Mission demolition.
Oh boy, it’s all happening now, sledgehammering and chipping and lots of noise and dust and piles of debris. I love every bit of it, as it’s the sound of the bones of this great house being revealed. I can imagine the stone walls taking in a big gulp of fresh air as the decades of plaster and gunk are being chipped away. When you have stone walls that are 19″ thick, there is no place for electrical or plumbing, so back when electrical and plumbing were added to an old house, a thin wall was built in front of the stone that served as a channel for the necessary wiring and such. I was surprised to learn that more recently, thick styrofoam was used as insulation in these walls. All these “false walls” are now being taken out, and some will be replaced. I’m sure there is a technical word for these little walls, but I’m new here in France demo-land.
The kitchen demo begins 
A beautiful stone wall revealed 
We can’t keep it all like this, but hopefully we can leave some of it exposed
This gorgeous cupboard in our dining area will be removed for safekeeping while the really rough part of the demo happens, and then carefully repositioned.
Wonderful corner stones have been exposed around the window and door openings.
In the living room, the dividing wall is gone, revealing the toilet that was tucked next to the former kitchen. 
The toilet is now gone, and the floor has been lowered to the level of the room.
Upstairs, the little bathroom is gone… 
…and it looks better already.
In the guestroom, the fireplace is exposed, and it looks like it used to be quite a bit larger, as that blackened stone on the left is from soot from the older fireplace. 
It turns out there was previously a door from the bedroom into the bathroom, and it’s right where we were going to put a doorway, so we will open that up again.
That’s the update for now. Things keep moving on and it’s fun to pop in every day and see what has changed. I will post more soon.
Cheryl | 24th May 19
Thank you for taking us along with you on the remodel/restoration journey. It’s a bit like a treasure hunt! We can’t wait to see what the next discovery will be.
Alison | 24th May 19
So glad you are enjoying it!
Deborah | 24th May 19
It looks so excitingl!
Alison | 24th May 19
It truly is, Deborah!
Laurie | 24th May 19
Those corner stones….sigh!…and stone walls….be still my heart! How fortuitous that the bed/bath doorway was exposed just where you want it. Happy surprises not often the case with demo work. Am so enjoying your posts.
Alison | 24th May 19
Glad you are enjoying it. I’m having “pinch me” moments every day!
Judy | 25th May 19
So exciting to be in at the beginning of all of this. Your pictures are terrific. Thanks for sharing. Hope you can keep us posted as the work moves along.
Susan Walter | 25th May 19
Great progress! Photograph *everything* — and you will still find that there are bits you want to reference later that you somehow failed to photograph. Take videos too, and photos of the tradesmen at work — they love having someone really take an interest (at least all our guys did — we gave them the photos on a stick and they took them home to show their families, who hardly ever get to see what they do at work). Our artisans still stop to chat if we meet them in the street or the supermarket.