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.

♪ ♪

That's a long way up.

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

doing exactly the same thing.

[kid laughs]

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--

It's a solid old bridge, matey.

--as they renovate--

Tim: This is looking good.

I'm quite happy with this.

Dick:--repair--

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, go, go.

Absolutely magnificent.

Philip: This is the glamorous chateau life that everyone

thinks I lead.

Just trying to avoid getting my face near the toilet seat.

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.

Margreeth: Cheers.

Chin-chin.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today:

When I attempt to salvage the children's trampoline

from our moat--

Oh dear.

--it's anyone's guess if I actually know what I'm doing.

At this stage, I'm not 100% sure what's going to happen.

But with a bit of luck, we'll be in the dark,

so nobody will know.

With a roof in desperate need of repair--

That is pretty grim.

Every time it rains, I have to come out with all the buckets.

Dick:--one couple hold an event to bring in some much-needed

cash.

25 plus 30 euros.

25 euros.

Woman: What did you say, 75 euros?

Sophie: I'll just write this down.

Dick: But it's easier said than done.

- [glass smashes] - Sophie: Oops.

Trying not to panic now.

Dick: One chateau owner struggles to face a big day of

work--

Stephanie, oh, come on, darling, you must get up.

Dick:--but soon gets into the swing of it.

Stephanie: It's not every day we have a digger to play with.

Right, ready.

It's hard to be gentle with a digger.

Dick: And after a couple come to our place to talk about their

struggling business--

Come on in, come on in.

Tim: Wow, I can't get over this place.

Amazing, man.

Dick:--they leave with their heads full of ideas.

Tim: I can really see this being a sort of turning point,

you know?

So inspiring.

Tim: We got so many things we could do.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: At Chateau des Lys, it's the middle of the summer season

for owners Tim and Margreeth.

Merci.

Merci beaucoup.

Dick: They run this place as a B&B, but they hardly break even,

and desperately need to bring in more income.

Our biggest problem is we have under-capacity during the

summer, so we have to sort that out, because if we can get that

together, then life becomes a lot easier.

Dick: Never ones to do things by halves, they've got not one but

two plans.

Situated in a prime location just an hour from Calais--

--they want to lease their holiday gîte on

a co-ownership scheme, and develop a caravan park.

I'm making a real pig's ear of this, as usual.

Dick: Ambitious plans indeed.

But Angel and I want to see if there are other things they

could do.

Margreeth: So we're nearly there, I think.

Tim: They should be around here somewhere.

Dick: So, we've invited Tim, Margreeth, and son Joe to our

place in the Pays de la Loire.

Tim: Wow.

- Margreeth: Wow. - Joe: It's amazing.

It's really, really cool.

Margreeth: Oh, it's so impressive.

It is absolutely lovely, isn't it?

Dick: We can chat about how we do things and maybe give them

some inspiration--

- Angel: Hi! - Hey!

Dick: How lovely to meet you.

--and make their chateau more efficient and profitable.

Pleased to meet you.

Margreeth: Nice to meet you.

Dick: Come on in, come on in, come on in.

Tim: Thanks, guys.

Margreeth: Thank you, we're very, very curious.

Dick: Lead the way, darling.

Wow, I can't get over this place.

Amazing, man.

Amazing.

Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Dick: So, after rustling up a light brekkie--

Angel: ♪ Da, da, da ♪

- Margreeth: Oh wow! - Angel: All right, here we go.

- Tim: Wow, look at that. - Margreeth: They look lovely.

Dick:--we get down to business.

So why are you doing bed and breakfasts?

Tim: Well, that's because--

Margreeth: Because we just took over a company that was there.

Yeah.

And we're trying to go more for the group accommodation

instead of the bed and breakfast, but it takes,

you know, time and investments.

Angel: It sounds to me like because you've inherited it,

you feel a sort of loyalty.

Dick: Hmm.

Maybe it's time to say: "Right, what do you guys want to do?"

Margreeth: Yeah.

Is it just yous, or have you got people--

- Margreeth: Yes. - Tim: Yeah, it's just us.

We do have our daughter's friends and other people who are

floating through--

Margreeth: Volunteers.

Tim: Volunteers, but you never stop.

Working smarter, not harder, is the big thing.

Margreeth and Tim: Yeah.

And we, like you, work our butts off.

Angel thinks they might earn more money turning the chateau

into a location for weddings.

Angel: I can imagine that it would take a little while to

make, say, between 5, 10 grand worth of just clear profit

from--from the B&Bs, as for one wedding.

- Margreeth: Hmm. - Do you see what I mean, so--

- Margreeth: Yes, yes. - Absolutely.

No, it's what we think as well.

Maybe the profit margin for us is not that high.

Dick: The idea has Margreeth intrigued.

Can I just ask a few practical questions?

Tim: Go ahead.

So how many people can you have for a wedding?

- We've got a limit of 80-- - Margreeth: 80.

--because that's how many we can keep in the orangery

comfortably.

