Original subtitles

I'm Dick Strawbridge and along with my wife Angel and our two

children, we left the U.K. for a whole new life in France

and bought this magnificent chateau.

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

It is so worth it.

We've gradually been making it into our home,

as well as running it as a business.

[banging]

That's a long way up.

Dick: But it turns out we're not alone, as dozens of Brits are

doing exactly the same thing.

♪ ♪

[child yelling]

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to think,

"I own that."

Dick: In this series, Angel and I will reveal more about our

journey as chateau owners--

Quite a lot of scrap here.

It's worth money.

Might be able to pay you this time.

Dick:--and guide these daring Brits where we can.

That's a solid old bridge, matey.

Dick: As they renovate--

Man: This is looking good.

I'm quite happy with this.

Dick:--repair--

Man: I've never done this before so it should be all right.

Dick:--and struggle to transform these buildings into their homes

and businesses.

Go, go, go, go, go!

Absolutely magnificent!

Man: This is the glamorous chateau life that everyone

thinks I lead.

Trying to avoid getting my face near toilet here.

This is not the way to make money.

Dick: But however hard the going gets, these plucky Brits can

always say they're kings and queens of their very own

castles.

- Cheers. - Chin chin.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today, I continue my search for a sunken hoard of

armour in one chateau's lake.

Oh my God!

[detector beeps]

Oh my God!

[detector beeps]

Dick: I can hear it!

I can hear it through your earphones!

Dick: Then battle to get access to the lake side.

[whirring]

Dick: But when we start digging, there's plenty that gets us

excited.

What is that?

What is that?

Dick: When one chateau couple rush to get their whole attic

renovated for the holiday season, they need furniture.

Tim: Would you let me have a rug as well and round it to £200?

I've only got £200 with me, that's why.

Dick: And they need help.

Tim: Hopefully Ben's going to fly back here and give us a hand

a couple of days before we open.

I've never agreed to that.

I've never agreed to come back and do more work.

Dick: And my mother-in-law and I get our hands full making

salamis.

[laughter]

Sausage always makes me laugh.

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

humorous.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Walk up and the chickens will roost on it.

I'm Dick Strawbridge, engineer and former Lieutenant Colonel in

the British Army and with my wife Angela, we've been

renovating our chateau into a home and business.

This is my calling in life.

Dick: It's not been easy.

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

Dick: So my heart goes out to anyone else insane enough to

take on a chateau restoration.

♪ ♪

Dick: Take Chateau Monteil, for example.

It's owned by couple Tim and Krys, who live there with their

newborn son, Owen.

The day that you went into labour was--might be because you

were up a ladder, painting windows.

[laughing]

Yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: Located in the Dordogne, they bought this place back in

2013 for just £380,000 after falling in love with it.

It was kind of like Sleeping Beauty's castle, the fairy tale

castle, that was covered in ivy and rambling thorns.

Dick: After two solid years of renovations, they opened as a

boutique B&B in August, 2015, with two double rooms and two

suites.

But they've barely broken even and with the arrival of Baby

Owen, they need to make more money.

We want to be able to earn enough income hopefully, just to

get by.

Dick: So they're opening some new accommodation.

Our main tasks at the moment are completely renovating the attic

space to create a new family suite.

Dick: It needs to be ready for its first booking in four-weeks'

time.

So the pressure is on to get it finished.

We really have got to get the attic finished.

It's our main priority.

Loads to do.

Loads to do.

♪ ♪

Dick: So they called in the cavalry from England,

Tim's little brother Ben.

Hello.

Dick: He spent a whole day helping Tim lay down the new

patio.

But he didn't just come here to work.

I was planning on going canoeing and seeing my nephew whilst I

was here.

Dick: So after helping lay the patio, Tim's decided to give him

a day off.

- Bye, Ben! - See you.

Dick: So while they wait for him to return and help fix up the

attic, Tim and Krys can catch up on some of the other important

chores.

One thing they need to do is check up on their garden.

To help save the pennies, they grow their own produce but

there's been a bit of a disaster with the vegetables they planted

four weeks ago.

We got the whole veggie plot pretty much planted up but last

week, we had two nights of really, really heavy frost,

didn't we?

- Yeah. - Just totally random.

Krys: It was unexpected.

Just bizarre, just totally bizarre and most things have

died.

These are the tomatoes that we put in last month and amazingly,

they're the only thing still standing, really.

♪ ♪

Tim: Touch wood, we should still have tomatoes, at least.

The guests will have to have shop-bought veggies instead of

wonderful homegrown vegetables.

Dick: It may have been better to start these crops off in the

greenhouse and then move them outside after the last frost.

