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.

[laughing]

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.

- [floor cracks] - Tim: Oops.

Floor needs replacing as well.

[laughs]

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

bought a French chateau.

How is your hand?

Don't worry, I've got another one.

Wow, absolutely love it.

Jonathan: 25-year-old Bordeaux.

Motherlode!

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

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--

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, this place is done up.

--as they face the ups--

It's really beautiful.

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

Dick:--and downs--

It's a lot worse than it looks.

Dick:--of their new lives in these crumbling

and magnificent buildings.

Billy: It is a bit fancy, living in a French chateau.

We might have a few problems on the way, but that's part of

life, isn't it?

- [chuckles] - Yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today:

With winter and bad weather approaching--

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

Dick:--one chateau is in a race against time to fix its roof.

That water is gonna rot the woodwork.

And so eventually, the floor's gonna get give away.

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

Dick: But an 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: One chateau couple embark on a new business plan--

Should have done this years ago; we just never figured out

how to.

Dick:--which brings some pleasant surprises.

It's really tender; it's caramelized;

it falls off the bone.

Mm.

I might not share it with you.

Dick: And as one woman prepares to put on a weekend of fun and

games at her chateau--

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.

- Mama? - Isabel: Oui?

We have a bit of a girl situation.

Charlie's missed her flight.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I'm Dick Strawbridge, engineer and former lieutenant-colonel

in the British Army.

With my wife Angel, we've been renovating our chateau into a

home and business.

♪ ♪

This is my calling in my life.

Dick: It's not been easy.

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

♪ ♪

Dick: So, we can certainly relate to other chateau owners

struggling to make their businesses work.

♪ ♪

Dick: 220 miles northeast of us sits Chateau des Lys.

For me, I must admit it's a combination of, you know,

The Addams Family and sort of, you know, Fawlty Towers.

- Margreeth: Yeah. - Tim: And it's gorgeous.

It's completely lovely.

Dick: It's owned by Brit Tim and his Dutch wife Margreeth.

We sort of met each other in Holland about 25 years ago,

I think.

Something like--25 years ago?

- Margreeth: 26 already. - 26, is it?

- Margreeth: Yeah. - OK.

- [exhales] - [Margreeth chuckles]

I used to be a musician, and she was a teacher.

Dick: They gave up everything for this place when they bought

it in 2013.

I said goodbye to the band.

I sort of told them I was going to leave, and they got someone

else in.

- And I quit my job. - Yeah.

♪ ♪

Dick: They've been running this place as a B&B,

but it hasn't been making them enough money,

so they visited Angel and I at our place for some advice.

- Angel: Hi! - Hey.

- Dick: Lovely to meet you. - Angel: How are you?

Dick: And now they've decided to start putting on weddings at

their chateau.

Tim: Should have done this years ago; we just never figured out

how to.

I feel very optimistic about it.

I think the preparations of the weddings will be a lot of fun.

Tim: Oh, absolutely, yeah.

And the weddings themselves, of course, are gonna be amazing to

be a part of.

A different sort of work.

- It's far more creative. - Margreeth: Yeah.

And it's far more--it's making people happy.

♪ ♪

Dick: Located just an hour's drive from Calais

in the Picardie region--

--they think their chateau will appeal to Brits

looking for something special.

You don't need a whole day's driving.

Tim: Yeah.

In a few hours, you can be here.

So, it makes it quite a perfect wedding venue, I think.

Tim: Yeah, I think so too.

We're looking into offering a real package deal, so the people

just have to turn up and get married and be happy.

Tim: Yeah.

And it's gonna be totally customized to how they see their

perfect day.

♪ ♪

Dick: That takes a lot of work, so Tim and Margreeth have a busy

weekend planned, meeting the suppliers and setting up their

new business.

And if it wasn't enough, there's a big party planned

for Tim tomorrow.

Margreeth: We organize a weekend just for our friends.

You know, cooking together, eating together,

drinking together.

Tim: Yeah, yeah.

You know, when you have a normal house, you never have a chance

to do that.

Both: Bonjour.

Dick: So there's a lot to get done today.

First, they're meeting with potential florist Jessica Flay

who could supply the flowers for the weddings.

No.

Dick: It's essential that Tim and Margreeth get reliable local

suppliers on board.

Dick: We are very aware that every couple has individual

ideas.

Margreeth needs just to be flexible when it comes to

styling the arrangements.

Dick: It looks like they secured a supplier who's on board with

their ideas.

- Margreeth: Merci. - Jessica: Merci.

[all speaking French]

♪ ♪

I think it's gonna be a really, really nice co-operation

with her.

Yeah, she's great.

Dick: Next on the agenda:

Sorting a caterer to do the wedding food.