Margreeth: OK.

Angel: It's surprising how many chateaux don't have one

individual space big enough--

- Margreeth: Yes. - Tim: We have--

Yeah, we have it for 100 people.

Dick: These guys are hardworking,

and not afraid to take on a challenge.

Angel: I could imagine if you did a wedding--like, if the

flowers hadn't arrived, you would go down to the florist

and buy the flowers yourself.

- And you can't buy that. - No.

Like, you can't just buy that.

So I think you're just not tapped into the market yet.

Tim: Absolutely.

Margreeth: No, we think so too.

Tim: Yeah, we're supposed to hear this.

Angel: Yeah, 'cause you've got everything.

That's why I have some practical questions still.

Why don't you take Margreeth with you

and have a little look around--

- Angel: Perfect. - Margreeth: I'd love that.

- Dick: Shall we? - Angel: Yeah, good, right.

Dick: You're gonna take the girls?

We're going out this way.

I think Angel and Margreeth should talk business while I

show Tim something that can save some cash if they do decide to

start hosting weddings.

It's an invention I think he'll love.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: About 540 miles south of ours is Chateau Saint-Ferriol,

a 16th century medieval castle overlooking a small village

in the South of France.

Never tire of the views here.

It's just too beautiful.

Dick: Its proud owners are Brit Sophie, a travel curator, and

James McDonald, a management consultant and author.

James and I met each other 23 years ago in London,

and within about six months, we were living with each other.

James: So we thought, "Well, why are we living in London,

which is expensive and cold and miserable and crowded and noisy

and polluted, when we could live somewhere like this?"

Dick: They bought this place located just 25 miles north of

the Pyrenees for just £60,000.

And of course there's a reason why it was cheap--

[laughs]

--and that is it was effectively a ruin.

Sophie: It was in a total state.

James: So all we needed to do was civilize one room,

which is enough to live in.

And then after that, colonize a second room and a third room

and a fourth room.

And that's exactly what we did.

And in fact, that's still what we're doing.

We're kind of halfway through colonizing the rooms.

♪ ♪

Dick: James and Sophie's dream is to restore their 30-room home

back to its 16th century heyday.

Sophie: It's a very beautiful, special place.

It's never been really, really renovated.

So, it's kept a lot of its beautiful features unspoiled.

They haven't been hidden and broken up.

James: What remains of the chateau today is essentially

one large building, and the vestiges of two wings.

One on the east and one on the west.

Dick: But in the 20 years they've been here,

the restoration is only half finished, and unfortunately,

they've run out of money.

It's extremely expensive.

It's financial suicide.

We are completely crazy.

And if we'd ever thought about it, we would not have done it.

[laughs]

James: We've spent an enormous amount of money on it,

and it's not going to be possible that we fund the rest

of it to completion.

Dick: Still, there's a particularly urgent problem

James and Sophie need to sort out:

The chateau's roof.

Well, this is number one priority, because every time

water gets in, it rots the wood a bit more.

It's pretty grim.

Every time it rains, I have to come out with all the buckets,

make sure the water's not getting through from one layer

to the next.

And sooner or later, it's going to collapse.

Sophie: Yeah, a real shame.

I think in the '70s, this ceiling was probably pristine.

Dick: Oh dear, roofs are costly.

My number one piece of advice when shopping for a chateau

is check out the state of the roof, and be prepared for

how much you'll need to spend on it.

James: Trouble is that we really need to replace the whole roof,

and replacing the whole roof is a huge expense.

So, we need to do something in the interim just to stop water

getting in, and that's really what we're planning to do now.

♪ ♪

Dick: It's vital the repairs are done before the winter weather

arrives, so Sophie and James have less than three months to

find some cash and fix it.

Thyme flowering time.

[bird chirps]

♪ ♪

Dick: So they're going to put on some fundraising events

at the chateau.

The first today will be a talk given by James.

Sophie: I'm picking flowers to go in the chateau

so that people get some nice colour and odour

when they arrive.

So, we're using these talks and events to build up this

particular project, repairing the whole roof.

♪ ♪

So we're setting up the chairs for the audience.

Dick: The hour-and-a-half long talk will be on one of James'

favourite subjects:

12th century Christianity.

Guests will be charged an entrance fee,

and have the option to pay for lunch.

♪ ♪

We've had about 25 people who've confirmed that they're going to

come today, but we expect it to be more than that.

Maybe twice as many as that.

♪ ♪

Dick: James and Sophie have stationed volunteer helper David

outside to greet their guests.

The talk is scheduled to start at 10:00.

It's 10:15.

No one's arrived.

[birds chirping]

♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

Dick: In the heart of rural France lies the 500-year-old

Chateau de Lalande, and the current lady of the manor is

Stephanie Jarvis from Suffolk.

There's 17 bedrooms.

I think we have 13 bathrooms.

♪ ♪

Dick: Located 200 miles south of Paris,

she bought it 12 years ago,

but there is still tons of work to do.

