Category Archives: Renovation

Closerie Falaiseau, Loire Valley, Renovation

The Big Fireplace Operation – Stage 2

November 19, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 3 Comments

To the untrained eye, the current state of the fireplace may not seem any different from the last time I posted. However, another 5 days’ work put has been been into it!

Now fireplaces are more complicated today than there were in the past for a very simple reason. Fires need air which used to be supplied by draughts from windows and doors. With the invention of double glazing and airtight seals around doors, there’s nowhere for the air to come in. So the fire smokes. The remedy – adding an air intake at the back of the fireplace – is not quite so simple in an old house with 70 cm walls.

first_hole — First hole drilled through wall

However, Relationnel already has wall-drilling experience from installing the washing machine which used to empty out into the downstairs shower, so he attacked the wall with great gusto. It now has the necessary air intakes though it took two operations. The other thing you need in a chimney today is a hatch affair called a trappe in French. I don’t what it’s called in English.

relationnel_soldering — Relationnel with his soldering gear

Its aim is to seal up the chimney when you’re not using the fire and to regulate the air flow when you’re using it. Since our four-hundred year old chimney is not at all standard, Relationnel had to make the trappes (three of them because of the width of the chimney and the fact that he’s doing this single-handed). This involved a lot of cutting and soldering of frames and plates that caused a couple of black-outs.

trappe_frame — Looking up at the frame of the trappe

Once the trappes were in place they needed painting with special, ultra-sticky fire-resistant black paint. This is where I contributed my savoir-faire from painting the front gate this summer. It was a good thing that I had a throw-away overall with a hood or I’d have had to cut my hair afterwards. As it was, my rubber gloves kept sticking to the paint jar. But I did a wonderful job while Relationnel got on with some more skilled labour.

me_trappe — Me about to paint the trappe in my XL overalls

The next step was to decide on the design of the sole or hearth. Currently, there is just tiling which obviously isn’t ideal. I immediately rejected the idea of a metal plate as being inesthétique. We’ve inherited some otherwise very expensive refractory bricks from the Previous Owner but there are all shapes and sizes. Six reasonably ugly air vents also have to be incorporated somewhere so Relationnel lugged up the bricks and we set to work.

sole_tryout — Designing the hearth with refractory bricks

After some slight initial friction due to my total ignorance of how these things work, we found a pattern we both agreed on. The whole thing will be raised to a total of 18 cm and despite appearances the finished result will be at the same height and those little holes will be filled in with half bricks. There’ll be an air vent on each side and the others vents will be in the thickness of the sole which will be entirely surrounded with an oak frame like our bedroom fireplace.

large_trappe — Large trappe before painting

We then moved onto the next stage, to which I contributed with slightly less efficiency, though I was very good as sorting the big nails from the little nails. Not that I really understood why they were mixed up anyway. I’m sure they should be in separate compartments. At the end, my fingers were covered with a sort of grey metal dust.

We had to attach a sheet of chicken wire to the back of the fireplace which is made of an assortment of materials including totally nail-resistant stone, crumbly wattle-and-daub, bricks and mortar. My preference goes to the mortar. You’re supposed to attach the chicken wire by driving nails halfway in, then banging their heads over to one side. Yes, well.

I was rather slow because I didn’t want to accidentally hammer my thumb. I did, however, manage to acquire a certain technique with the wattle-and-daub and mortar and Relationnel was pleased with the result.

He’s gone back to Paris now so I don’t know when we’ll be able to resume the work. The next stage is covering the chicken wire with a thick layer of refractory mortar, to which I shall also be contributing. I’ll be wearing shoe covers as well, I’d say.

No news from Mr PPO, by the way.