But nature does what it wants.

This is the whole point behind doing this is so that we can

offer evening meals and turn some sort of a profit on it

because there's not much room for making a profit if you buy

it all from the market.

Dick: Every penny counts for Tim and Krys so after removing the

dead plants, he's starting again.

I'll water them and give them a week and see if anything grows

back.

♪ ♪

Dick: Yup, for those looking to live the chateau dream, be

warned.

The weather here can be just as unpredictable as back home.

♪ ♪

[rain falling]

Dick: And it's quickly turned again.

But that gives Tim and Krys the perfect excuse to do some

furniture shopping for the attic suite.

It's a miserable day outside so we're popping off to see if we

can get some nice second-hand antique furniture.

Yay, we're going to go shopping.

[laughing]

Tim: We're hoping we might find a few gems.

Sometimes we go and we come home with way more than we ever

expected to get.

Sometimes we don't find anything.

[Owen crying]

Tim: All right, let's take you for a drive.

♪ ♪

Dick: Tim and Krys are always on the lookout for a bargain and

they've heard a fellow expat chateau owner is selling off

some traditional French furniture that might suit the

new family suite when it's finished.

Woman: So the rugs.

Tim: How much do you want for the rugs?

- 30 euros. - Okay.

I've got a few other things in here.

Tim: Pictures...

Woman: Pictures I wanted 20 euros for these two.

Tim: Okay.

Woman: They're quite nicely done.

Tim: I think, like, in the dining room or somewhere we

could use those, couldn't we?

I mean, they're that kind of nice French--

Woman: Yes.

What about your corner?

Woman: Corner unit.

That is quite old.

Nice and old.

- How much do you want? - About 40 euros for that.

- I quite like the table. - Okay.

- I like the dresser. - Okay.

- I like that. - Okay.

I think we like the pictures.

And you wanted that light fixture--five euros for these.

And 10 euros for that one.

Tim: Yeah, I think we'd like them.

That would be perfect for us.

♪ ♪

Dick: Money is tight so Tim has developed his own special

technique when it comes to bartering.

Tim: Would you let me have a rug as well and round it to 200

euros?

Um...

Tim: I've only got 200 euros with me.

- That's why. - Dick: Clever.

[Tim laughing]

Woman: 210 euros?

Tim: 2, 3...

I can do 203.

[laughing]

That's where I'm at.

Fine, have it.

Tim: Bag it up, I'll take it.

[laughing]

I will do.

♪ ♪

That's great, thank you.

♪ ♪

[trunk closes]

Perfect, perfect.

Made to measure.

Tim: I think that's most of the furniture for the attic suite

sorted now.

[rain falling]

Well, thank you for your time.

You're welcome.

Look us up online and see your furniture in its new home and if

you're ever passing, pop in for a cup of tea.

- Yes, we will. - Sounds good.

You've got our address, door's always open.

Thank you.

Tim: Thank you very much.

See you soon, bye-bye.

We've got what we came for.

We've got a few nice little bits and bobs.

They will just all fill the rooms and give everyone a bit

more furniture.

And it's always great to pop out and you meet nice people and you

see a bit more of the country that you haven't seen before.

It's always well worth it.

[Owen crying]

Tim: It's all right, mate.

We're off home.

Krys: We're going now.

Dick: But before they can fill the suite with the new

purchases, Tim needs to finish it.

And with his brother Ben to help, things aren't going quite

to plan.

Tim: We're about 30 centimetres short of pipes.

Ben: Why haven't you got enough pipe?

'Cause you've cut far too much off.

[laughing]

♪ ♪

Dick: Tucked away in the lush rolling hills of central

Normandy is the ancient Vieux Chateau.

♪ ♪

Dick: The oldest part dates back more than 1,000 years.

And it's this wing that's being run as a bed and breakfast by

retired vet, Donna McDougall.

I'm constantly on the move here.

Changing beds, cooking, cleaning.

But it's good because it means that I can eat a little more

cheese because I burn off energy.

You do not need to go to the gym when you live in a chateau

that's based on five floors.

♪ ♪

Dick: As a British owner of this magnificent place, she's in

esteemed company.

There have only been two English owners of this chateau in its

entire 1,100-year history.

One being Henry the First of England, who sacked it in the

12th century, and me.

Dick: It's located in the heart of historic Normandy, a region

known not only for its rich medieval history but for its

role in the Second World War and Donna's chateau bears physical

reminders of when the Germans occupied this part of France.

The Germans were in the chateau during the war for four years

and while they were here, they left some graffiti on my

fireplace.