I just imagine all the rooms finished.

That's my real dream.

Everything beautiful, really lovey furniture.

It's really never-ending.

♪ ♪

Dick: The reason it's taking so long is simple,

as Stephanie's mom, Isabel, who stays here from time to time,

can explain.

We can't afford the work.

It is so expensive.

There are always things to be done.

Things need replacing, and we haven't got the money.

Simple as that.

♪ ♪

Dick: Stephanie already runs musical workshops and hands

out some of the rooms as a B&B to bring in cash,

but it's not enough.

So after a successful trial, she's putting on her first

single's event in four weeks' time.

♪ ♪

I'm really hoping that we can make some money with this,

because the chateau's got to find constant new ways

to pay for itself.

Dick: When the guests first arrive, she wants to lay out

a relaxed picnic on the lawn in front of

the 19th century chapel.

But she wants a circle of romantic rose bushes

to surround it.

So this morning, she's hired a digger to help her plant them.

Unfortunately, she's still asleep.

Today, Stephanie has got so much on.

The digger is only here for one day, so we are in deep trouble.

♪ ♪

Stephanie, oh, come on, darling, you must get up.

You must get up; you have so much to do.

- And it's a beautiful day. - [Stephanie groans]

You're going to love it.

♪ ♪

Stephanie: What time is?

You've got machinery coming at half-past 10:00,

and it is nearly 10:00.

Your tea's there, darling.

♪ ♪

I told her the wrong time.

It's actually half-past 9:00.

Little lie, very little lie.

♪ ♪

Dick: Finally awake, she turns her attention to the rose circle

she calls her midnight garden.

I'm going to try to make a midnight garden around the

chapel, so that in the middle of the night, it's just white

flowers which will reflect the moonlight, and we can go and

have wine there in summer.

That's the plan anyway.

But the first step is getting a hedge in, and I can't work out

exactly where to put it or how to do that,

but that's today's job.

And somehow, my brilliant organization, as always,

means that I have to do all of this--planning, digging,

planting--in a single day.

♪ ♪

Dick: Stephanie aims to dig a circular trench for 120 plants,

but she's never done anything like this before.

Stephanie: And then inside here, I can do the white garden,

which will be closed off a bit in the moonlight.

But because it's on a slope, the chapel will still be visible

from every area of the garden, even if the hedge gets high.

Having no idea what can be accomplished with a digger,

I have no idea whether we can get this done today.

I really don't know.

Can a digger dig one hole in a day?

Can it dig millions and millions of trenches?

I have no idea.

We'll find out.

♪ ♪

Dick: The digger's got to be returned by the end of the day,

so she's got her work cut out.

How hard can it be?

Dick: Fortunately, her friend James, who's been visiting from

London, is on hand to help.

Oh, word, this is unbelievable.

- Oh, look at that! - James: Look at the skill.

Stephanie: Somehow, I don't think it's going to look like

that when we do it.

I'm going to go and put my overalls on,

and I'm coming straight back.

♪ ♪

It's not every day we have a digger to play with.

Right, ready.

♪ ♪

Dick: Stephanie and James use a cable to mark out the line of

the trench they're hoping to dig.

It's an oval!

We're looking--it's an oval, so there's no point in doing it

as a circle.

Dick: But they've got to be extremely careful

where they dig.

How far out, Steph?

Stephanie: To about here, I think.

We can start turning here.

Like that.

Dick: Buried somewhere beneath the lawn are 400 metres of

geothermal piping to supply the chateau with its heating

and hot water.

Well, we have to be careful not to hit the geothermal pipes.

We think that they're a little bit off to the side,

slightly to the left.

In fact, that is pretty much where we're going to be digging.

Dick: Striking into the pipes with a digger blade would prove

to be a very expensive mistake.

♪ ♪

It's hard to be gentle with a digger.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at mine and Angel's place in the Pays de la Loire,

we're helping fellow chateau owners Tim and Margreeth

with some business ideas.

Angel's showing Margreeth around the chateau

as they talk about our wedding business.

- You do all the food? - Angel: Yes.

Dick mans that, and I man the front of house.

- That sort of thing. - OK.

♪ ♪

Dick: Meanwhile, I've taken Tim and his son, Joe,

outside to show them my pride and joy.

This is an old heating oil container that we found

in one of the buildings.

Tim: OK.

It's an old heating oil container, and it's been turned

into our pig roaster.

Tim: Wow.

Dick: I love this bit of kit.

It's a cheap and easy way to roast a pig,

and our guests love it too.

I did a spit roast last weekend, actually on this, for one of the

pigs for a wedding--

Tim: Right.

--and I put wood in it at 9:00 in the morning--

Tim: Yes.

--put the pig in at about 10:00--

Tim: Right.

--and it burnt for the six hours it took to cook it,

without adding any more wood.

Tim: You're not turning it all the time?

- Dick: No, no, no. - Tim: OK.

Dick: Maybe once every 20 minutes.

We've only got the wheel on the end--

Tim: Yeah.