Art, Loire Valley, Renovation

The Big Fireplace Operation and a Delinquent Seller

November 12, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 19 Comments

The Big Fireplace Operation is obviously taking longer than expected, but that is no surprise. Renovations always take longer than expected. First, Relationnel underestimated the size of the fireplace itself. Second, it turns out that someone along the way used it incorrectly resulting in a thing called bistre which is a brownish substance made of burnt soot and tar and can burn your house down if not removed.

beginning_of_triangle — Fireplace with bistre

Bistre is removed by tapping away with a pickaxe. You may remember that I moved down to Blois temporarily to escape the renovations on my balcony in Paris. Well, it’s the same sort of noise. My office is just next door. I do not, however, have to listen to a radio blasting away and workmen shouting at each other. And there are no pneumatic drills.

brick_triangle — Triangle after chipping off facing, showing metal bar

Before removing the bistre, Relationnel also chipped off the facing of the upper part of the fireplace, above the mantel, revealing a triangular-shaped hole. He had previously propped up the sunken mantle which had been erroneously reinforced with a horizontal bar by someone who obviously didn’t realize (I’m sure I would have …) that the metal would expand when the fire was lit and push the sides of the fireplace further, causing the mantle to sink even further.

At this juncture, a visit to BricoDepot was needed to buy some bright orange mason’s trestles. I must have been really desperate to get out the house to go on that excursion! First, you identify what you want in a catalogue, then you pay for it. You get one of those little raffle tickets that you give to the warehouseman when it’s your turn. He takes you to the storage area and unloads your purchases onto a large trolley. Then you get his mate to stamp your raffle ticket. You can tell why it’s the cheapest DIY place around.

keystone_removed — After removing the keystone

The mason’s trestles are needed so that Relationnel can remove the mantle, which consists of several large stones with plaster holding them together, in preparation of the next phase. The sides of the fireplace also needed to be sanded down to remove various layers of paint. That also produced a somewhat unnerving noise.

keystone — Keystone with a piece of plaster fallen off

In the meantime, we got a call from Mr Previous Owner whom we had told about the Big Fireplace Operation. You know that big, square jagged hole above the mantle? Mr PO told us it happened when the crest stone with the construction date of the house – 1584 – was removed for renovation. The stone was damaged beyond repair. I always thought that was a bit strange because none of the fireplaces are in working order. Anyway, he had a new crest stone made by a stone cutter’s school somewhere along the way using a photo of the original and gave it to us when we got the keys to the house.

mantle_removed — Fireplace with mantle removed

Well, it turns out to be a little more complicated. It seems that Mr Previous Previous Owner had to sell the house because of his divorce and wanted a keepsake – SO HE REMOVED THE CREST STONE. Can you imagine that anyone who loved historical buildings enough to buy Closerie Falaiseau and undertake its entire renovation would destroy its very soul? The man is delinquant.

fireplace_crest_removed — Fireplace with hole where the crest stone was removed

Mr PO, who has remained in contact with Mr PPO for some reason, phoned him and asked him if he would return the crest stone to us since we’re renovating the fireplace . Mr PO believed he was going to do so, but when Relationnel spoke to Mr PPO on the phone, he said he wasn’t ready yet and would have to check we were restoring the fireplace correctly! What utter cheek !

crest_stone_2 — New crest stone with 1584 just visible

We also learnt that Mr PO was able to have the new stone made from a plaster cast of the old one which turned up in the house next door, owned by Mr PPO’s brother who no longer owns his house either.Mr PPO was supposed to come by today but he obviously didn’t. Relationnel says there is no way he is going to set foot in the door without the stone. I agree of course. So we’re going ahead and using the new stone as planned.

Food, Loire Valley, Renovation

Cold Legs and Cappuccino

November 7, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

Well, in my last post, I said that we could maintain an even 19°C in Closerie Falaiseau, our 400-year old home in Blois, but I spoke too soon. Also, I’m not convinced that 19°C is really warm enough when you’re sitting at a computer for long periods! To allow for the BIG FIREPLACE OPERATION, I’ve moved my office into the guest room. I still have more or less the same view, only a little more restricted, but when the living room is at 20°C, the bedroom is only at 17°C. Maybe it’s because there is carpet over the heated floor in the bedrooms. Who knows?

from_my_window — The view from my current office

We ended up going to buy a stand-alone heater so that I won’t have to sit with my legs wrapped up in a blanket and gloves on my hands any more. We could heat the house more, as we did today, but the cost is prohibitive and we don’t need a higher temperature in the other rooms. I also bought some leggings. I asked the lady for a collant sans pieds (tights without feet) which is what they used to be called, but she corrected me : “ah, des leggings” (pronouncing it the French way). I didn’t catch what she was saying at first.