And we think it says, "Where strength or power is released or

set free, bad humans must fear the majesty of the Fuhrer,"

and you can see the furor pretty clearly.

F-u-h-r-e-r.

♪ ♪

Dick: Donna thinks there's even more history here too.

She's been told that during the war, the chateau's owners

stashed a hoard of medieval armour in the lake to prevent it

being stolen by the Nazi occupiers.

- We're moving! - We are!

- Dick: We're at sea! - Whoo!

Treasure's here!

So I'm helping her look for it with my trusty little

boat and my metal detector.

♪ ♪

Oh my God!

[detector beeps]

Oh my God!

[laughing]

Dick: I can hear it!

I can hear it through your earphones!

Listen.

Dick: The metal detector is indicating something in the

deepest part of the lake.

So now, I want to try something.

Dick: We got a really strong signal by that stick.

I'm going to put the magnet in--see if we can get in here.

♪ ♪

Dick: This is where the strongest signal's been.

Hmm.

Bit of metal.

There's a bit of metal there, definitely.

♪ ♪

Dick: Bah!

It's just a rusty old nail but the signal from under water is

still strong.

Dick: I think we're going to have to dig, Donna.

I think this is--we're definitely getting strong

signals here.

I need to find us a digger.

Yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: Whatever is here is sitting below a 4-foot layer of

silt and the trees make this part of the lake tricky to

access.

This is going to be challenging.

I think it's here.

I really do think it's here.

Dick: I think I agree with you, actually.

- Do you? - I really do.

[Donna laughing]

Oh, man.

It's here.

That's all we can do for today.

Donna now needs to find a digger to extract any hidden treasure.

But it will need to be big enough to reach into the lake.

If she can find one, I'm coming straight back to help.

It's been a privilege to be here but I think we've got a lot of

work ahead of us because that silt is deep.

The armour has been in there 70 years, if it's in there at all.

And guess what?

I think it is.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: In the Dordogne sits Chateau Monteil where new

parents Tim and Krys are struggling to build a family

suite in time for the summer holiday season in less than

four-weeks' time.

Krys: What's killing me is sleepless nights.

Dick: They're hoping it'll bring in much needed extra cash as

they're barely breaking even and now they have an extra mouth to

feed.

I am getting really panicky because I think he's got

separation anxiety.

How am I going to function in the summer?

'Cause I need to change the beds, clean the house.

Even hoovering is a struggle for me 'cause he's just cranky baby

right now.

♪ ♪

Dick: Tim has brought his little brother Ben in to help out.

Their latest job, trying to fit a new waste pipe for the family

suite bathroom.

Ben, can you cut me a bit of pipe?

Ben: Uh huh.

Tim: That is 169.

Dick: But they've been having difficulty cutting it to the

right length.

I hope they're checking their measurements.

[sawing]

♪ ♪

[pipe falls]

Whoops.

Dick: Ben's lack of precision has been wasting a lot of pipe.

Tim: "Measure twice, cut once," as they like to say.

Dick: At least Tim seems to have a large supply.

All right, we're going to get the pipe from downstairs.

♪ ♪

[sawing]

Tim: I think that was a bit too long.

I just need it like a centimetre, 2 centimetres

shorter, I think.

Ben: Why can't you move the toilet 2 centimetres?

Tim: 'Cause that's where it's got to go.

I don't want it too close to the towel rail.

So I want the waste part for the sink coming up about there.

Ben: Yeah.

Give me 119.

Ben: Now you say 119 this time.

Do you want like a couple of centimetres off it because--

Tim: Well, I've deliberately gone 2 centimetres shorter so it

should be fine.

Dick: Anyone would think they're learning this as they go along.

I've kind of done bits and bobs of it before but yeah, it's the

first bathroom I've really kind of done start to finish.

Dick: Ben thinks his big brother is doing a great job.

Ben: He seems to know what he's doing.

It's amazing what he's picked up off the Internet.

♪ ♪

Dick: Finally, the pipe is in place.

But it's taking up more space than expected in the wall cavity

and some of the supporting beams are in the way.

But ever-efficient Tim has a novel solution and starts to

chip away some of the beam to squeeze it in.

[tapping]

You just know this will be the bit of wood that holds the whole

house up.

Dick: It's not called a supporting beam for nothing.

These old chateaux are pretty sturdy but I wouldn't recommend

cutting into anything structural.

I'm going to take enough, kind of 5 mil just off the surface

just so I can squeeze around it.

[banging]

Ben: When's enough?

You know, enough, sort of thing.

I'm just wary of how much you are taking out there.

Dick: Eventually, Tim is happy and fits the pipe.

[water flushing]

Dick: Ah, the sweet sound of success.