--so you'll see the little sort of reflector on it.

Tim: Yeah.

What happens is at 12:00--on the hour, it's at the top,

then it's at the quarter past, then half past,

three-quarter past, and three or four times an hour,

we come up and we move it along.

And we can always tell when it was last turned because there's

an indicator on it.

And the wheel, a euro in a charity shop.

Yeah, it's a lovely system.

It's very, very simple.

I love it.

I think it's a--it's a brilliant idea.

Well, it has to be said, the man's a bit of a genius

when it comes to this sort of stuff.

It's amazing, isn't it?

It's so inspiring.

♪ ♪

Tim: Excellent thing.

Wow, great.

Dick: In the chateau, hopefully Margreeth's feeling inspired

with a tour of our wedding suites.

So this a botanical suite, and it's one bathroom, two bedrooms.

Dick: Compared to Margreeth's five B&B rooms and two gîtes,

we offer just three suites for the bride and groom

and close guests.

The rest of the wedding party stay in the nearby town.

So this is the second room, and, you know, it's quite simple in

its form, but--

Margreeth: Yeah, very nice.

Dick: Our plan was to focus on pampering fewer guests,

so they have a more decadent stay.

Does the price depend on how many people are there

in the party?

Yes, absolutely.

So when we say "package," it's not a package,

because every wedding is different.

Margreeth: Hmm.

On average, a Friday evening drinks, then it would be the

main day of the wedding, and then something afterwards,

like a brunchy thing.

Around £20,000.

But that's a real ballpark figure.

Hmm, mm hmm.

We could probably charge more, if I'm honest with you,

because actually, I know that that is what you pay in the U.K.

for one day.

Margreeth: Mm hmm, and now they're getting this.

Dick: With the rooms that Tim and Margreeth have,

they could easily offer a similar package.

So this--this is the honeymoon suite.

Oh, it's lovely.

♪ ♪

Here's the bathroom.

Take a seat, madame.

- [Angel laughs] - Margreeth: Oh, very nice.

Oh, this is fantastic.

Oh, and the bubbles next to it.

Angel: Yeah.

Margreeth: Life doesn't get better than this, Angel.

Angel: I mean--[laughs]--

Margreeth: I think I have to get married again, actually.

I hope that, you know, your visit has--has been sort of

worthwhile for you coming.

Margreeth: Oh, definitely.

- It's really inspiring. - Angel: Mm hmm.

So it's really nice to see what you do.

You just--you've got to make money,

and you've got to enjoy it.

If you do work and you don't enjoy it, it's not worth the

money, is it?

Angel: No, no, I totally agree with that.

No, you have to love what you do.

♪ ♪

Dick: I think Angel and I have really given Margreeth and Tim

some food for thought.

- Angel: Here they are, hello. - Margreeth: Yeah, our men.

Wow, picking flowers for me.

Thank you, sweetie.

Dick: Come back here--

Margreeth: So how did you guys get on?

Tim: Lots of talking.

Angel: Oh yeah, lots of talking?

Oh yeah.

Well, that was great.

I really enjoyed--I've had a wonderful, wonderful time.

Margreeth: Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Tim: Bye guys! - Dick: Drive carefully!

Tim: Bye-bye.

Dick: Tim and Margreeth leave with plenty to think about.

♪ ♪

Tim: That was great, wasn't it?

- So inspiring. - Tim: Brilliant.

I really have got, you know, a whole new idea of how I would

like to set up the company and the changes I would like to

make.

Tim: We've got so many things we could do, you know?

- Yeah, it's quite inspiring. - Margreeth: Yeah.

Tim: Yeah, I can really see this being a sort of turning point,

you know?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: Back at Chateau Saint-Ferriol,

Sophie and James' fundraising event, a history talk,

is getting off to a slow start.

We're hoping to raise funds that will pay for the roof.

Dick: Visitors can come just for the day and the talk.

If they just want to come in for the day, it's 10 euros.

On top of that, they can sign up to have lunch.

Dick: Or they can become members

of the Friends of Saint-Ferriol Association.

So we've got an association that raises money for the chateau,

and that money goes directly into the renovation works.

Dick: In return for a membership fee, members get a bi-yearly

newsletter and get free access to events and an annual party at

the chateau.

Sophie: If they want to become members for the year,

it's 25 euros.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Sophie hopes to sign up some new members today.

Finally, some potential recruits start to arrive.

- James: Morning. - Good to see you.

Muah, muah.

Dick: And the cash starts to trickle in.

Sophie: There we are.

Got it, great.

You're staying for the whole day?

- Woman 1: Yeah. - Sophie: Great.

- Thank you. - Woman 1: Thank you!

Woman 2: Got the message.

So that will actually be 30--35, plus 30 euros.

45 euros.

- What did you say, 75 euros? - Sophie: Let's write this down.

Dick: With arrivals continuing, James' target of 30 paying

guests is looking feasible.

So I think we should just about fill the seats.