♪ ♪

- Christopher: Bonjour. - Margreeth: Ça va?

- Christopher: Trés bien. - Tim: Bonjour.

Dick: They've driven just seven miles up the road to the

500-year-old L'Etoile du Jour restaurant for a menu tasting

with the owner Christopher.

Christopher: We use fresh product, and we work with local

producers.

I think it's really good that you're using the regional

products and regional recipes, because I think that's exactly

what people that have an English wedding in France

are looking for.

♪ ♪

Dick: Fingers crossed the food lives up to expectations.

The starter:

A classic French tureen, followed by a local crab dish.

Problem is Margreeth's a vegetarian.

Margreeth: It looks very pretty.

- It looks really, really nice. - Tim: Mm.

This is delicious.

Really lovely.

- Thank you, sir. - Man: You're welcome.

Tim: Thank you.

Well, this is lovely, isn't it?

Margreeth: It's amazing.

I mean, I feel very spoiled.

- I mean--yeah. - Margreeth: You are spoiled.

Tim: I am.

And you're so lucky that I'm a vegetarian.

I am.

Dick: Now the main course:

Lamb shank.

Poor Margreeth.

♪ ♪

It's really tender; it's caramelized;

falls off the bone.

Flavour's fantastic.

Gravy matches it.

I mean, you don't get any better than this.

It's great.

Dick: We get it, Tim.

It's delicious.

Luckily, dessert is something Margreeth can sink her teeth

into.

The dessert.

- It's a tout chocolat cake. - Aw.

Well, I'm going to give this to my wife because she hasn't had

anything to eat yet, and then whatever she doesn't eat,

I'm going to eat.

Margreeth: I'll just have a little bit to try.

Tim: Yes, I'll hand if off, so you--

Mm.

I might not share it with you.

I don't think you're going to like it.

Tim: I think I might.

I sorta wanna--I'm wanna learn how to--

I mean, chocolate cake.

You're not really into chocolate cake.

♪ ♪

Dick: Looks like they enjoyed it.

Will these guys be their wedding caterers?

Tim: Well, that was absolutely fantastic.

It's the beginning of a good Samaritan relationship--

- Christopher: Definitely. - Tim:--will hopefully endure.

Dick: They're in business.

♪ ♪

Margreeth: So that was really nice.

- Yeah, it went well. - Margreeth: Really nice guy.

Tim: Yeah, really nice guy.

Margreeth: Really looking forward to working with him.

Dick: It's been a successful day so far, but there's still a lot

more to cram in before they can get on with preparing for Tim's

birthday party tomorrow.

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

Dick: A nine-and-a-half hour drive directory south of

Tim and Margreeth is the 16th century medieval castle of

Chateau Saint-Ferriol, home to Sophie and James McDonald.

Sophie: It does take up more of your life than you might

sometimes wish, but it's such a beautiful place.

You do have a sort of a protective feeling about it.

James: It looks a bit of a ruin now.

20 years ago, it was a complete ruin.

We'd love to see this place fully restored,

and we think we're about halfway through.

Dick: Set in the Languedoc region of France, just 25 miles

north of the Pyrenees, they're gradually restoring the 30-room

castle to its former glory.

Sophie: It's financial suicide.

We are completely crazy.

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

[chuckles]

Dick: To pay for the work, Sophie and James hold

fundraising events through their association:

The Friends of Saint-Ferriol.

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

Woman: Yes.

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

Woman: OK, that's great.

- [birds chirping] - [dogs barking]

Dick: But this year, all other restoration is on hold,

as the roof repair has become particularly urgent.

James: We've been through, and we made a little plan of where

all the weaknesses are and where the tiles need replacing.

And there are leaks there, there, there.

There, there, there--there, there.

And one there.

Dick: Oh dear.

There are two things that we could do:

One is to properly replace the whole of the roof and the top

floor, but we're not in a position to do that,

because we're talking about easily half-a-million

to do that.

Of course sometimes we're not here when it rains.

The water can come through, not just to the second floor,

but the floor below.

And eventually, that water is gonna rot the woodwork,

and so eventually, the floors are gonna give away.

And so in the meantime, what we have to do is repair.

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

♪ ♪

Dick: This morning, roofer Dale has arrived to inspect the scale

of the damage.

Dale: So basically what is it you're looking to do?

Do you just want to stop the leaks, or do you know--

Sophie: We've got quite a few leaks coming in.

And you can see where they are 'cause there's either a bucket

or there's rot--look, there's a couple of full buckets

over there.

Dale: Yeah.

Where we've got a major leak, the old tiles here,

they slide down, so you get water coming in from the top

which will run down here, and it's just eating away

at--at the wood.