Relationnel has completed stage 1 of the BIG FIREPLACE OPERATION. He has put up a PVC curtain to separate the room in half so that the rest of the house isn’t covered in soot. He added another curtain around the fireplace while he was sweeping the chimney and donned some more effective overalls than last time. Also, he made sure the vacuum cleaner didn’t blow the soot back into the room this time. It’s all a learning process!

Today, my wonderful new Pavoni espresso coffee machine arrived direct from Milano. This is a great extravagance, but I have developed a fixation about being able to make proper cappuccino. It has an automatic cappuccino attachment just in case I still can’t manage to make that thick creamy frothy milk that I like. We had to buy a magnifying glass along with the leggings because neither of us can read the tiny print in the multilingual instruction booklet, with or without lenses/glasses.

The translations into French and English leave much to be desired. The translator obviously didn’t have the machine in front of him/her when doing the translation. That is quite obvious. Also, the English has more information than the French. I am going to have to make an effort and try and read the Italian, I think.

So far, my milk foaming efforts have not been brilliant. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a stainless steel jug (the one my sister-in-law bought me in Australia is in my missing suitcase) and they don’t seem to sell them around here. I might try the Italian shop in Blois tomorrow. Drummer brother says you have to use the “kiss” technique, but I don’t really get it. I can see that I’m going to have to look at a lot more YouTube videos. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

The coffee itself’s good though.

France, IT, Loire Valley, Renovation

A Portable Office and Temporary Residence in Blois

November 6, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

Relationnel and I are on our way back to Blois. It’s 11 pm and it’s raining. We have another 1 ½ hours to go. I’ve now mastered the art of using a laptop in the car and the train. I never thought I would. I used to be allergic to laptops – I couldn’t handle the little mouse pad in the middle – but I bought a Dell Vostro (this is not an ad!) and got used to it surprisingly quickly.

computer_installation — My portable office

I know that someone who’s addicted to an iPhone should really have a Mac but my first computer 30 years ago was a PC (with the antiquated DOS and not Windows of course and not a mouse in sight) and for many years, a lot of the software for translators was not developed for Macs. So I’ve stuck to my PC. When I arrive in Paris or in Blois, converting my laptop into a regular computer is easy – I just have to insert three plugs: the power supply, the screen and one USB plug which is connected to a hub to which my keyboard, mouse, printer and earphones are all permantly connected. That gives me two screens, which is wonderful for using reference documents and copying from one screen to the other, for example.

I always use wifi rather than a permanent Internet connection which makes it even easier. I’ve now installed a router in the garage so that I can use wifi in the garden as well – not that I’ll be able to do so for a while. Autumn is well and truly on its way and the leaves are turning a lovely gold in our little wood. We’ve even had our first frost. We’re very pleased with the heating in the Closerie. Because of the thick walls, the temperature remains very even. It’s a bit cooler than I’m used to in our Paris apartment which is overheated through no fault of our own, but in Blois we can maintain a steady 19°C (the regulation temperature for heating in France) without any problem.

Sadly, the renovations on our balcony in Paris are proving more complicated than expected and instead of ten weeks, it looks like there are going to last 18 weeks. Banging, drilling, shouting and radio music are certainly not conducive to translating! I thought I could set up a temporary office on the other side of the apartment but it turns out that the drilling and banging can still be heard there as well. I also find it very difficult to live in an apartment with no daylight in either my office or in the living room.

renaissance_fireplace — Our Renaissance fireplace

So by the look of things, I’ll be in Blois until the beginning of January, just returning to Paris for the occasional weekend when Relationnel can’t come down because of work. I’m delighted to be in Blois, but Relationnel and I are not happy to be separated during the week for such a long period of time. But this week we’ll both be in Blois as Relationnel is beginning the BIG FIREPLACE OPERATION, whose aim is to get our original Renaissance fireplace working, a tough challenge as the previous owners renovated everything except the four fireplaces.

bedroom_fireplace — The bedroom fireplace after cleaning

You may remember that Relationnel cleaned the one in our bedroom the first week we spent in the Closerie, but not with the intention of actually using it. This is a much more complicated affair, particularly with that big sag in the middle, but I have every confidence he will do a good job – his favourite bedtime reading for some time now has been books on chimneys and fireplaces !