Got the waste in, brilliant.

♪ ♪

Dick: Tim may be one step closer to being ready for the first

guests but there's still an awful lot to do in less than

four weeks.

So that's a big chunk of the bathroom done but we've still

got the bordering and the tiling and the floor's gotta go in.

Shower units gotta go in and the sink's gotta go in.

The painting, the decorating, the list is endless.

Dick: At least Ben can help.

Hopefully Ben's going to fly back in and give us a hand a

couple of days before we open.

I've never agreed to that.

I've never agreed to come back and do more work.

♪ ♪

Dick: Ah, you need to work things out with Ben, Tim, or

you're not going to get this place ready in time.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at Le Vieux Chateau, it's been two weeks since I

helped Donna locate the spot on her lake where she's hoping to

find a stash of buried medieval armour.

Today, I've come back because she's been in touch and there's

some good news.

You could tell exactly how excited Donna was.

She's found a digger.

All right, it's taken a couple of weeks but in France,

that's quick.

She's had somebody in who says they can actually do the digging

so we're back to the lake and we have a chance now of scraping

into the silt.

There's gotta be treasure in there.

There's got to be armour, weapons, all sorts of things and

I've just got my fingers crossed for Donna today 'cause she

really wants to find something.

It's two weeks since Dick was here and the wait has been

unbearable.

I couldn't sleep last night at all.

It's--it's very exciting.

I'm really looking forward to it.

♪ ♪

Dick: I don't know who's more excited about this dig, me or

Donna.

[car horn honking]

Oh, hi!

Hi, Dick!

Nice to see you.

♪ ♪

Another day in paradise.

Donna [laughing]: Indeed.

[laughing]

- Lovely to see you. - Hi, Dick.

[laughing]

It looks very tranquil.

Are you excited?

Donna: I am very excited.

It looks very tranquil today.

Dick: Did you have problems finding a digger?

I had a bit of help because I asked one of my friends in the

village who's a lady farmer but the arm is only five metres.

Dick: Five metres.

♪ ♪

Dick: I reckon five metres should be just about long enough

to get under the thick layer of silt.

It's going to be amazing if we find something.

You said "if" there.

This is one of the first times you said "if" to me.

Well, now I'm worried.

I'm worried we're not going to find it.

Dick: I never thought Donna would have any last-minute

doubts.

But the area of the lake where we think the hoard of armour may

be isn't the most easily accessible part and I'm starting

to have doubts myself.

This is the end of my land here.

So the slope is not too bad just on this side.

If you see the field next door, I think a digger could get in

here.

Dick: There's no gate or access point here at all.

So part of this fence will have to be removed to let the digger

through and that's not the only thing in the way.

It's going to be interesting 'cause when he gets to the trees

and close to the water, it would be interesting to see what he

can do.

Donna: I think he might have to move those trees.

Some of them.

Dick: This job is looking bigger and more difficult.

Will the digger even be able to reach the lake?

I think it's welly time.

Donna: I think it's welly time.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau Monteil, Tim and his wife Krys have spent the

last seven weeks frantically trying to convert their attic

into a family suite for their B&B.

With the arrival of an added family member, Baby Owen, this

renovation is vital to increase the capacity and income.

And we could do with every penny we can get.

Dick: There was a lot to do back then.

But I must say, I'm impressed with the work they've achieved.

But the suite's first guests arrive today and the room still

needs its finishing touches.

Nothing like flying by the seat of your pants.

We've frantically gotta get it done now.

It's just a few bits of really heavy furniture that I need a

hand with and hopefully, we'll be all right and ready in time

for when they get here.

♪ ♪

Dick: Luckily, Tim has managed to convince his younger brother

Ben to make a trip over from England again to help out.

- You made it. - Yeah.

Come on then.

- Let's get straight on. - Okay.

Tim: Let's get straight on.

Dick: Ben hasn't seen the place since he helped install the

plumbing for the bathroom when it was just a shell.

Ben: Wow, all my hard work paid off.

Wow, that's amazing!

Yeah, you did a very good job.

Yeah, I know.

God, I'm really impressed.

Ben: So none of it leaks.

It's all...

Tim: None of it leaks, touch wood.

Ben: Yeah no, really impressed with this.

So when will you get guests in here?

- Today. - Today?

Anytime from 4:00 so we need to get on.

- It's 1:00 now. - We need to get on.

Tim: So no cups of tea until we're finished.

Ben: Okay, brilliant.

Well, let's go then.

Dick: No cuppa and the poor lad hasn't even put his bag down

yet.

I hope Tim welcomes his guests better than this.