And then in the long run, if you was to leave that,

that is a fragile part of the roof.

If that beam there collapses, it gives away there,

then you're looking at serious problems.

♪ ♪

Dick: Dale confirms Sophie and James' worst fears:

It's a big job.

The cost?

£1,000.

They've managed to raise nearly £500 from a talk--

Broadly, the Cathars are enormously powerful.

Dick:--and lunch they threw at the chateau three weeks ago.

But they need the same again and more.

So it's hugely expensive.

Everything doesn't cost 50 quid; it costs a few hundred quid,

so the overheads are huge all the time.

Dick: So, they need to come up with a plan to raise the cash

quickly before the winter season starts.

Sophie: You can really see that that is degenerating.

James: Yeah, yeah.

And if we get some snow...

♪ ♪

Yeah--

--we'll have an unpleasant surprise one morning.

Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: Chateau-de-la-Motte Husson is our home, and we pay for its

upkeep and renovation by putting on special events

and weddings here.

- You may kiss your wife! - [cheers and applause]

Dick: One thing our guests love is my roast pig, cooked on my

very own home-built pig roaster.

♪ ♪

Dick: Today though, I need to transform it into a

chicken rotisserie for an upcoming wedding this weekend.

♪ ♪

Dick: Not everybody wants to have a hog roast,

and our next wedding, they want me to do 24 chickens,

so--actually maybe more than 24, but 24 chickens in here.

I'm not gonna make another roaster, so this has to be

adapted.

Somehow I don't think I'm gonna get 24 chickens on there.

[laughs]

Right.

The actual body of the pig roaster is fine,

so in my workshop, I am going to try and convert the spit that

skewers the pig into four skewers for chickens.

♪ ♪

Dick: The idea is if I slide a chicken along the post,

I put the skewer through one side of the chicken

and out the other side of the chicken and hold in it place,

which means when the actual post turns, so do the chicken.

♪ ♪

Dick: I've only ever roasted pigs in this, and I'm getting

pretty good at that.

I'm hoping this will work just as well for chickens.

I'm thinking this is gonna work.

If it doesn't work, that's gonna be a pain in a butt,

'cause what I'll have to do is just do it again, do more.

But we'll get there.

[laughs]

Angela gets me into these things.

My answer is, "No, you're gonna have a pig."

But no.

♪ ♪

Dick: After grinding and welding late into the evening,

it's finished.

[birds chirping]

Dick: The next day, it's time to test my new chicken rotisserie,

to check if it actually works.

Not long till the wedding, so I'm going to be in trouble if it

doesn't.

Right, here we go.

Oh, oh, oh.

[exhales]

See, it doesn't look too bad.

[laughs]

It looks really tasty.

Now I just gotta lift the whole lot out.

[grunts]

Even--it's a two-man job tomorrow, definitely.

Like I said, they don't look too terrible at all, do they?

Right, knife.

Skewer.

Skewer.

[chuckling]

Oh, juices.

Chickens, just like that.

[birds chirping]

Dick: Mm hmm.

Lookit, this is lovely, moist chicken.

Can you see the moisture on that?

Oopsy daisy, look at that.

That's lovely, moist chicken.

Mm!

Mm.

Jay, come and try some of this!

♪ ♪

Dick: I invite Jay who's been helping around the chateau to

come over and give his verdict on the chicken.

Are you a chicken or--are you a breast or a thigh man?

[laughing]

Yeah.

That looks good, doesn't it?

Wow.

Dick: There's a breast or do you want some thigh meat?

Jay: Yeah, breast will be fine, thanks.

No, be fine or prefer breast?

- Jay: Yeah, prefer. - Dick: Try that.

I don't know why anybody would have breast instead of thigh,

personally.

- Mm! - Dick: All right?

Yeah, it's very nice.

Lovely.

- Nice and succulent. - Dick: Good, good, good.

You see?

♪ ♪

Dick: Phew, it works.

I hope they appreciate my work at the wedding.

As well as doing pigs, we do poultry.

[chuckles]

And to be fair, anything I can tie to it now is gonna be

cooked, so I'm very pleased.

- Thanks very much. - Work harder.

Jay [laughing]: Yeah.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: 330 miles southeast of us, almost bang splat in the centre

of France, sits the 500-year-old Chateau de Lalande.

It was owned by the same family for more than 250 years until it

was sold to Londoner Stephanie Jarvis who now runs it as a B&B.

It's pretty idyllic, being able to go for walks in the

countryside.

And there's a little stream going through the woods which is

really pretty.

And there's wood which is breathtaking.

I really like it.

♪ ♪

Dick: The chateau lies in the Berry region in the heart of

rural France.

