September 2005: During the summer we excavated and started reconstruction work on the collapsed stables (L'ecurie). If you take a look in the "Restoration projects" section you can find out more. At one stage we found more than 20 ancient floor tiles buried in the compacted mud below the level of what was a red quarry tile floor at one time. The tiles are mostly badly broken but you can make out different distinct designs on them. We are told that the tiles date from the 12th century. Later on we uncovered some stone steps which I left in place and used as part of a new stone stairway. It's amazing to think that those steps and tiles had lain buried and undisturbed for centuries and that the last people to walk on them may well have done so over 800 years ago!!

12th Century floor tile showing two birds with a chalice between them. Significance unknown. Some of the other designs include a 'Lion rampant' and a 'Fleur de Lys' which you can make out in the picture left.

The lower stone steps were uncovered while excavating around the damaged stone trough on the left of this picture. The broken floor tiles, pictured left, were discovered at the top of the upper three stone steps.

June 2005: After a 12 month delay, work on the terraces and barbecue area at the back of the Mill began again. The terrace is shaped like a ship's bow with the burbling mill-races on either side. A large communal barbecue has been built into the original huge stone fireplace which was formerly inside the lounge of the Miller's house (now long gone except for rebuilt sections of the lower walls). It's a wonderful place to sit out with a glass of wine and soak up the last rays of the evening sunshine. The three pictures below show the gradual transformation from August 2002 to June 2005. The barbeque is now fully operational although there is still some finishing off to do.

May 2005: The second gite was finished just in time for the letting season.. La Maison d'Hibou has turned out to be even nicer then we imagined and comfortably sleeps 5. The gite has superb views to both the front and rear. The rear view is over the mill-races and into the poplar woods beyond. While from the front windows and terrace you gaze over across the vineyards to the ancient cognac distillery on the horizon.

August 2003: Things to do while you're waiting to have your house connected to mains electricity and water.........

July 2003 to May 2004: After nearly a whole year, we finally have a swimming pool.

June 2003: "Don't worry", said the Carpenters at the end of May "You strip out all the floors and we'll come back soon and fit the new ones". In hindsight, what they were actually saying was "See you in 3-4 months!" Still, we had plenty of other things to keep us occupied. The next little project was to start building the terrace right along the front of the house. There was rubble everywhere and the terrace was an excellent place to dispose of tons and tons of the stuff....which is exactly what we did!

May 2003: During April 2003 we drew up plans and had numerous site meetings with numerous different tradesman (Artisans), as well as the electricity people (EDF) and the French equivalent of the Waterboard (GDF). We wanted to get quotes for renovation work on La Maison Principale which is where we ourselves were intending to live. By May 2003 we had placed orders with all the appropriate companies and committed ourselves to spending a large chunk of spending money, too! We were promised that we would have water and electricity as soon as possible which we thought probably meant a couple of months at the most...talk about innocents abroad....we eventually had to wait 12 months before we could turn on a tap or switch on an electric light! So, while we waited for the masons, carpenters and plumbers to start work we got stuck in and started stripping out all the walls, floors, ceilings etc. By the end of May 2003 our house was nothing more than four bare external walls, an earth floor and exposed roof timbers...just a shell...ready for the rebuilding to begin. By then we had moved into our trusty caravan in the barn.

Early March 2003: Within a few days we had settled in and put together a temporary B&Q kitchen (Note: I hope someone influential at B&Q reads this because I'm giving them an awful lot of free publicity...Dear Mr. B or should that be Mr Q? We've still got several more kitchens to fit out here...have you got any spare ones you could send out in return for a free holiday?) (Fat chance!!). Most of our furniture was still in boxes and stored in the huge room which runs the full length of the Mill building. We did also manage to find the picnic table and the trendy Stella umbrella so we could sit out in style.

March 2003: Home Sweet Home. Jane demonstrating the finger-tip, easy-slide B&Q drawer unit ( a boon for every kitchen!)	March 2003: The French life-style begins. (Yes, I know Stella Artois is Belgian but that's the only umbrella we had at the time!)