♪ ♪

What are you doing?

That needs to go in that room in there.

In between the cupboard door and the bedroom door.

♪ ♪

Ben: All you're doing is propping it up.

I'm having to carry the whole thing.

Tim: Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch the top.

Ben: Yeah.

Tim: Let me get rid of my shoes.

That'll make it easier.

Ben: Throw them away.

It's what, a fashion faux pas now.

Oh, watch it.

Tim: No, don't bounce it.

Seven years bad luck if you break that.

That was you anyway.

[exhales]

Do I get that cup of tea yet?

♪ ♪

Dick: While Ben grabs a well-deserved cup of tea,

Krys helps out.

Got a Dutch family arriving today.

It's four adults and two children.

Dick: You better hurry up you two because it looks like

they're here.

[car pulls up]

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at Le Vieux Chateau, the digger Donna booked has

arrived and the team have started to remove the fence.

♪ ♪

[banging]

Dick: So they can access the lake and start the search for

the buried armour.

They're on time and the first thing, they've gone straight to

work.

That's good.

You like that!

♪ ♪

Now he's gotta get down that slope, see.

This is going to be interesting.

Yeah, because he's coming down.

Donna: At an angle.

Donna [gasping]: How do they manoeuvre these enormous

machines?

Dick: Now the digger's off the truck and in position, it's time

to clear the path to the lake.

He has done this before.

[chainsaw whirring]

Dick: He's gotta go up.

Donna: My goodness!

[laughter]

Donna [laughing]: Health and safety, French style.

♪ ♪

This is a definite, don't try this at home, kids.

Dick: Seriously, never try this at home.

[chainsaw buzzing]

Dick: After almost two hours' work, they clear a pathway to

the lake.

♪ ♪

Now he wants to go in the water.

Dick: You happy?

- Oui. - Merci, Monsieur.

Dick: I've been waiting two weeks for this moment.

Donna longer than that.

♪ ♪

Dick: This is the first scoop.

This is the first scoop.

♪ ♪

Dick: I don't think he's gone deep enough but I want to run

the metal detector over it to be sure.

Just sweep.

Sweep over that lot.

Nothing.

- Absolutely nothing. - That's good!

Donna: Nothing at all.

Okay.

Down we go.

Deeper, I think.

Dick: Brilliant.

Every time that goes in, you get that little flutter don't you,

in your tummy.

Yeah.

[laughter]

Dick: But it doesn't look like there's anything in the second

scoop either.

- That's just silt. - It's just silt.

Dick: Third time around, he's gone even deeper.

Dick: Okay, quick one.

There's nothing there.

Donna: No.

Dick: All the way around.

Donna: No.

Dick: Okay, we know we've had a beep in here.

Donna: There was a beep, yeah.

Dick: Okay.

Donna: Encore, s'il vous plaît.

Dick: He's getting deeper.

What is very interesting exactly, we have no idea how

deep this is going.

See, look he's going--

Donna: Oh my goodness, that's deep.

Donna: Oh he's on the bottom.

He's on the bottom.

Dick: And this time--

[detector beeps]

Donna: Here.

What's that thing, what's that thing.

[detector beeps]

Dick: Look, look: that is an old nail.

A very old nail.

Not another nail.

It's always nails.

There's no way this gives all those strong beeps we heard when

we were out on the boat.

- Dick: Encore. - Merci, Monsieur.

♪ ♪

Dick: I'm convinced there's still something out there.

So we've got to keep digging.

♪ ♪

What is that?

What is that?

Dick: Could this be the remains of the crate the armour was

placed in?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Back in the Dordogne, with brother Ben's help, Tim and Krys

have got their new attic suite ready just in time for the

arrival of the first guests, a family from Holland.

Hi!

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you too.

I'm going to leave you in my wife's capable hands and she

will show you up to your room.

Krys: So I'm going to take you to the kids' bedroom.

It's over here to the left.

Krys: We've got portable air conditioner in both bedrooms if

it gets really hot.

You can just put it on.

- You all good? - Perfect.

Krys: All right, and I'll just show Mom and Dad.

It's just right here.

Krys: And this is your bedroom.

Man: Perfect, what a nice room.

- Krys: There you go. - Thank you very much.

Woman: It's really nice.

Krys: Thank you very much.

Just have to watch my head.

[laughter]

Dick: Well, apparently, the Dutch are the tallest people in

the world.

Built for French people.

Yes, it's true and for me too.

I'm quite small.

[laughing]

Hey!

- How was it? - Nice.

Tim: They liked it?

I think they like it, yeah.

Krys: The dad said it's the way they expected it to be so...