And like any chateau, it costs a packet to run.

Stephanie: The upkeep's pretty high.

The main thing is the electricity.

That just hammers us monthly.

That really is expensive.

♪ ♪

Dick: And even though she's done a lot of renovation work,

it's by no means finished.

There's all sorts of things that we want to do

that we need money for.

I don't know if you've seen the list on the blackboard in the

kitchen.

We'd love a swimming pool in the future.

There's all sorts of outbuildings that still need to

be redone.

And bit by bit, I'd like to make them into gîtes and have

everything finished eventually.

It's an endless list.

♪ ♪

Dick: What's more, Stephanie's French mom Isabel wants the huge

lot to be converted into a self-contained apartment

for herself.

Isabel: Perhaps this corner has a bed area, and plenty of

cupboards so I can leave my stuff.

I have too much stuff.

I cannot part with it.

And then that would be the lounge area.

Easy.

♪ ♪

Dick: Yeah, it's easy if you've got a spare 100 grand lying

around, which Stephanie doesn't.

The chateau does bring in some money.

Mainly through workshop, and also through

chambres d'hôtes; B&Bs.

The chambres d'hôtes is working more and more every year.

Dick: But she needs to make more if she wants to carry out those

big projects, so she's trying a new enterprise:

singles weekends.

This weekend, we've got our first-ever Club Lalande,

which is a new thing we're trying which is just for people

to come and have like old-fashioned country house

weekends here.

And we're starting it off with a singles one,

because I think that singles are more likely to actually go

and meet a whole bunch of strangers.

Dick: 12 tickets have been sold for this weekend's event

at £400 a pop.

And later this afternoon, six single guys and six single girls

will arrive at Chateau de Lalande looking to find love.

We're going to really try to do it as it would have been in the

past with big breakfast, picnics on the lawn,

games in the afternoon, a big black tie dinner in the evening.

So, it's--it's all happening now, and it's a first.

No idea how it's gonna go.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

Dick: Stephanie's top priority this morning is preparing the

entertainment.

I'm trying to find things that are just easy and relaxed

and fun.

♪ ♪

Dick: One of the many games planned for the weekend will be

an ice cream tasting competition, so Stephanie is

mixing up some experimental flavours.

She's never done this before.

So I'm making cardamom and vanilla ice cream.

I would never guess that flavour.

This is a huge learning curve.

I haven't made any of these ice creams before,

because it has to be slightly unusual flavours.

But it's fun.

It's fun trying new things.

♪ ♪

Dick: It's not just the entertainment that's keeping her

busy.

Over the next 24 hours, Stephanie's got to sort through

rooms for the guests and prepare their breakfasts, lunches,

and dinners all on her own.

There's no way I could afford a cook.

It would be quite luxurious to have a cook.

But I enjoy it anyway.

The thing is to make sure that I keep on enjoying it,

I keep making new things, and that means that I never

really know what I'm doing, and so I'm just skirting on

the edge of disaster all of the time.

♪ ♪

[machine beeps]

♪ ♪

Well, it's doing something, so we'll just quietly

leave it to get on.

♪ ♪

Dick: Although this lovely chateau has been updated and

modified over the centuries, its oldest wing dates back to about

1490, and it still the hallmarks of its original incarnation as a

defensive fort.

This is a musket hole, so you just have got enough to shoot at

a particular distance.

This would have been a covered walkway for the defenders

and observation post, so it was pretty defensive,

but it was never in a war as such.

That I know of, you know?

♪ ♪

Dick: Back in the kitchen, Stephanie's moved on to her

third ice cream flavour combination of goat's cheese

and honey.

Goat's cheese is definitely this region's cheese.

It looks so yummy.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

Right, clearing up this mess.

I completely forgot the honey.

Do you think I've got completely burnt honey now?

Oops!

We're definitely going to need to do the honey again.

Do you think that looks appetizing for the ice cream?

[laughs]

♪ ♪

OK, take two on the honey.

Dick: Following her setback, mom Isabel decides to step in

and help.

I don't know why you didn't use the mixer?

'Cause I wanted it like this; I wanted it lumpy with bits of--

Isabel: Chunky cheese?

--little bits of goat's cheese in it, yeah.

[phone rings]

Stephanie: Hello?

Dick: It's Charlie, one of the six single female guests coming

for the weekend.

Stephanie: I'm really sorry!

You're OK, though?

Oh, you poor thing!

Poor thing?

Somebody's not coming.

Stephanie: OK, well good luck.

I hope you can find another way.

Catastrophe has struck.

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

- Mama? - Isabel: Oui?

We have a bit of a girl situation.

Charlie's missed her flight.

I'm gonna have to step in to the dinner to make the numbers

right.