Cycling, Loire Valley, Paris, Renovation

Back to Blois

August 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

When we packed up the weekend before last, we thought we’d just be spending one more weekend in Blois before going to Australia for five weeks on 10th September. But on Friday, I was working away in my apartment in Paris (I’m a freelance technical and legal translator) when a large set of scaffolding suddenly hove into sight. I knew it was coming because I’ve been subjected to all sorts of banging and shouting and music and dust for the last nine weeks from my neighbours’ balcony. But I had been told our turn was the end ofAugust.

scaffolding — Scaffolding on my balcony at the Palais Royal

So I had a long chat to the worksite boss, who soon appeared in front of the window. “But it is the end of August !” Well, not quite. I thought I had at least another week to go. He told me the worst would be during the next two weeks, starting Tuesday, when they would be demolishing the large vases and balustrades using their pneumatic drills, from 8 am to 5 pm.

bloggers_breakfast — Fellow bloggers before the scaffolding – A Man and a Woman in Paris, Femmes Francophiles and Out and About in Paris

During that time, the wooden shutters and windows have to be kept closed at all times, leaving practically zero light in my office and the living room. Fortunately, the other side (bedroom and kitchen) won’t be affected. I find it difficult to be deprived of light at the best of times, but 10 weeks of darkness day and night is like a nightmare, not to mention the noise. I’m one of those people who are allergic to radio music when I’m working and these particular workers are very keen on loud rap.

balusters — Balusters about to be replaced

So here I am in the train, on the way to Blois where I’ll stay until the Friday before we leave for Australia. Fortunately I have everything set up to work there, except for my specialised dictionaries, but these days, you can find most of what you want on the Internet and I can always get Relationnel to look something up for me if necessary. He’s coming for three days this weekend and then I’ll only have another few days before I go back to Paris. I would really rather he were with me …

blois_cycle_path — Cycle path opposite Blois

At least I’ll be able to do some gardening and cycling, especially this week, because it looks as if the good weather’s here for a little while longer.

Cycling, Loire Valley, Renovation

Painting the Front Gate and Cycling in a Heat Wave

August 21, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

We’ve all been complaining about the awful weather in France this summer. Then suddenly, when we were least expecting it, a heat wave turned up. Usually after 15th August, it starts getting cooler and you know autumn’s on the way, followed by winter, which is always a bit depressing. Not so this year. In the Loire Valley where I’ve been for the last few days, we’ve been having temperatures in the thirties. I’m not complaining.

closerie_falaiseau — Closerie Falaiseau, 400 years old with its 70 cm thick walls

To start with, we have natural cooling in our 400-year old house in Blois. It’s those 70 cm thick walls ! If you keep the shutters closed while the sun’s on the windows, the house keeps beautifully cool. When we saw the weather forecast we decided to repaint the front gate because every other time we’ve come this summer, it’s been too wet. I’ve been wanting to do it ever since Relationnel applied rust inhibitor.

gate_before — The gate to Closerie Falaiseau in Blois before repainting

The first day, we began late afternoon but it was still pretty hot outside and we were sweltering by dinner time. We continued next morning when it was cooler but couldn’t begin too early because of the dew. Once the gate was dry enough, the sun soon became too hot for the paint (not to mention us!). So in the end it took 3 days to complete. All those curlicues are time-consuming I have to say. But we’re very pleased with the result.

