪ ♪

The worst that could happen in the meeting is a motion of no

confidence, because we've not achieved the targets that we

said we would.

I'm nervous about it.

This is a very vocal group, and they will all want to make their

point.

Dick: And even if they aren't pushed, they're considering

leaving anyway.

I hate criticism and I've just got to bite my tongue, and I

mustn't bite back.

Preparation is the key.

If it looks great when they walk in you've got half the battle

won, because they think, "Oh, this is going to be a

professional do."

[birds chirp]

Dick: Jonathan and Michael know the biggest discussion today

will be about the fence and animals.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual general meeting of

the salle Chateau du Jalesnes.

It's come to my attention that we might have a contentious

issue to discuss.

Dick: This part of the meeting will take place behind closed

doors.

Jonathan: We have an issue about the arrival of the sheep.

Man: If you're going to bring the sheep in, why do we have

such great big posts there?

Woman: You see these posts stuck along the road like a farm

fence, and it's totally distracted from the whole

chateau.

Man: If there are things that come to light, like it doesn't

rain for three weeks and the place stinks, right?

You might do something about it.

Jonathan: Exactly, of course.

Overall it's an experiment, and if it's proved to be wrong it

will disappear.

Dick: The investors decide to keep the issue under review.

And if it doesn't work out, Jonathan and Michael will get

rid of them.

Jonathan: I'd like to crack on as quickly as possible.

Dick: The meeting goes on, and other chateau business is

discussed.

Man 1: There was some effort to generate wedding event business

from the States, whatever happened to that?

Man 2: You say, you concentrate on weddings during the week,

isn't it?

Jonathan: You're right.

Man 2: And you want bums on the seats during the week,

as well, don't you?

Jonathan: Yup.

Dick: After three hours it's finally over.

All the remains to say is thank you very much for taking the

time to listen to what the board had to present to you, and for

all the suggestions that you've made, be they difficult or easy.

Dick: So how do Michael and Jonathan feel?

There was some discussion about the sheep and as far as I can

make out there's only one person who's a fan of the

sheep--[chuckles]--the rest of them said it was the worst

decision that could possibly have been made, what were we

thinking of, why didn't we get anybody's permission, why didn't

we do this, why didn't we do that, and I think there wasn't a

single person in the room that didn't have a go for an hour

about how much the sheep have got to go.

There was very little trust in our abilities to--

Michael: I don't care about the sheep, I care about the aspects

of the mandate to be the managers here.

I didn't come out of that meeting with a mandate to be

managers and to take the right decisions.

Dick: It seems the goats and sheep are just some of the many

issues for Michael and Jonathan.

I feel as if I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders,

and I can do without it really.

I've got too much going on, and it's very, very difficult to

keep it all together.

Dick: So they're not making any rash decisions on their future

now, they're committed to the upcoming summer wedding.

It's time to start worrying about other things.

We've not got worrying about our next event.

Dick: They'll decide if they're going to stay at Chateau du

Jalesnes after that.

This chateau lark is not all plain sailing.

[birds chirp]

♪ ♪

Dick: 100 miles northwest, and it's the morning after the big

event for Philip and Angelina, and it wasn't all plain sailing.

Yesterday I caught you and you had your head in your hand.

Why?

Were you having a little post meltdown?

- Oh yeah, yesterday-- - Crying moment?

- --of course, yeah, I hid-- - He was like this.

Angelina: "Oh, best go and check on him."

I did it in the middle of the afternoon.

I--I just ran to the back of the garden where no one could see

me.

So it's a hidden section.

Everyone else is working away--doing stuff, right--and I

just hid where no one could see me.

And just had my head in my hands going, "Why, we're not gonna

manage this, please."

Dick: Running a chateau can do that to some people.

You do have really, really down moments, that's when I have a

cry and a moan, and--you know--life gets you lemons, and

you make--

- Phil: Lemonade. - No.

- You make G&T. - [Phil laughs]

Dick: So, decision time.

Will they carry on with the chateau life?

Phil: I couldn't have hoped for more out of it.

In reaction to everybody yesterday was just--it was the

reassurance I think I needed to carry on.

So we'll keep the place on for as long as we can.

And now we're looking forward and there's no stopping it--I

hope.

Dick: Good luck, Phil and Angelina.

With a lot of hard work, you too can make it.

♪ ♪

Dick: Next time:

On the day of the wedding, Michael and Jonathan struggle

with one problem.

Jonathan: Our lift has jammed itself on the ground floor.

Dick:--after another--

Jonathan: They don't think they have any more parts like it,

because it's so old.

Dick:--after another.

Man: I've found the pipe that's leaking, it's got a split in it.

It looks like it is the mains pipe.

Dick: When two new parents face a mammoth task, trying to get

the chateau ready for the holiday season.

I don't know if we can get everything done in time.

Dick: They call in support.

I was up to 4:00 in the morning, and I didn't know I was gonna

[unclear] all day.

Dick: Or at least they thought they had.

I don't actually know if he's ever really done a full-day's

work in his life before.

Dick: And major pool and wall problems--

Man: Oh my god, that is really not good.

Dick:--threaten to scupper a chateau's summer opening.

Man: This wall fell down and we need to put it up before the

guests come.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