♪ ♪

Dick: With six male suitors expecting to meet six single

females, Stephanie will have to step in to make up the numbers.

Could Stephanie herself find love this weekend?

Isabel: I'm not single, so I can't even.

Stephanie: You would have stepped in otherwise for me.

- Isabel: I would have-- - [Stephanie laughs]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: In Northern France, to increase their income,

Tim and Margreeth are adding weddings to the list of things

they offer at their chateau, but that means their plans

for an upmarket caravan park are now shelved.

Tim: It's beginning to look already a bit like a home,

isn't it?

Dick: So they're going to keep one of the caravans for

themselves and visiting family and friends.

- Hello. - Margreeth: Oh, wow.

That looks really nice.

Tim: It does look nice, doesn't it?

It's great to finally be at the stage where I can put my stuff

in and, you know, finish it off.

And I've always got very strong ideas about how I want it,

so basically Tim has no say in all this whatsoever,

and he knows that.

We've been together for so long, he knows that.

- Tim: Baa. - [chuckles]

Dick: Margreeth leaves him to continue on the caravan while

she gets on with another task:

Creating the promotional photos for the new website to advertize

their wedding business.

We decided to just create a few spaces as they would be if there

was a wedding here, and so this is the place where they could

have--the couple could have their ceremony.

I think traditionally, ceremonies under an arch.

I'm decorating an arch with some flowers.

Dick: Photographer Laura will take shots of model Rosily in

different wedding dresses in various locations throughout the

chateau.

So the flowers are from Jess, the florist.

She's done a really, really good job to make up for the fact you

haven't actually got a husband.

- [laughter] - There's no groom involved.

- You have to rub it in? - [laughter]

Dick: Ouch.

♪ ♪

- [bird squawks] - [camera shutter clicks]

♪ ♪

We've got three wedding dresses in total.

[camera shutter clicks]

Yes, really nice seeing this happen today,

because it makes it all more real.

So yeah, everything just comes together more and more.

♪ ♪

Dick: The last location is the fallen tree at the front of the

chateau that Tim thinks provides the perfect photo opportunity.

I knew this would be a good place for a photoshoot.

- It's brilliant, isn't it? - Margreeth: Yeah, lovely.

♪ ♪

Dick: They're full stream ahead with the new business,

with the first wedding booked for next year.

And the website soon to be launched,

they're convinced the future looks bright.

Having to put some decorations up myself, thinking about where

can we have the party, where can we have the ceremony?

It all falls into place, and so next week, I'm going to start

with the website, and it definitely feels like I know how

it's gonna work.

It feels like it's all fitting.

♪ ♪

Dick: With the creative juices flowing, last job of the day is

for Margreeth to put her finishing touches on the

caravan.

♪ ♪

Really?

It's just a centimetre off the wall on that side.

It's lovely.

I like it.

I paid 2 euros for it.

- I love it. - You did pay 2 euros.

You were down--I tell you, bloody hell, 2 euros.

- It's falling apart. - It's lovely.

It's character.

- I really like it. - Tim: Actually, it is great.

Actually, it is lovely, yeah.

I'm very pleased the way it turned out,

and it's just so nice to have this little retreat here.

And, you know, we can have friends staying here,

but it's mostly for ourselves.

It's our escape from the chateau.

♪ ♪

Dick: They've done a lot today, but tomorrow's going to be

another busy one.

It's Tim's birthday bash.

♪ ♪

There's about 60 people coming.

There'll be music and--great.

Dick: Let's hope things don't get too out of hand.

[man laughs]

It's utter chaos, to be honest.

[fire crackles]

♪ ♪

Dick: A day's drive south of Tim and Margreeth,

back at Saint-Ferriol, it's been another bad night

for the castle's leaking roof.

Sophie: I went up to have a look if everything was OK,

and there was tons and tons of water coming through in a place

that I've never seen water before.

That kind of thing is really worrying.

Dick: The cost of repairing the roof is £1,000.

They've got around half of that, so James is pressing ahead with

a fundraising walking tour.

James: Tomorrow we're off to Montségur.

It's a good 40 minutes, and it's completely isolated.

It's up a mountainside.

It has no shelter; there's no water; has no facilities;

no loos.

And the weather this time of year, normally, you'd expect

completely clear skies.

Fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

[thunder rumbles]

Dick: But when James meets the tour guests the next morning at

half-past 9:00, it doesn't look great.

♪ ♪

James: Let's just have a look at the weather, and we'll decide if

we want to risk it.

What does everybody think?

Whether it's worth doing?

[chatter]

Yeah?

Great, excellent.

OK, that's what we like to hear.

[chuckles]

Let's see.