gate_after — The front gate after painting

The gate painting was also complicated by the fact that we wanted to cycle every day as well without getting sunstroke. After rashly starting out late morning to go from Cheverny to Fontaines de Sologne and back the first day, including a very hot picnic on a bench in front of the church, we decided it would be better to cycle in the evening. So we tried to have dinner early so we could go for a ride along the Loire where it’s cooler. Unfortunately the barbecue wouldn’t cooperate and kept going out. When we finally got to the river, it was beautifully cool but there was masses of gnats. The activity on the river was incredible. You could hear the ducks and other wild fowl screeching for miles.

fontaines_sologne — Typical Solognes houses in Fontaines de Sologne in the Loire Valley

The third day, as we were going home to Paris in the evening, we didn’t have much choice so we set off late morning again as soon as the gate was finished. We started upriver in Muides so we could cycle along the Loire to Saint Dyé then onto Chambord because we were sure of finding somewhere to have lunch. We also thought there would be a lot of shade in the forest around Chambord but most of the time we were out in the open.

loire — The Loire River between Muides and Saint Dyé sur Loire

We had lunch under the shady plane trees at Chambord then sat opposite the château and ate raspberries bought at a nearby stall. Not a bad view! On the way home, we found lots of blackberry bushes. Sadly, most of them weren’t ripe. We’ll have to try again when we go back to Blois in two weeks’ time. Raspberries and blackberries are my favourite fruit in France – with the exception of those delicious green Chasselas grapes that are just coming onto the fruit stalls again.

Flowers & gardens, France, Lifestyle, Loire Valley, Renovation

Our Little House in Blois

July 22, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

No, I’m not talking about our Renaissance house built in 1584 but about the little house next door which Mr Previous Owner had the foresight to buy while the ageing owner was still living there, thus guaranteeing that there would be no close (and potentially noisy) neighbours. The little house includes a barn and both buildings give directly onto our garden. When we move into the Closerie for good in October 2014 after Relationnel retires, he will completely renovate the little house and turn it into gîte and we will occupy the “big” house completely.

In the meantime, we’ve turned the ground floor of the big house into a gîte and when we come for weekends, we use the upstairs, which has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a beautifully dimensionsed living room, all overlooking the unbuilt (and unbuildable) land opposite. On the other side is the Loire River. Nothing can be built there because it’s floodable. We’re not afraid of flooding because we figure that if our house has been here for 400 years, it’s pretty safe.

Initially, we thought we’d have a makeshift kitchen in the little room next to the living room but after banging my head on the low doorway and learning that anything you do in the living room can be heard in the bedroom of the gîte below, I came up with the brilliant idea of using the little house instead.

It’s somewhat delapidated after years of not being used, but after a good clean and airing, the kitchen, which gives directly onto the garden, is perfectly usable. The sink has cold water so we installed a dishwasher and brought in other bits and pieces of furniture from the other rooms left by Mr Previous Owner. We even have a marble-topped wash stand that makes a perfect sideboard. That way, even if we don’t have anyone staying in the gîte when we come, we don’t have to clean it all again when we leave! Relationnel was a little reticent at first, but the system is working well. We bought a garden table and two chairs so that we can sit outside as well, particularly when we’re having a barbecue. Sometimes, we “picnic” in our real garden!

In the living room of the little house there is an unusual fireplace made of very dark brick. We haven’t decided yet whether to keep it or not when we renovate. It seems a bit massive. It’s actually darker than in the photo, almost black. What do you think we should do with it? Unfortunately all the oak beams will need to be stripped as well.

The garden is overgrown, but we actually like being surrounded by waist-high daisies and it has the tallest hollyhock we’ve ever seen. It must be about 4 metres. There are wild strawberries as well but unfortunately for Relationnel (I don’t like strawberries), something is getting to them before they turn ripe each time. When we eat in the garden, it’s like being on holidays!

France, Loire Valley, Renovation

Meeting the Neighbours in Blois

April 16, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 3 Comments

Relationnel has devised this radical way of meeting the neighbours in Blois. I would have gone for something softer myself. The first time, we were coming back from our celebratory dinner at L’Embarcadère after spending our first day in the new house. Before I go any further, I’d just like to point out that we had both had only two glasses of wine to accompany our meal. Not being used to our new address, Relationnel sailed past the house and we found ourselves at the end of the street and had to do a U-turn.