Late March 2003: Now this is the bit where any lady readers might get the wrong impression about my apparent lack of chivalry in sending Jane down to dig out the old well. Yes, I know it looks bad in the photos below but bear with me because there is an explanation! You see, it all started when we found the remains of an old well hidden under a mound of earth, stones and a rotting tree stump. I dug away the debris and lifted some ancient stone slabs to find the well itself full to the top with 'orrible slimy silt. The above-ground bit of the well had presumably been levelled or had collapsed at some stage because all we could see was the outline of the stonework (about 1 metre square) disappearing down into the ground. So, never ones to dodge a challenge, we decided to see if we could clear it out. I manfully started shovelling and after a while hit a sort of semi-solid floor about a metre down. Surely the well would have been deeper than that? The stonework of the walls was in remarkably good condition but we were fishing out large stones, lengths of rotting branch and bits of unidentifiable organic matter all marinaded in foul stomach-turning water. At that stage my arms weren't long enough to reach down any further so we decided that one of us had to climb down in there and get digging. You guessed it - Jane! The reason why it was Jane who got the short straw was that we only had one pair of waders and they were too small for me....honest! The problem was that we had no idea how deep the well was and whether the solid bit we had got to would collapse at any moment. So we put an aluminium extending ladder into the hole and Jane climbed down with strict instructions to climb like hell if the ladder suddenly started sinking into the depths of the well! I lowered a bucket on a rope down to her and between us well pulled out a mini-mountain of gunge.

March 2003: Jane digging out the well in (small) waders.	March 2003: The well ready for re-filling

After digging for an eternity, in between gasping for fresh air, we suddenly hit a slab at a depth of about 2 metres and we had reached the bottom. As you can see, the sides of the well are in very good condition and I have now started to rebuild the above-ground structure. Incidentally, after the well had re-filled itself, we had the water tested at the public-health lab in Cognac and were delighted to find that it was now safe to drink (not that we have!). Another feather in the cap of feminism!!

February 2003: On 10th February 2003 we moved out of the UK and arrived at Le Moulin...only to discover that we'd been burgled since our last visit! The robbers had taken all my power tools, our bikes and all our sporting gear as well as wierd things like kitchen cupboard door fronts! Anyway, too late to turn back so after hours of fun with the local police we moved in. We had brought out a garden shed (courtesey of B&Q) which became our new, ultra-modern toilet in the field...still only a hole in the ground...but this was REAL progress! The river was a raging torrent and the woods at the back were flooded after severe rain but the mill and the house seemed unaffected apart from some leaks in the roof.

February 2003: The new plush B&Q toilet block (aka Thunder Hut!)	February 2003: The river Chazotte after heavy rain.

January 2003: With the sale of our house in UK imminent, we hired a box-van and brought out a mini-mountain of tools, furniture, kitchen units, and other essentials. We carried on making the place as secure and comfortable as possible for a couple of days before heading back to shut up shop in Ross-on-Wye.

October 2002: On 29th October 2002 we signed the Acte de Vente and Le Moulin de Chazotte was ours...gulp!! By this time we had put our house, in Ross-on-Wye in the UK, on the market and already had a firm buyer. We brought out a load of stuff from the UK and set up a sort of primitive 'home' in the only vaguely habitable part of the mill buildings. So, here we were in the back-waters of deeply rural France in an house which had stood empty for as long as anyone could remember. A house which had no running water, no electricity and no sanitation whatesoever. We made a rudimentary earth-closet toilet out of a couple of beach wind-breaks and a flimsy awning.....and the adventure began.....

October 2002: Our new house!! All mod cons except water, electricity, 'phone, toilets, windows, stairs etc.	October 2002: The stylish outdoor toilet! Comprising two beach wind-breaks a flimsy awning...oh yes...and a hole in the ground!

July 2002: The beginning of it all....Jane and I came over to France for our two week summer holiday with the caravan in tow as usual. We had made appointments to see several British-owned gite businesses and were basically intending to do a bit of research into what we could get for our money if we sold up in the UK and moved out to France. After a week in the Charente and Dordogne we planned to pick up our two youngest children, Greg and Helen at Bordeaux airport before working our way together gradually down towards the Pyrenees. Our eldest daughter, Emma and her partner, Rob were in the process of doing the GR10 walk of the Pyrenees from one end to the other ( a gruelling six week trek!) and we had arranged to meet them high up in the mountains so the whole family could spend a few days together. What none of us had expected or anticipated was that, before we even got as far as Bordeaux, Jane and I would discover, fall in love with and make an offer for Le Moulin de Chazotte near Cognac! However, having made the offer, unfortunately the Agent rang us on the mobile phone to explain that we had been pipped at the post by an American bidder and that the Mill had been sold. Such is life..so we shrugged off the disappointment and continued down towards Bordeaux. However, within a couple of days the Agent was back on the phone to report that the American bidder had pulled out...were we still interested? By this time we were all together at a lovely Camping Municipale next to the bullring in Aire sur l'Adour so fate presented us with the chance to have a family pow-wow and make a joint decision which would change all our lives irrevocably.

July 2002: Le Moulin de Chazotte. A life-changing visit for Jane and I

Return to homepage