Dick: Luckily for James, the walkers are up for

braving the elements.

But conditions start to rapidly deteriorate.

♪ ♪

James: OK, this seems pretty sheltered, so we'll stop here

for a minute.

Dick: Undeterred, James begins his talk.

James: The defenders pretty soon realized that they're on to a

loser.

It takes about two months to get up to sort of this level,

close enough to build their trébuchets.

So now it really is over.

There's no point carrying on.

♪ ♪

Dick: Back in the shelter of the chateau, Sophie waits and

wonders if the tour is going OK.

We get donations sometimes, so that can be really important.

We've had a donation of 500 euros this year, which was

completely out of the blue, so it's kind of encouraging.

You never really know who's going to have a spare 500 euros.

[chuckles]

Dick: This rain won't be doing the leaky chateau any good.

And with £500 to raise, James certainly won't want to hand out

refunds.

James: And the terms that they arrive at are the terms of the

standard surrender, ever since Minerve back in 1210.

Everybody can go free, as long as they adopt

the Catholic faith.

Dick: But it seems he's keeping the tour group on board right to

the end, despite the weather.

James: All right, we have to get back down and have lunch.

[group chuckles]

♪ ♪

Dick: Now James needs to get back and get roofer Dale in

quickly so he can repair that leaky roof.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at Chateau de Lalande, most of Stephanie's

guests have arrived for the singles event and are mingling

on the lawn in front of the chapel.

Stephanie: Would you like some of this?

We're ready to go; this is it.

The first thing is happening, it's the picnic,

and hopefully everyone will get on incredibly well,

and people will fall madly in love.

Dick: One of Stephanie's female guests, Charlie, missed her

flight from London and is trying to get on another.

Stephanie: Come and sit down.

Dick: So in the meantime, Stephanie's sitting in to make

up the numbers.

Stephanie: Youth, love, and friendship.

- Man: Cheers. - Stephanie: Cheers.

Dick: Stephanie's got a lot riding on this weekend.

There's a long to-do list here, and she's got to bring in cash

from events like this to pay for the next phase of renovations.

This is our wood shed, and it's quite a big space.

And also, the rooms on either side at the top and the bottom

aren't used for anything at the moment, so we'd like to maybe

knock through somehow and put a glass front on it,

and possibly have a very small concert hall or theatre.

I know a lot of classical musicians, and it would be just

so good to be able to have a proper concert hall here for

that.

Dick: Back at the party, the singles have assembled in the

driveway, ready for a cake-baking competition.

But it looks like there's a new addition.

[laughter]

♪ ♪

Dick: Charlie, who missed her flight this morning,

has finally made it.

Hi, I'm Steph.

I'm so glad--

Charlie: It's so lovely to meet you!

Stephanie: I can't believe you made it.

Really lovely.

This is so amazing.

Charlie's here!

It happened!

We have girls, and two more coming later!

It's perfect.

And she seems such fun.

♪ ♪

Dick: Charlie's arrival means that everyone now has a partner

for the baking competition.

Stephanie: Excellent.

Why is this so funny?

Dick: Stephanie's asked each team to bake a simple

Victoria sponge.

♪ ♪

The bake-off is hilarious.

I think I want a bake-off every day now.

I'm loving it.

I think the teams are bonding pretty well.

I see quite a few sparks.

[laughter]

A little champagne; it's a lovely day; it's perfect.

I'm happy.

Dick: Once the cakes are out--

It's absolutely beautiful.

Dick:--and the decoration goes on--

Woman: Oh, look you're all sorted.

[laughs]

Dick:--some more successfully than others--

- [laughter] - ♪ Ta da ♪

Woman: It's gonna be delicious.

Dick:--it's time for Isabel and her partner Percy

to judge the results.

- I must congratulate you-- - Percy: Mm.

--on the tidiness of your product.

♪ ♪

Taste?

- Very good, I thought. - [singles laughing]

Eight.

♪ ♪

Stephanie: It is good.

- That's marmalade! - Isabel: It's very romantic.

And also, you are an optimist.

Well done.

[laughter]

- Isabel: A sponge pudding. - Woman: No, it's not.

It's actually got a name.

Man: What you've gotta remember is we had fun.

We had real, real fun doing this.

And that is wonderful.

♪ ♪

We must say thank you very much to all of you.

It has been extremely enlightening.

I have learned a great deal about cake-making,

but I would suggest one or two of you perhaps should give

up the idea of opening up a teashop.

[laughter]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Stephanie: So first place, gold, goes to:

Ménage à trois.

- Woman: We won! - Oh my god.

You have won, to share between you for life,

Meatless Dishes for Hay Dieters

Congratulations.

Well done.