“Hey, I just want to read what this sign’s all about”, says Relationnel, backing up to get a closer look. Crruunch! That’s the problem with a country road – there aren’t any street lights and people have this tendency to park their dark grey cars in unsuspecting places. The front door of the other car was nicely bashed in while we had a broken tail light and a few scratches. No sign of who the car might belong to so Relationnel left a note with his mobile phone number (not his name, which is Avril because it happened to be April Fool’s Day and they might have thought it was a bad joke!).

Next day, we got a call from a very friendly man who kept repeating that it was highly unusual for anyone to leave their number in such circumstances. His poor wife hadn’t been able to open the door from the outside next morning but fortunately could do so from the inside, making it less dangerous. We organised a meeting and filled in the forms together. They turned out to be middle-aged bikies (Harley Davidson) and their house is like an American museum from the 1930s. Very friendly and understanding. We’ve noticed though that they keep parking the car in the same spot!

The next “meet the neighbours” episode occurred after we’d been to Argenton sur Creuse, a two-hour drive south, to pick up a Henri II glass-doored bookcase whose weight proved it was made of solid oak. I found it on leboncoin.com about a month ago and sent a cheque to the owner, a professional brocanteur. He turned out to be the real thing. I’ve never seen a shop like it – everything thrown higgledy-pickledy with not even the faintest semblance of order and all covered in layers of dust although it all looks surprisingly spruce in the photo!

We followed him in his van up and down country lanes for about 20 minutes until we finally came to a warehouse in a village which was as messy as the shop, only bigger. While he and Relationnel looked after the bookcase, I rooted around and came up with a tall bronze lamp. The shade’s a bit broken unfortunately, but it can easily be replaced. After they had put the bookcase on the trailer and I had protected the glass doors with bubble wrap so they could be put safely on the roof rack (less chance of breakage), the brocanteur went off to deliver some other goods.

We then spent the next hour protecting it all against the rain (and rain it did, several times). When we got home, the idea was to take it up the front steps, then lift it on to the top of the railing so that it could be taken in through the door. We started, going one step at a time, but soon realised that there was absolutely no way that I could get a ten-tonne bookcase up the steps. By then it was too late to backtrack so Relationnel went off to “find a neighbour”. He came back a few minutes later with a man who couldn’t possibly be the neighbour (wrong age to start with) and they continued the operation. He turned out to be stronger than he looked.

The neighbour (right age) then arrived and proceeded to direct operations. I took him upstairs and he soon saw that the hoisting-onto-the-railing solution wasn’t going to work. The three of them finally managed to lift it high enough to get it into the living room and then onto the mezzanine. There’s no way around it – men are stronger than women! I later found out who the first man was – he was simply picking up his son from a birthday party. I didn’t get the impression the neighbour was too impressed …

France, Loire Valley, Renovation

Dividing the House in Two

April 16, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

We’ve now furnished most of our new house in Blois and Relationnel is onto the second-last major operation – dividing the top floor from the bottom floor. Downstairs, there are now three rooms: the kitchen, the living room and the bedroom (with its en-suite bathroom). There is both an internal and external staircase leading up to the top floor so we had to find a way of closing off the internal staircase which currently leads into the downstairs bedroom.

Relationnel came up with the idea of adding French doors and was able to recuperate some beautiful solid oak panelled doors from a renovation site. However, he had to completely strip them and then adapt the height and frames to the doorway which, being very old, is not quite straight! It all turned out to be much more complicated than expected but the first set is now in place.

Above one end of the downstairs living room, there is a mezzanine, which means that it also has to be divided off so that we can go can through the back door and up the stairs without disturbing our gîte guests. We can’t use the external staircase on the front façade because the door only opens from the inside! So there will be a second set of French doors to close off the mezzanine.

Relationnel didn’t think the second operation would be as complicated but the 4 cm thick solid oak proved to be temperamental. From time to time, I was called upon to help move the doors and panels and I peoved to be especially useful when it came to putting the incredibly heavy doors on their hinges. This is a very delicate operation and none of the usual nifty solutions seemed to work. In the end, Relationnel just had to use brute force.