Dick: Meanwhile, Sophie's leading the drive to sign up

more members for the association.

- This is yours, Sophie? - Me and James, yeah.

Woman: Lovely.

This is all done with local cedar.

So, we're very lucky to have all the original raw materials here.

And so the way we renovate is that although the forests would

have been completely different here in the 16th century,

they would have used the local wood--

Woman: Mm hmm.

--so we're kind of copying the spirit.

If you're staying for the talk and for the lunch--

Woman: Yes.

--then--it will then be 50 euros, both of you.

Woman: That's great, thank you.

There we are, so I got that.

Thank you.

♪ ♪

Dick: With the seats filled, it's showtime

for history buff James.

James: Well, good morning, everyone.

For those who don't know me, I'm James McDonald.

I'm going to be talking this morning about the Cathars.

Dick: Whilst the headliner gets underway,

Sophie needs to get on with that lunch.

♪ ♪

Sophie: There's a lot to do while the talk is being done.

You're always working right up to the last minute.

This is the fist time, though, that we've made a concerted

effort to raise money for a particular project.

I do go into a sort of a white panic on the day.

[chuckles]

Broadly, the Cathars are enormously powerful

in this region by 1200.

♪ ♪

Dick: The only snag is that James' talk is unscripted,

so Sophie and son Gwin don't know exactly when it's going to

finish.

I'm flagellating myself now about not having done this

last night.

This is the lovely, lovely cheese.

- [glass smashes] - Sophie: Oops.

Sorry, Gwin.

You all right?

It's a sodding mess.

Last-minute drive.

James: The Cathars were dualists.

They believed in two creations, as it were.

There's a good one and a bad one.

♪ ♪

Dick: With James' talk approaching its climax--

I'm afraid I've gone on too long again.

Dick:--Sophie's worried she's not going to be ready.

Trying not to panic now.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at Chateau de Lalande:

Stephanie's friend James has made a start in digging

the trench for the rose circle in front of her chapel,

and is already feeling the pressure.

I've gotta be done with this in two-and-a-half--2 hours now.

Flight at 7:00 p.m. in Paris.

If I don't get this done in the next two hours,

she'll be doing the rest of the digging.

Dick: They've got to work fast.

So while James digs, Stephanie and her mom follow behind with

the plants.

We just grab plants, place in hole, put our favourite,

water plant.

This is about as complex as my gardening skills get.

♪ ♪

Isabel: This is ridiculous in these old slippers, isn't it?

Stephanie: Maybe boots, Mommy?

Isabel: Yes.

Dick: James needs to be careful where he digs because somewhere

close by are the chateau's geothermal pipes.

There are four boreholes and a closed circuit--pipes going down

into the ground with water, which heats up, comes back,

and then heats the house and underfloor heating

and radiators.

♪ ♪

Dick: After an hour, it seems like James has finally got the

hang of operating the digger.

I think that's good actually to where you are to where this is.

- James: So, there? - Yeah.

I love the fact you can point with a digger now.

♪ ♪

Dick: But in his rush to get the job done before this flight,

he struck something underground.

James: Steph?

We've hit the security thing telling us that we're getting

close to the pipes, but we didn't even notice that we were

hitting it, and we don't know where we hit it, and we hope we

haven't hit the pipe underneath.

♪ ♪

Dick: It's warning mesh, usually laid above important pipes or

cables to alert anyone who's digging nearby.

It means the digger must have been inches away from the

geothermal pipes.

Isabel: Oh well, not to worry.

We didn't go beyond it.

Dick: That was a pretty close shave.

And now James has made a sharp exit to the airport;

it's Stephanie's turn to get behind the controls.

♪ ♪

Stephanie: Years and years of me playing computer games that you

complained about, it's all coming together now.

World of Warcraft.

I have never played computer game.

I don't think I could do the digger.

I think it's beyond my finger capabilities.

Dick: Stephanie's done so well she still has one more hour

before the digger is collected, so she heads over to the

vegetable garden where she also plans to plant some roses.

Isabel: Just skim the top.

Stephanie: Easier said than done.

Yes, I'm sure.

♪ ♪

Isabel: Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going with it?

Just try to skim.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

Isabel: It would be interesting to see what a professional would

make of that job.

♪ ♪

Dick: Not bad at all, if you ask me.

♪ ♪

Stephanie: I love mini diggers!

♪ ♪

Dick: The only problem now is the roses Stephanie's bought.

She got them cheap in an online deal, and Isabel doesn't think

they're up to scratch.

These are very poor qualities.

You should have--at least have three spurs on a rose.

Stephanie: They don't look very perky.

Isabel: Some of them look dead to me.

They're very poor specimens.

Anyway, we wish them well.

Dick: Ideally, the roses should have been planted earlier in the

year, so we'll have to wait and see if some will bloom in time

for the big single's weekend.

Stephanie: I can't believe we got this done.

I'm really pleased.

But I'm also really tired.

- That's it, Mommy! - Isabel: Yeah?