Woman: Well done, well done.

Well done.

There is great promise ahead of you.

♪ ♪

Dick: As the sun begins to set at Chateau de Lalande,

the guests reemerge in time for the black tie dinner.

- God, hi! - Woman: How are you?

- Good. - Woman: Nice to see you.

Perfect.

Come in, Oliver.

We're all here now.

♪ ♪

Dick: Only time will tell if this magical occasion is the

scene for a budding new romance.

[singles cheersing]

♪ ♪

[crickets chirp]

♪ ♪

Dick: At the Alexander Chateau in Picardie,

it's almost party time.

♪ ♪

It's the morning of Tim's birthday, and we're trying to

get the whole chateau ready for the party tonight.

The party became a bit bigger than we anticipated,

because Tim kept inviting more and more people,

so it's becoming quite a huge event, which is great.

It's utter chaos, to be honest.

♪ ♪

But we're having fun.

He's very excited because he had presents already and chocolate,

and there's all these people here for him, so he's really,

really happy and looking forward to it.

What I'm doing now is just making something non-alcoholic

for the few people that won't be having wine or bubbles or beer.

It's like a watermelon water, and I'm going to make this,

and also a lemon water and a cucumber water.

Dick: Tim's busy in the chateau's other kitchen,

making stuffing for the party's main event:

the lamb spit roast.

This is a mixture and a half, this.

We got the livers and the kidneys, rosemary, thyme, lemon,

bread, pepper and salt, onions and garlic.

And it's gonna fulfill its sheepy destiny.

Dick: Looking good to me.

In fact, this dish was inspired by their visit to us.

Well, you know, we're doing them méchoui, which is a lamb on a

spit.

When we were down at Dick and Angel's, they had a pig roaster.

Brilliant thing.

It's like a little pillar box thing with a door.

And I was really gonna try and build one of those before today.

We decided in the end to get this thing here,

which is very simple.

It's a box, and you can--you can slide it backwards and forwards,

put the lamb on there which--I've never done this

before.

These look great.

So everyone is looking forward.

There's about 60 people coming.

There'll be music, and--great.

I've got this wonderful house.

One of the nicest things of it is to have all your friends

around and be able to put them up and be able to do this,

and you feel very blessed that you've got the opportunity

to do it.

♪ ♪

Yay!

[giggles]

Man: Well done.

- Brilliant, man. - Well done.

Tim: That's perfect.

Dick: I can almost taste it myself.

♪ ♪

Dick: With a packed chateau of friends, the party's soon in

full swing.

♪ ♪

Tim: So I got the meat!

- Meat's ready! - [everyone cheering]

That used to be a sheep.

It's not a guest that didn't pay, OK?

[laughter]

♪ ♪

Dick: Seeing the chateau in full party mode has Tim and Margreeth

feeling optimistic about their plans for holding weddings here.

This--the wedding's gonna be a bit like this, I think.

You know, everyone sitting around, having fun,

enjoying themselves.

Margreeth: Really nice, relaxed atmosphere.

The chateau at its best.

Tim: Chateau at its best, look.

♪ ♪

[guests chatting]

♪ ♪

Dick: It's been a life-changing season for Tim, Margreeth,

and their family.

They started out with plans for a luxury caravan site--

Tim: I have to say it's beaten me.

Dick:--and battled bees to free their holiday homes for

co-ownership.

There are a lot more bees than I thought there were.

Dick: But ended it with a bold plan to start

a wedding business.

Fills us with a lot of optimism.

We're--for the first time, we're actually totally comfortable

about what's in store for us next year, and I think we're

gonna be good at it.

Dick: You know what?

I think they're gonna do really well.

Well thanks again, Dick and Angel, if you're listening.

Yeah, thank you.

I mean, you know--yeah, we're sort of, you know--

- We're happy. - We are.

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

Dick: Over 600 miles south, it's a momentous day

at Chateau Saint-Ferriol.

- Hi there. - James: Hi, how are ya?

- How you doing? - [James chuckles]

- You OK? - Good to see ya, yeah.

- Good to see you too. - So all ready?

All ready, yeah.

Dick: Dale the roofer has arrived to fix Sophie and James'

leaky roof.

We've now actually got a little bit of a nest egg to do some

really significant repairs to the roof, so that's great.

James: This should stop the leaks permanently.

I'm most certainly looking forward to seeing it all done,

yes.

Dick: Dale will have his work cut out.

On my first visit, I counted a total of about 15 to 20 leaks.

Done a map which will save us time once we're on the roof,

'cause you can't really see where the leaks are from the

top.

You can see them easier from underneath.

So basically what we're gonna do today is replace any tiles that

are broken.