The top floor has now been successfully separated from the bottom though the whole process took a full day more than expected. Meanwhile, I put the Ikea garden table, bench and chairs together. I followed the instructions carefully but the first chair was missing a step so to my disappointment, I had to call on Relationnel’s greater experience. When I began the second chair, I discovered that they had changed the instructions and the pre-mounting operation and the missing step was no longer missing! If you’ve ever put Ikea furniture together, you know that they have a little L-shaped piece that you use to screw the different parts together. Well, Relationnel has the greatest little screw driver with a lever system that makes screwing a breeze and is far better than that L-thing. You can even change the setting to make it unscrew.

Relationnel has gone back to Paris tonight but I have to be here for the electricity company tomorrow morning so that they can increase the wattage we can use simultaneously. At the moment, I can’t use the oven and the hot plate at the same time or the power cuts out completely. So I will be taking the bus and train home tomorrow afternoon. I checked out the bus this morning. It’s a 15 minute walk, then a 15-minute ride to the station. I made sure I booked early and chose a cheaper time slot. This time, I’m paying 26 euros for a direct trip. Who knows, I might even get good at this commuting business!

Lifestyle, Loire Valley, Renovation

The Fireplace Operation

April 9, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 3 Comments

I’m sure you’re all waiting with bated breath to hear the results of the fireplace operation. As it turned out, Relationnel was the only performer because the polyethylene tent could only contain one person. Not that I really minded. I had other things to keep me occupied, not to mention the fact that it would have taken me hours to get the soot out of my hair. Fortunately Relationnel didn’t have to worry about that.

You might remember that we’re talking about the fireplace in the master bedroom. We were sleeping downstairs in the bedroom of the future gîte until the operation was over. So, first, Relationnel set up the tent and also protected the light-coloured carpet with plastic. Then he donned his throwaway boiler suit and gas mask at which point I breathed a sigh of relief that I was only spectator and helpmate.

So that he wouldn’t be asphyxiated, he had added a flexible tube to take fresh air from the window into the airtight tent and up the chimney. First, he removed the polystyrene that had been used to plug up the chimney duct. As it came off, down came two huge hornets’ nests (empty thank goodness). After cleaning it all up, he used a power mill with a metal brush attachment to get rid of the initial caked soot and other debris then finished off with a finer abrasive disk. Once he had achieved the required result, he got out the vacuum cleaner.

And that’s when the fun began. As we all know, vacuum cleaners suck up dirt at one end while expelling air through a filter at the other. The problem is, the filter on our industrial vacuum (a gift from the owner of a flat I once bought which had a closed parking space that the said owner neglected to empty) was no good and as Relationnel vacuumed up the debris, fine red and black dust went charging out the other end, leaving a nice thick layer not only over the entire bedroom, bathroom and built-in wardrobe (fortunately empty), but also flying up the stairs to the mezzanine above the bedroom and out through open bedroom door onto the other mezzanine which gives onto all the other rooms below.

So the entire house had to be vacuumed from head to foot with the other vacuum cleaner which understandably got overheated and sulky and eventually gave up altogether. Relationnel had to wait until it cooled down to use it again. Meanwhile, I was off at Carrefour Market and then Le Penalty drinking cappuccino and using the Internet as the little dashed line is still running madly around the display window on the Freebox showing no sign of indicating the time, which is a necessary prelude to it working.

All traces of the vacuum episode had disappeared by the time I got back I’m happy to say. Before we could move into the bedroom however, a second operation was needed – sweeping the chimney. We had bought some very neat chimney sweeping equipment in Leroy Merlin that looked like something out of Mary Poppins. Relationnel set up a rubbish bag and funnel system to catch the debris (I helped to cut the packing tape to seal the joins) with a hole to poke the broom through.

After it was all swept clean, Relationnel plugged it up again with suitable material to stop the cold air getting into the room as the fireplace will continue to be purely decorative.

We are very happy with the results and have now moved into the upstairs bedroom.

Aussie in France