After being here for almost three months, we decided it was time to take a road trip. I start feeling a little claustrophobic if I can’t breathe some sea air every once in a while, so we headed to the French coast. It’s an easy 3 hour drive from our village to La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay. We’ve learned that you can get almost anywhere in rural France without going on the toll roads, so we’ve had our car GPS set on “avoid tolls and highways” since we arrived. Most of the places we go wouldn’t involve a toll road anyway, but even if it were an option, it’s way more fun to take the smaller roads.

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We strolled through the picturesque Vieux Port (old harbor) of La Rochelle and meandered the narrow streets of the old town. We found some fun shops and had several great seafood meals. One day we drove out to Île de Ré, an island just off the coast. At first, we were unimpressed with the landscape, but we’d heard the place was so great that we just kept driving, and ended up in the town of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. This was more like it, full of cute little shops selling things like straw bags and hats and expensive clothes. Definitely touristy, but it was fun to explore. We look forward to going back.

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House update – Day 36.

Yesterday I met at our house with the électricien (electrician) and the menuisier (door/window/flooring guy). All in French, of course. Our builder and his wife, who are Brits, have been so helpful as translators with the various craftsmen. We’ve been doing this for 3 months already and it’s starting to feel almost normal that we can’t have the simplest conversation with anyone. So today, I stood in the rubble of our house, looking at samples of window frames (which are SO different than what we had in the US), and wood flooring options. Some of the decisions (anything outside or visible from the outside) can’t be made until we get the approval and guidelines from the Bâtiments de France, the agency that governs any changes on exteriors of structures near historic buildings. Since we are so close to the château, we have to do what they say. So, we may not even have a choice on what color our doors, windows, and shutters are painted. It’s frustrating, but in some ways, it may be easier since we won’t have to choose.

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Meanwhile, demolition continues. Preparation for the installation of the underfloor heating has begun. We’ll have underfloor heating only on the ground floor, and will use electric radiators on the upper floors.

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Upstairs, the sandblasting is done for now, and the beautiful rock walls and beams are fully exposed. Soon we will have to decide which walls will be covered up again (this time in the proper way to prevent moisture damage) and which walls will be “rendered.” There are two options for the rendering, “pierre apparante” and “pierre vue,” which leave stones visible. One reveals more stone than the other, so more decisions ahead.

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This wall in the guestroom is the only one in the house with this method of construction, which consists of vertical boards and straw and mud between. We will plaster between the boards, leaving them exposed.

And a pheasant, for good measure.

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