We're done!

- We're done, we're done! - Isabel: OK!

OK, OK, OK, OK, OK!

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: 320 miles away at Chateau Saint-Ferriol,

Sophie's rushing to get lunch for 30 on the table

before James' historical lecture ends.

[woman asking question]

James: Yes, and also known "Cathar Perfect" was burned

in 1321.

Dick: James' talk has gone down a storm.

- Woman: Thank you! - [applause]

We just heard the clapping, so they'll be out any second.

- Oh, wow. - There we are.

♪ ♪

Dick: Sophie's got lunch served in the nick of time,

and James is earning rave reviews.

I thought the talk was marvellous.

I thought it put the whole lot of the Cathar history

in perspective.

That was absolutely fascinating, and it just makes you wanna

learn more.

Dick: The aim of event is to raise money towards fixing the

chateau's roof.

Thank you, everybody, so much for coming,

and we're really glad that you've been so enthusiastic,

and had a great time.

♪ ♪

Dick: Sophie's making a final pitch for more of the guests to

join their association.

Sophie: If you become a day member today, you can pay an

additional to pay the year membership which is 15,

another 15.

It's 25 a year.

And then we will make the tour for you very soon, and have a

guided visit of the chateau which we give to every member.

Dick: And she's successful.

- So that's an additional 15. - That's great.

- I hope you have some change. - Thank you.

I do, yeah.

♪ ♪

Sophie: We had people who signed up for the day membership,

and at the end, after the talk, came back and signed up for

the full membership.

We joined today because I think it's great to be able to assist

people to do this sort of work.

It's quite inspiring, and I don't mind assisting at all.

The fact they've taken on the task of renovating it

is unbelievable, and I can't even begin to imagine how much

it must be costing.

Woman: So lovely to have met you.

Thank you for today.

Sophie: Hopefully we'll see you again.

Dick: Not everyone signed up.

Sophie: Thanks very much for coming.

Did you enjoy it?

Man: I enjoyed seeing the chateau.

Sophie: OK, well then you must come back for a visit, yeah?

[man chuckles]

I won't come back.

I've seen it.

Sophie: Oh, you've seen it, OK.

Mind your head.

- I love the chateaux. - Sophie: Careful.

Careful, careful.

Dick: But they all had a brilliant time.

Everybody seems to have learned something,

and so they've gone off happy.

- Sophie: Bye. - Woman: Bye!

Man: Thank you, bye-bye.

Now I'm just ready to collapse.

Can't wait to get my feet up.

I'm shattered.

Dick: The events raised 470 euros for James and Sophie's

roof repair.

So we have a tiny bit more money in the pot.

Dick: It's great, but not good enough.

The roof repair will cost double that.

But they've got another event planned: a history tour.

There's a bit of travelling to get there, and fairly remote,

so there's--there's walking.

♪ ♪

And it's gonna be hard work.

Dick: I hope they can raise the funds before the bad weather

sets in.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

[thunder rumbles]

Dick: Trying to renovate, maintain, or run your chateau as

a business in France is guaranteed at some point to fall

foul of the weather.

And during the winter months, weather-related problems

increase.

♪ ♪

Dick: At our place in the Pays de la Loire,

a winter storm blew the children's trampoline into the

moat, and before I had a chance to fish it out, it froze over.

The moat's been frozen for two weeks now.

The ice is getting thicker.

[laughs]

It's ridiculous.

It gives me the opportunity to attach some ropes to it,

so when it defrosts, I should be able to lift the trampoline out

of the moat.

That's the theory.

♪ ♪

- Dick: Hello darling! - Dorothy: Hello!

Angel: You're gonna help Daddy get it out?

- It's a bit heavy for me. - Yeah.

Dick: Who should go on to the moat and tie on to the

trampoline: Mommy or Daddy?

- Dorothy: Um, Daddy. - Me?

Not Mommy, are you sure?

Right.

♪ ♪

Dick: Luckily, it's just a step over on to the trampoline.

I won't risk stepping on the ice.

That's dangerous, children.

Dorothy, I need Mommy to get me the green rope.

Angel: Do you want me to chuck these to you?

Dick: Yeah, hold on.

I feel a bit under pressure here.

Dick: The plan is to attach the rope to four points on the

trampoline and via a pulley to the tow bar on my car.

- Whoa! - Angel: Oh, fetch.

I feel like we're on one of those game shows where I'm just

chucking different challenges at you.

Dick: You're getting good at this, aren't ya?

Ouch!

This bit here--this side of this one.

Are you having fun, Dotty?

- Dorothy: No. - Angel: No.

♪ ♪

- [ice cracking] - Dick: Oh.

Right, we're going a bit deeper here which is probably not a

good sign.

Angel: The ship is sinking.

- Dorothy: Careful, Daddy! - Daddy's brave, isn't he?

♪ ♪

Dick: Yay, back on dry land!

When it defrosts, that's the important part.

Yeah, we'll be able to lift it up, but we have to swing it up

and over to here.