Cool and they were all right with the beams being up in the

attic.

It's okay.

Just needs to--

They were very tall, aren't they?

Dick: As the family settle in--

Girl: Yay!

Dick:--Ben is roped into one final job.

Tim and Krys own 23 sheep.

[sheep bleating]

Tim: They look more like goats but they are sheep.

The main problem with having 6.5 acres of land and a chateau to

renovate and a newborn baby is you have no time to mow lawns

and so we got the sheep.

We bought four sheep.

Fairly quickly, we ended up with a lot of sheep.

And we sell on the lambs each year to other people that want

to do the same thing.

We don't take them to the abattoir.

Dick: The sheep serve another purpose as well.

They're a great attraction for the guests.

The kids love them and when the guests come, they've all got

kids with them, they love the sheep and they feed the sheep

and we give them corn.

They look very exotic.

Yeah, and the--we've got a couple that are really, really

friendly.

♪ ♪

Dick: With the guests now here and before they spot the sheep,

Tim will need to give them their worm medicine.

And while he's at it, he can tag them too.

Ben: Are their horns sharp?

Tim: No, no sharper than a knife or something.

Ben: I don't feel comfortable doing it but I'm willing to give

it a go, I suppose.

Tim: All right, if you go in the pen on the left, I'll grab a

sheep for you and then throw it over to you.

I'll staple its ears and you check it out.

Go for it.

You make it sound so easy.

Dick: Okay, show Ben how it's done then, Tim.

- Oh, great. - There you go.

I can't get it 'cause your arm's in the way.

Oh, got it.

You said it's not hard.

Oh!

You said, it's--

There you go.

You're all right.

Just put your arm around him.

♪ ♪

There you go.

- Thought they weren't sharp. - They're not sharp.

Tim, do you want to do it quickly.

Yeah, will do.

Just hold him really still so he doesn't--

[staple]

Oh, yeah.

Tim: Whatever you do, don't drop him.

Ben: You make it sound so easy.

♪ ♪

Oh, for goodness sake!

Quickly then.

♪ ♪

I'm putting him down.

♪ ♪

Dick: Sheep are pretty hardy creatures.

I think it was Ben who came off worse then.

♪ ♪

Dick: Next?

Oh, Christ.

Why are you passing it to me like a baby?

It kicks.

Oh, [bleep]!

Tim: Nice and calm, nice and calm.

Ben: I am doing it calm.

[sheep bleating]

Oh, Christ!

This one's heavier than the last one!

You have to go a lot faster.

Let's just give him some worming--

Can't do it!

Dick: Hang in there, Ben, there's only 22 more sheep to

go.

Ben: I don't think I'm cut out for this.

Good luck.

♪ ♪

Dick: Back in Normandy, at Le Vieux Chateau, we've been

dredging the lake for more than an hour in search of 20 crates

of armour supposedly buried there during the Second World

War.

We just pulled out some wood.

Sadly, it's not the remains of a crate.

Next, we find some more metal.

What is that?

You're on, again, Donna.

[detector beeps]

Dick: What have we got there?

Donna: A tin can.

[laughing]

[detector beeps]

Donna: Ah, I'm getting really disappointed, Dick.

Dick: So no luck again but we're not giving up yet.

Donna wants to try digging a little further along the bank.

Personally, this is the spot that I probably would like.

Only 'cause we got the readings there.

Dick: Yeah, we got readings here.

Donna: It's deeper than over there.

It's closer to where the trees are at the edge as well.

Donna: Exactly.

Which means--

Donna: Then the original bank is probably closer to this bit than

two bays long.

♪ ♪

Dick: The only problem with this spot is there's six large trees

blocking the digger's route to the lake.

But Donna's had an idea.

Dick: They're going to use the digger as a tank.

Donna: Whoa!

That's one way to get a tree down.

It's fantastic.

Um, I've never known land clearance done so quickly before

in my life.

It's quite amazing.

Now I'm getting excited again about the next patch in case we

find it.

Oh!

Dick: Well he's straight in.

Look at that.

He's not messing around.

Dick: We've been here for three hours now and the digger's got

to go back soon so we're running out of time.

It looks like a piece of wood to me.

Oh, piece of wood.

That could be a box.

Oh my God.

[digger whirring]

Dick: This looks very promising.

Dick: Get your detector.

Let's go in.

Donna: Yeah.

Dick: Let's have a look.

Donna: I want to look at that bit of wood.

Dick: I know, absolutely.

Donna: Is that a bit of wood or is that a bit of--

[detector beeps]

[detector beeps]

Donna: What is it?

It's too long for a box.

Donna: Nothing.