These tiles are 200 to 300 years old,

and they were all made by hand.

There are fingermarks on them.

Normally, they were put on the leg like that and wiped over

like that and then put in the oven to cook.

♪ ♪

Dale: Roofing is a dangerous job.

Especially here.

We've probably got an eight- to ten-metre drop,

so we basically are very concentrated on what we do.

And up we go.

♪ ♪

If we end up standing on the middle here,

we will break the tiles.

We have to always walk on the nose of the tiles, which is this

part here.

The main leakages that we've got on the roof here is because the

wind and the weight of the tiles makes them slide down.

The reason why we're gonna be using this glue is to stop them

from sliding.

And here we've got the underneath tile which is the one

that carries the most water has slid down here,

so any water that's gonna be falling down here

is basically just going to fall on to the woodwork here.

Dick: But they need to get a move on.

With more wet weather due to arrive tonight, he hasn't got a

lot of time.

The roof here is about 300 square metres,

and there's two of us to do that,

so it's 150 square metres each.

It's gonna be a big job.

So we're gonna have sore arms tonight.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

Dick: 300 miles north, at Chateau de Lalande,

it's the morning after Stephanie's black tie

singles night.

♪ ♪

Dick: The guests look tired but happy.

It's sunny and it's beautiful here.

It's so beautiful.

- What a night. - Man: Wow.

Wow, it was eventful.

♪ ♪

Tea, I need tea.

Dick: So is there love in the air?

I think last night was extremely eventful, but I don't think it's

for me to say anything.

♪ ♪

Last night was a success beyond my wildest dreams.

That was really good.

Everyone had such a good time.

It was a nice atmosphere.

It was a lovely crowd.

♪ ♪

Dick: The night went so well they didn't get around to the

ice cream tasting, so Stephanie's decided to serve it

up for brunch.

♪ ♪

- That is coffee. - [laughter]

No.

Stephanie: Do you want any more clues?

Think of crêpes suzette.

- Is it donut? - Woman: Nice.

Stephanie: No, but you're a lot--on the right line.

- Cognac, maybe? - Woman: Martini?

No.

OK, well, shall I just tell you what then?

[group agrees]

Stephanie: It's Grand Marnier.

Woman: Oh, of course it is!

[Stephanie laughs]

Dick: They're not very good at this.

Next one.

- Either of those? - It's cardamom.

Yes, yes!

Whoa, impressive.

Dick: Well done.

Having successfully pulled off her first singles event,

brought in some much-needed renovation money,

and possibly kick-started some new romances--

Love is definitely being found, but you need to ask them

about it.

What happens at Chateau de Lalande,

stays at Chateau de Lalande

[chuckles]

Dick: Stephanie's decided her singles parties are a winner.

Stephanie: This weekend's event really helps us, because it

helps us raise money for things like the concert hall;

big projects that we want to do.

So, I think we'll look at doing this two or three times a year

from now on.

Dick: She wants to make them even bigger.

We could go up to maybe 20 people at a time, maximum.

And I think it would work more often, because it's a really fun

thing to do, to fly out from London and then have a weekend

somewhere completely away from your reality meeting lots of fun

people.

Dick: Good luck with it all, Stephanie, as chateau owner and

in your new role as Cupid.

It's been hilarious.

I haven't stopped laughing the entire time.

It's perfect.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Dick: Back at Chateau Saint-Ferriol,

there's also reason to be happy.

Dale has finished fixing Sophie and James' roof.

- Man: All right, that's it. - Dale: Should be OK, yeah.

Everything's fine.

We found a few more leaks than were expected.

I mean, what we've done today is gonna be fine.

It could keep up for another three, four years, maybe five.

It will hold up the wind, that's for sure.

Dick: James and Sophie couldn't be happier.

They started out with a major problem,

and they raised the funds to sort it out.

Sophie: So we did well raising that money.

It's been well spent.

James: Great, I'm feeling waterproof.

It doesn't matter if it rains for the next few months,

we should be all right.

It's not fun living in a place where there's water coming in

through the roof, and getting worse all the time,

so that's pretty good.

Sophie: When you get something really important done,

it's a real buzz.

And it's such a beautiful place.

It's such a beautiful spot.

Dick: I couldn't agree more.

James: One of the highs is just living here,

living somewhere like this.

It is fantastic.

But it's just hard work to keep it like this.

Dick: And they've still got lots to do.

James: Eventually, we'd love to see this place fully restored,

all of it being used, and would have various apartments.

And that would expand the number of events we could do here

as well.

We think we're about halfway through.

We've done about half the work that's necessary.

♪ ♪

Dick: From one chateau owner to another, I understand your

challenges and wish you all the best, James and Sophie.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