I’m late in providing an update on how things are going with our house renovation. So much is happening, it’s hard to stay on top of posting pictures.
Construction of the bedroom addition has moved quickly. Being from California, we aren’t familiar with building with cement blocks, but it sure seems an easy way to put up sturdy walls.
doors and windows from the bedroom to the patio 
marking the spot for the closet wall
Due to restrictions from Bâtiments de France, the authority governing improvements to buildings near a historic monument, the size of our addition is limited to a certain percentage of the original square footage of the main house. As we also are fitting in a bathroom and walk-in closet, we’re getting creative with the placement of the closet by putting it behind the bed, separated by a wall with pocket doors on each end. For this reason, the back wall of the bedroom, where the closet will be, has no windows. We’ve expected to have to make compromises along the way, and this was one of them. That wall faces the big backyard, and it would have been nice to see the yard from the bedroom. But there just wasn’t anywhere else to fit the closet space we wanted.
the back wall of the bedroom – and the new steps going to the upper yard
a storage area above the bedroom will be accessed from the upper yard
Once the block walls were finished, the roofers moved in and built the framework for the roof tiles.
The tiles are not attached to the house but are simply hooked under the slats. Each row of tiles supports the weight of the tiles from the row above.
With the tiles on the bedroom almost done, the guys put up scaffolding on the main house in preparation for the removal of the old roof. That’s going to be a big messy job. And, of course, it’s been raining.
That’s it for now. More pictures will come soon, I promise.