When Abi changed schools in France from Chalabre to Mirepoix, I found I had more time on my hands and was able to concentrate on the renovation work, particularly researching the “artisans” in France. I use the term artisan loosely, as some of them were no more than odd job men.

The good artisans were hard to come by and there was usually a waiting list. As mentioned in my previous blog, Christian the plumber was very efficient and his work was top class. Danny Le Choc (as he was known – meaning Danny the Shock), was also good but he carried out his work a little differently. He would never turn off the power, but tested by touching!! His hair was a huge mass of straight long strands, sticking up at odd angles and we often wondered if it was because he’d had so many shocks. He lived in a caravan up in the hills above Chalabre with no electricity. The only way we could contact him was at the local cafe around 7am every morning, where he started his working day with a coffee and a cigarette.

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Chimney sweeps (ramoneurs) came under another class of artisan in France. We were pestered almost daily with would-be ramoneurs when we first moved in. They would come out with tales such as it was illegal not the have our chimney swept or the chimney police would be calling to check we had a certificate to say it was clean or we could risk the chimney catching fire and so on and so on. We eventually did hire one (not realising that Christian, as a plumber was qualified to sweep chimneys). This guy (let’s call him Elvis)looked like something out of the sixties with a huge quiff of greased back hair, a blue doctors coat and shoes so pointed you could have dug trenches with them.

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He took ages to sweep the huge chimney that ran up over five floors. Later we discovered that he had broken the top brickwork on the roof which smashed to the basement and blocked the whole chimney. We only found this out in the winter when we lit the fire and the house filled up with smoke.

We found some good British artisans. One in particular was Ian who is a very talented ébénisterie (furniture maker) and his wife Jo, who is the most incredible tapissière (upholsterer). Jo upholstered our dining chairs in a toile de jouy with matching lampshades and curtains. She could turn her hand to almost anything and at one stage, sanded the wooden floors in Chalabre. Ian did all the carpentry for the new kitchen which was completely transformed. (jiginform@ymail.com)

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With the help of these talented artisans we were gradually getting the house renovated. However, we still had a long way to go and many adventures were yet to come.