We get our trampoline back.

Otherwise, my name will be dirt with Arthur.

Hopefully it won't be too hard to get it out once the ice has

melted.

We'll just grab the pit--grab the rope and bits and pieces

and bring them over here.

It's two weeks since I attached the ropes to the children's

trampoline after it was blown into the moat.

The ice has thawed, and today, with the help of my mate Johnny,

we're going to pull it out.

Hopefully.

Just drop it over there.

Right.

When it was frozen, you would have loved it,

because it was sort of yea thick.

- It was good. - So it held you?

- [laughter] - Cheeky [bleep].

Right!

Yes, it held me!

- It did crack actually, but-- - Johnny: Did it?

Dick: We have got four connections,

four different points on there.

Johnny: Yeah.

Dick: They take about a tonne each; they should be strong

enough.

So I'm thinking if we make an A-frame, we'll say we get the

A-frame to lift, so instead of just dragging it sideways,

it's lifting it up as well.

And we're just bouncing ideas around?

- No. - Bouncing ideas?

Dick: Don't start.

- I will slap you. - Johnny: Come on!

That's a good joke!

Dick: I'm not sure Johnny's taking this as seriously

as he should.

We're talking meticulous planning and engineering here.

I have here in the moat our trampoline.

To get it out, I've attached some ropes to it.

But if I was to just pull it over this direction,

I'd trash it on the bank.

Consequently, it needs to be lifted up in the air.

[drilling]

Dick: I'm going to put an A-frame.

It's gonna be an A-frame--it's a little A-shaped piece of wood.

Here you have little braces in the middle of it.

And a pulley.

Johnny: That goes there like that, OK.

[men groan]

♪ ♪

I'm going to attach a rope to the straps I've attached.

It's gonna come from here, and it's gonna go down.

And over on this side, it's going to be attached

to the tow hook of the car.

[men groan]

Angel: Come on!

Dick: If I get this right, it'll be lifted up.

As it comes up, this is where the trampoline will end up,

'cause this will now be moved up to this position.

[engine turns over]

♪ ♪

What could possibly go wrong?

So let's put the theory into practice.

First, we need to pull the A-frame up which in turn lifts

the trampoline up.

Go to the van.

- Go to the van, Johnny. - Johnny: OK.

Go to the van.

Right.

♪ ♪

Dick: Let's go forward, Johnny.

Forward slowly.

Forward slowly.

Forward.

Forward.

Forward.

Forward.

Stop!

Success!

Now we need to pull the trampoline in with the other

rope through the pulley.

That's a great job, Johnny!

Right.

What we want is another car.

But as I try to fix the rope to another vehicle--

Oh dear!

--I accidentally drop it.

That's a bummer!

♪ ♪

Dick: What a numpty.

♪ ♪

Dick: Back in Picardie, it's been three weeks

since Tim and Margreeth visited Angel and I,

and there's change afoot.

They've made some bold decisions about their business.

Dick and Angel, it was their idea, wasn't it?

They said we should do this, so, you know--

- They gave us the push. - Yeah.

So, we've decided to totally change the way that we do

things.

Up until now, for the last four years when we've been here,

we've always had, in a way, three separate companies.

We do the rooms, we do the self-catering units,

and we do other parties and that costs a lot of energy.

And in a way, after talking to Angel, I realize it would be

better to just try and focus on one thing, to do the weddings,

so to specialize in the weddings.

And the idea is to offer a full package, but it will be totally

customized.

Dick: They've certainly got a great venue here.

Margreeth: Anything is possible.

Tim: Yeah.

We've got the outside space; we've got the indoor space.

So if people have this image of how they want it to look to try

and create that for them.

I'm really, really looking forward to that.

Tim: Absolutely, yeah.

Dick: As long as they've got their business head screwed on,

and watch the pennies, there's every chance it will be a great

success.

From an economic point of view, I mean, this is ideal for us,

because in one weekend, we can do as much money then as we

could do probably in two weekends we're doing in the

moment, and it's a lot more fun.

Dick: But they're not making a totally clean break.

I think what's going to happen is there's going to be some sort

of transition period while we carry on with our business

as is.

And we can incorporate weddings whenever we've got free days.

Dick: And they still hope to lease their gîtes and the

co-ownership scheme.

There is a chance, of course, this could be the symbiosis,

where the weddings--people come and they have their wedding

and they get this like emotional attachment to the place,

and they might want to buy a bit of it.

I mean, why not?

It's a great thing to do.

I mean, there is reason for cautious optimism.

Dick: Anything's possible.

Although, they are saying goodbye to the caravan park.

Margreeth: Because we are going to focus on the weddings

and setting that totally up,

means that the whole plan that we had of changing this bit of

our forest into a caravan park has totally gone

out of the window.

Although, we're still doing up the caravan;

we're actually just doing it for us now--

Tim: Yeah, and we'll have friends stay in it and stuff,

you know?

Yeah, and we'll be using it ourselves.

