woolybanana Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 There are dozens if not hundreds of abandoned and ruined very old chateaux in France that are literally falling down, some even classed as monuments historiques. There are ways of saving some of them now through the link below, for example, which would enable you, for as little as a euro to become a part owner and to enable the thing to be rebuilt and saved. Interested, over to you.https://www.adopteunchateau.com/( there is an English version of the site) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinBretagne Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Where have you been for the past 18 months? I’ve contributed to both Mothe Chandeliers and Le Chatêau de Ebaupinay. During the summer I spent two days working at MC with other volunteers. It’s a great opportunity. www.dartagnans.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Perhaps you could have posted about it with links at the time you heard about it so that we could all have joined in.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 It reminds of those TV adverts you get in the UK where they emotionally blackmail old people watching countdown (thinking Brit in Bretagne here LOL) into adopting an abandoned donkey.You pay 30 squid a month that helps feed the donkey and in return !!!!! the donkey sends you selfies of itself smiling.Apparently you can go and meet the donkey and all the other donkeys (thinking Brit and Bretagne here) that have also contributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Cynic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I wouldn't give tuppence to restore a relic of feudal France. I just don't see them as a commemoration of a glorious past.Built on the sweated labour of a starving population, there is a reason they were left to rot, in a similar way to the colonial mansions in the West Indies and parts of Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Oh I don't know, not that bad, it symbolises how those lord and master also got their greedy heads chopped off! Now the mansions have fallen into the hands of the peasants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinBretagne Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I would have thought that ALBF would have been happy, they are both quite close to Tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Nomoss, that was very vehement.What kind of buildings would you keep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I have no particular view on "keeping" any buildings.I just wouldn't contribute anything to preserve or restore crumbling chateaux or the like, nor pay to visit them.I find the display of the decaying remains of ertswhile opulence depressing. I'd knock them down and use the land and any contributions for something more useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I thought that just about everybody here was paying to restore crumbling houses.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 LOL, Norman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Nice one Norman. Surely you mean relics paying to preserve relics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 [quote user="NormanH"]I thought that just about everybody here was paying to restore crumbling houses..[/quote]Not us. We abandoned our crumbler, previously used only in Summer, less than a week after moving into it in Winter, and put it up for sale. We had just moved everything from Spain to France, but realised it would be a life project and swallow our savings. Luckily Brits were still buying dreams in 2001.Next house was already well restored, and current one was built of brick and concrete in the 1960's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard51 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Do you wash the car on a Sunday morning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinBretagne Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 [quote user="nomoss"][quote user="NormanH"]I thought that just about everybody here was paying to restore crumbling houses..[/quote]Not us. We abandoned our crumbler, previously used only in Summer, less than a week after moving into it in Winter, and put it up for sale. We had just moved everything from Spain to France, but realised it would be a life project and swallow our savings. Luckily Brits were still buying dreams in 2001.Next house was already well restored, and current one was built of brick and concrete in the 1960's.[/quote]I almost feel sorry for you. How unfortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Norman said:<< I thought that just about everybody here was paying to restore crumbling houses..>>Nice, Norman.Ours is a small 11 year old apartment, perfect for our lock up and leave lifestyle of spending half of each year here in blocks of 5/6 weeks at a time. Built with concrete, extremely well-insulated and easy to keep clean, light and airy, overlooking the wooded, shared gardens and far enough away from the noise from the shared pool. Although we don’t spend the overly hot summers here so we miss much of the noise. We also have many excellent neighbours, no nasty ones.The other half of our time is spent in a largish house with a too-big-now garden that seems permanently dusty, but the big compensation is living just a few minutes from our gorgeous granddaughters, the reason we’ve not moved here permanently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 [quote user="richard51"]Do you wash the car on a Sunday morning?[/quote]No, don't worry, you've still got the job[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 [quote user="BritinBretagne"]I almost feel sorry for you. How unfortunate.[/quote]Thanks, but it wasn't so bad.My wife had bought the place, near Valence d'Agen, several years previously, when were living in Spain, as she inherited some money and had always wanted something in France.It was a huge, two-storey barn, covering a ground area of 30 x 20 metres, with a small part of one end containing a rather primitive, 2-bedroom "gite", and had about 3,000 m2 of land.We visited there in the Summer whenever possible, cleaning up dust, cobwebs and mouse droppings, and strimming the grass and brambles. There was a thriving Café de Commerce in a nearby small town, where we met people who were also living their dreams, along with the usual collection of Brit tradesmen working on the black.Over time we found that water came up through the concrete floors during heavy rain, that runoff was undermining two corners of the building, and that interior mud brick walls were slowly collapsing, as they had no foundations. We still thought it was worth improving, and obtained planning permission to convert more of the barn for living, which included a new roof and major building work.We took 3 loads of furniture etc. from Spain with the old Dodge 6 1/2 ton Luton van I bought for the purpose, and moved into the "gite" in January 1999, after selling our business and property there.As we sat there trying to get warm we began to realise what a huge job it would be, and how much more daunting, nearly ten years older than when she bought the place. The cost to replace the enormous panelled roof, probably asbestos, would itself be enormous.After a couple of days of discussion we got in the car, drove south, and bought a neat house in a small village, where someone had already done all the work. Fortunately the move only entailed a few more round trips with the van.It took about a year to sell the barn, fortunately we didn't lose anything on it, and it was a pleasant retreat for ourselves and family while we owned it.It was also a valuable lesson [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Each time I drive through your village I can't miss your place because of the wine cellar..[URL=https://beta.photobucket.com/u/bfb_album/p/0713338b-31bc-40cb-9378-43df0f4f2c4a][IMG]https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/hh80/bfb_album/0/0713338b-31bc-40cb-9378-43df0f4f2c4a-original.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 [quote user="NormanH"]Each time I drive through your village I can't miss your place because of the wine cellar..[URL=https://beta.photobucket.com/u/bfb_album/p/0713338b-31bc-40cb-9378-43df0f4f2c4a][IMG]https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/hh80/bfb_album/0/0713338b-31bc-40cb-9378-43df0f4f2c4a-original.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds[/IMG][/URL][/quote]It's only a few houses from us, but the trees hide it from our view for most of the year, and also attenuate any noise. I also quite like the smell of fermentation.It provides significant activity and employment for the town, together with the Coop and a large wine producer and exporter. The number of businesses has increased by some 50%, to 114, since we have been here. Not bad for a population of 200.Being on a major route also helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Oh I thought your house was the one on the right of the photo...behind your bag in boxes..[6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 [quote user="NormanH"]Oh I thought your house was the one on the right of the photo...behind your bag in boxes..[6][/quote]No BIB's there, it's a distillery, but makes industrial alcohol, not the drinking sort [:(]For BIB's we have the choice of two COOPés and several independent retailers within less than a kilometre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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