Dick: That is definitely manmade but it's too long for a box.

Donna: Do you know what it looks like to me?

It looks like a floor board or something.

Dick: Yeah, yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: It's another disappointment.

Donna: No, this is all silt.

[detector beeps]

Dick: Okay, brilliant.

Encore?

Donna: Oui, encore, s'il vous plaît.

- C'est possible? - D'accord.

Donna: Merci.

♪ ♪

Dick: The digger has to go.

He's going in for one more dig so it's now or never.

Oh, come on please!

Dick: That's quite deep.

Dick: But it's just another pile of silt.

♪ ♪

Sadly, it's time to admit defeat.

♪ ♪

Dick: But ever the optimist, there's no way Donna's giving up

for good.

I think what's happened is, over time, over 77 years, the water

has eroded the bank and so the natural bank would have been

much further in the lake.

And thrown in, it's outside our reach.

And it's outside the reach of a digger like this.

So the only way to find it would be to drain the lake.

[laughing]

- It's quite a big job. - It's not a small job.

[laughter]

Dick: What's more, if you want to drain a lake, you need a

permit and here in France, that could take a year to be

approved.

Maybe even longer.

Donna, I don't know what to say.

I'm gutted for you.

I'm gutted to find it, yeah.

Donna [laughing]: I am too.

I won't give up.

I know you won't.

It might take a few years.

Let me know and make sure--make sure I get a call because when

it gets drained, I want to be here.

Donna: Absolutely.

♪ ♪

I am so sad for Donna.

She believes there is treasure in the lake.

I believe there is treasure in the lake.

One thing that's really encouraging is, she's not giving

up.

There's French bureaucracy to fight now because she wants to

drain her lake and get in, have a good look around.

I'm expecting a phone call out of the blue in the future that

says, "Dick, I've drained the lake.

Come and help me find my treasure," and she will find it.

Dick: Good luck, Donna.

Hopefully you'll be calling me.

I'm convinced and I'd hate to miss the adventure.

♪ ♪

Dick: Owning a chateau can be a money pit.

With all the land that usually comes with them, a great way to

save or earn some extra cash is to own livestock.

Whether there to keep the grass cut, entertain the guests or be

a source of food, they can bring financial gains not to be

laughed at.

We regularly get eggs and meat from our chickens.

And today, we've got 200 kilos of pork from our pigs.

♪ ♪

Dick: First, I need to preserve the hams with the help of our

friend, Brett.

Dick: So I'll put it in first like that.

10 kilos of salt.

Dick: Packing them in a mixture of salt, sugar, peppercorns, and

bay leaves, draws out the moisture and gives them flavour.

Every day, I will open these out, I'll rub the salt all over

them, turn them over just until we extract all the juices.

I'll do this for the next two weeks.

After that, they come out, get wrapped up in muslin, hung up,

then we wait.

After this curing, the ham should be dried and ready to eat

in about six months.

[whirring]

With the help of my mother-in-law Jenny, Brett and I

chop, dice, and slice the rest of the meat.

It's always been important for me to know where my food comes

from.

When it comes to people eating this, we know everything.

We know the parents of the wieners that we got.

We know the food we've put into them.

We know the attention they've had.

We know how they were dispatched.

And I think too often now, we just go out and buy and trust

and I must admit, I like knowing about my food.

And it's gonna taste great.

That's the other very important thing.

Right, let's get it in the freezer.

♪ ♪

Dick: 350 miles roughly south of us, Tim and his brother Ben are

dealing with their livestock, which they keep, not for the

meat, but to entertain the guests and to keep the grass

cut.

They've just finished tagging them.

Christ.

Bye!

I'm covered in, I don't know, pooh?

My T-shirt is ruined.

Tim: Your shorts are a bit messy anyway.

Ben: I feel like I've been beaten up, mugged.

I'm happy to help but I'm not doing this one again.

I'll cover your furniture, paint, decorate, whatever.

But this manual handling sheep thing, I can't do that.

Tim: You're embracing rural life.

For your first time tagging, that went all right.

Ben: Honest to God--

Tim: No casualties, apart from ourselves.

Let's go get cleaned up.

♪ ♪

Dick: There's no rest for Tim.

He's got to get back to the chateau to prepare dinner for

the newly arrived guests.

Everyone's eating.

Yeah, five adult meals.

Three adult meals--

Tim: No kids meals.

--from the other bedroom.

No, no kids.

Tim: Well, that's good.

♪ ♪

Dick: So it's down to the veg patch and greenhouse to grab

some vegetables.

In the middle of spring, a surprise frost killed off almost

the entire crop.