Tim: Yeah, exactly.

And we're just very happy with it.

Yeah, it's going to be great, to be honest.

A little sort of--a little hideaway in the woods, isn't it,

I guess?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: Sounds like they've got it all figured out.

And in the week since they've been to our place,

they've wasted no time.

We've got, I think, six weddings on the books at the moment.

Dick: Good work, guys.

So today, Tim is making a start on getting the place fit for a

bride and groom, and he has an idea for the remains of a large

tree that was damaged in a storm a while back.

♪ ♪

Tim: My mate suggested to me that we could use this as a

wedding seat, and actually, he's on to something there.

You know, a bit of ivy.

There's not much work to do here.

You could just--you've got a nice little bower to sort of sit

underneath, and you've got the chateau in the background.

That will be a great photo moment, would it not?

And I've just got to convince my wife of that.

It is absolutely gorgeous in the summer.

There's all these red flowers come out.

[chainsaw rattling]

There's three branches, and I'm gonna try and cut away two of

them and leave one to grow up and I hope he's gonna survive.

♪ ♪

Margreeth: So, it's looking very different, Tim.

Tim: Uh huh.

Yeah, what do you think?

Margreeth: It's not a tree anymore, let's face it.

Tim: I quite like it.

We have got an incredible photo opportunity there

when--especially when it's in bloom--

Margreeth: Yeah.

Tim:--because it is a lovely thing.

Margreeth: That would look lovely.

- Tim: Yeah. - I do have to say--

And if I was getting married and I sat on that tree with the

chateau in the background, that would be a great wedding photo.

Margreeth: Yeah.

Dick: Margreeth isn't totally convinced.

Margreeth: I think the whole thing is really nice for

photographs, but--

Yes.

- It's not a tree, is it? - --it's not a tree.

For the rest, it's just a weird thing in the middle of our lawn.

I quite like it, actually.

I quite like things not being, you know--

You know, Tim is very sentimental.

He can never get rid of things.

- No. - So, he will defend--

- That's why you're still here. - Exactly.

He will defend that tree till it totally falls apart.

♪ ♪

Dick: One thing's for sure:

They need to get a move on, because there's plenty to do

to get their new wedding business up and running.

Including the photos for their new website.

Before the photographer comes--

Yeah.

--July, you need to get rid of that willow, I'm sorry.

Tim: Yeah.

Dick: We'll see how their plan goes next time.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: About 200 miles southwest of Tim and Margreeth,

at our place, we're repairing the A-frame after it collapsed

while we were trying to recover the trampoline.

It's fell quite hard.

One of the bits of wood cracked.

I can't let the children down though.

I've got to get this out today whilst Johnny's here to help.

So we're doing a splint.

When that's splinted up--we've got it almost right.

We've got it so it--it comes out of the moat; we just haven't got

it out of the moat completely.

So to do that, we are going for a two-car system.

[chuckles]

The van's going to--when we get it upright, the van is then

going to be used to bring the A-frame up, and then I'm going

to put my car with a tow hook to put on to the rope

pulling the pulley.

And between the two of us...

[drilling]

[chuckles]

At this stage, I'm not 100% sure what's going to happen,

but with a bit of luck, we'll be in the dark,

so nobody will know.

♪ ♪

Come back.

OK, let's try that.

Pull it this way.

[men grunt]

Dick: OK, good.

[men grunt]

♪ ♪

- Dick: Drive. - Johnny: Drive.

Dick: Right, keep going forward!

Forward!

Forward!

Steady, steady, steady--forward!

Stop!

OK, Johnny, you're the anchor!

Hello, family!

Let's see what happens!

[Angel and Arthur cheering]

♪ ♪

Dick: Go, go, go!

One more, one more!

Angel: Come on!

[Johnny yelling]

[Angel cheering]

♪ ♪

- Dick: Yay! - [men applaud]

- [men laugh] - Dick: Got it!

Hope my children appreciate the nightmare we went through

rescuing their trampoline.

So here's what we do, is we just leave everything where it is.

No wind forecast for tonight.

- [Johnny laughs] - Dick: Let's get a beer.

I think--you deserve a beer for that?

- Johnny: Yeah, yeah. - Dick: Yeah, I think you do.

Absolutely.

♪ ♪

Dick: Next time:

With winter and bad weather approaching--

And there are leaks there, there, there, there.

Dick:--James and Sophie are on a race against time

to fix their roof.

There's no question, this work has to be done.

Dick: But their attempt to raise the funds to pay for it faces

bad weather of its own.

James: So now it really is over.

There's no point carrying on.

Dick: Tim and Margreeth embark on a new business plan

at their chateau.

We should have done this years ago; we just never figured out

how to.

Dick: And as Stephanie prepares to put on a weekend of

fun and games--

Do you think that looks appetizing for the ice cream?

[laughs]

Dick:--things don't go to plan.

Stephanie: Catastrophe has struck.

One of the girls didn't make it on to the aeroplane.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