They cut out all the dead stuff, gave it a good water and prayed

a little.

So did it recover?

Tim: I'm relieved that we've got stuff to give them.

I thought we'd lose everything, to be honest.

I think we've got enough food to put together a decent dinner for

them.

Dick: It looks like a great crop to me.

Tim is a chef by trade.

And so at Chateau Monteil, it stands to reason, he's the head

chef here too.

These are the cucumbers out of the garden.

I'm just going to soften them up in a bit of pickle, pickling

solution.

Stuff them, roll them up and there will just be a garnish

with a smocked trout and it's just a little bit of citrus

mayonnaise, just to finish it off.

Dick: Then it's taken out to the table.

What do the guests think?

They said the food's really nice.

It's done very professionally.

One of the families is taking pictures of it.

So cool.

[laughing]

The food is lovely.

It's being served very nicely.

It was really nice that we saw the vegetables from the

garden being carried upstairs to the kitchen and then being

served at your table is really nice.

♪ ♪

Dick: It's a hit!

Well done, Tim and Krys.

Tim: I think it went brilliantly, didn't it?

I think everyone had a great time.

Ate all their food, enjoyed it.

Happy customers, happy B&B owners.

Krys: All the hard work.

Tim: It's a win-win situation.

- All worthwhile. - It's all worthwhile.

♪ ♪

Dick: After a difficult start to the year, with Baby Owen's early

arrival putting them behind in their renovations, they've

turned things around and successfully launched their new

accommodation.

♪ ♪

Krys: It's been a long journey.

We've had our ups and downs.

Lots and lots of downs but seeing what we've done,

it's all worth it.

Tim: It's an amazing roller coaster journey that takes a

hell of a lot out of you but gives you so much back.

It's an absolute adventure.

We've got income from doing the B&B in the chateau.

It's great.

It's such a good feeling.

I think the decision to renovate the chateau, all of that hard

work, it's all been worth it.

We're setting the kids up, aren't we, with an amazing

future for themselves as well, you know.

The hard work will benefit them and hopefully their kids and it

looks like it's going to be a great success.

Dick: Seems their hearts belong to Chateau Monteil.

Here's to Tim, Krys, and little Owen.

♪ ♪

It's a brilliant life.

The weather's good and the wine's cheap and the food's

delicious.

♪ ♪

Dick: I couldn't agree more about the food.

It's one of the best things about France.

At our place, of the 200 kilos of pork, I've reserved four

kilos to turn into one of my favourite foods: salami.

We minced it up and added some salt.

And I thought what we'd do with this batch, just to start with,

we'd just make some pepper salamis.

Seeing as she's working so hard, we'll name this batch in

honour of my mother-in-law.

Dick: These are called Jennifer's Salamis.

Yeah?

It's a very tactile thing, sausages.

[laughter]

Sausages always make me laugh.

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

humorous.

[laughter]

Brett: Now you can put the skin on.

Dick: With the help of Brett's sausage maker, we push the meat

through a hole and into the sausage skins.

Now, when you do salamis, you have to determine, before we

start, how long a salami you want.

Well, I'd say 10 inches.

Okay, I'm not saying a single thing.

Not too slowly.

Not too slowly.

[laughing]

I can't believe I'm doing this.

♪ ♪

Dick: You moved to the country.

It's what country girls do.

Where do you think they get their entertainment?

♪ ♪

They're nice.

They're going to be very, very rustic.

Have you noticed that anything goes as the night goes on?

Dick: I'm not saying anything.

[laughter]

That's a king of salamis.

It is, isn't it?

It's nice.

We've made 10 sausages.

We now need to dry them for at least four weeks and then

they're ready to eat.

Not bad for a first bunch and there's more to come.

As the French would say, "Voilà."

- Voilà! - Voilà!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Next time: We meet a whole new batch of intrepid owners

dealing with their chateaux.

A trio of chateau rookies try to fix one of the chimneys--

It's not supposed to go coming out the sides, is it?

I wonder why it's doing that.

Dick:--without much success.

[banging]

We managed to get through to the chimney breast but it's the

wrong one.

Dick: The owners of a luxury chateau hotel embark on a

mission to win over the locals--

Man: Lots of anti us in the press.

We have protesters.

All sorts.

Dick: But their efforts to drum up much-needed business don't go

to plan.

Only eight people here.

There's more supplies and more staff than there are customers.

Dick: When a family deals with its influx of flies--

Woman: So we get this treatment done twice a year.

Dick:--things go awry.

[alarm blaring]

Dick: And at our fairy tale chateau, I get down and dirty

building an outdoor toilet.

Never mind fancy jeans

Build a compost loo.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