The Fireplace is Finished – well, almost

January 9, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 11 Comments

We are on our way back to Paris. It’s 10.30 pm and by one o’clock, we should be in bed. Not like last night when Relationnel hit the sack at 4.30 by which time I was asleep, woken from time to time with hammer blows. But today was our last today and it seem inconceivable to leave Closerie Falaiseau without finishing the fireplace.

In yesterday’s post, I was up to the first coat of limewash. When we got up next morning, we were surprised to discover that the pale ochre colour in the bucket had turned almost white on the fireplace. I applied a second coat and a certain amount of homogeneity appeared. It was quite amazing.

Bricks arranged like miniature Roman bath ruins

In the meantime, Relationnel began work on the hearth which – obviously – turned out to be much longer than expected. First, we were using refractory bricks of various shapes and sizes which Mr Previous Owner had recuperated from somewhere or other, thus saving us quite a bit of money. Second, there have to be little air tunnels in the hearth under the top layer of bricks. By the time he had laid it all out (upside down), it looked like miniature Roman bath ruins.

So while that was going on, I started the rendering on the walls. I must say I had been somewhat apprehensive. I’d looked for a video on You Tube on applying “removable” rendering with a roller and there weren’t any. I did watch one on applying ordinary paint with a roller and got a few tips though. First, we mixed in the colour (well, Relationnel did with his neat machine) hoping we wouldn’t need a second batch halfway though because it didn’t look very repeatable. Relationnel then demonstrated how to apply it and it didn’t look easy at all. The paint seemed to fall off the roller before it even got to the wall.

Now, how to get it onto the wall without it falling off first

He told me to begin in the middle of the right wall (which will be hidden behind a large bookcase) until I got the hang of it. One of the things I saw on the video was that you should do the edges with a paint brush first (after putting adhesive tape on the adjacent wall for protection). My efforts didn’t look too bad and the paint got better at staying on the roller once it was totally impregnated.

Fraussie learning the techniques of rendering

That bit was done standing up. Then I had to climb a ladder to do the top bit. I’m not that keen on being that high up and by then the paint-soaked roller was really heavy. Also, since my technique was better, the paint wasn’t as thick, making the join a little obvious. There was also the hard-to-get-at bit between the mantle and the oak beam that you more or less have to do blind.

The wall on the right of the fireplace after rendering

After the middle and top sections came the bottom bit which is hell on your back. While I was doing it, Relationnel appeared. “That’s dangerous, you know”. “Oh là là”, I thought, “What have I done now?” “Oh, why?”, I asked, hiding my apprehension. “Because now I’ll want you to help me all the time.” “Ha ha!” The whole wall only took a couple of hours and I was rather pleased with the result though a little uneven. I attacked the second wall with much greater aplomb and it looks most professional.

Meanwhile, Relationnel was still messing around with his bricks and finally came to the conclusion that some of them would need to be cut. Eventually, everything was ready and he started cementing them into the frame. After tea and Christmas cake on the worksite, I added another coat of limewash. The result was getting better all the time.

But the bricks were very tricky and when Relationnel went to bed at 4.30 am, he hadn’t finished. This morning, he finished them off while I put on another coat of limewash. After lunch, it was my turn to help again and I learnt yet another skill – putting refractory mortar (my old friend) between the joints. We finished off the job together and at 7 pm, the only thing left to be done was to add the ventilation grills but two of them require a special metal bracket but that will only need another hour or so next time to we go to Blois.

The fireplace as we were leaving Blois (with the coat of arms taped up for protection)

We’re not satisfied with the mantel which needs another coat of fine-sand rendering to get rid of all the bumps but we can live with it for the next two years. The next time we go to Closerie Falaiseau, we’ll go hunting for a sofa at the dépôt-vente, buy some firewood, find a way to get our 150 kilo fireback upstairs, lit the fire then crack open the champagne !

Architecture, Loire Valley, Renovation

The Fireplace is Still Not Finished

January 7, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

This is the post that was supposed to announce that the fireplace at Closerie Falaiseau is finished and that we have opened our vintage champagne and eaten our home-made foie gras to welcome in the New Year.

The state of the fireplace in the last post

Well, we’ve eaten some of the foie gras because of its relatively short lifespan. But you’ve guessed it – the fireplace is not finished despite the fact that we’re staying an extra day and that I have contributed far more than I initially thought I would. You may remember from my last post on the subject that I was going to put rendering on the wall on either side of the fireplace after priming it.

What it looked like behind the mantel before Relationnel covered it all with refractory mortar

Well, since the mortaring of the inside of the mantel proved far more time-consuming than Relationnel initially thought, I figured I should volunteer for something else more urgent. I was told that I could fill the joints between the lintel stones. Not with putty, of course, but with lime mixed with sand and water. We’re doing this the traditional way. The information came from Nicolas, the man in charge of renovating our balcony in Paris who is apparently a superduper expert when it comes to stone.

Damaged lintel before filling the joints and reconstructing the stone

My experience with mortaring the back of the fireplace came in good stead and I eventually got the knack of filling the joints. Then I filled the other cracks and holes. Relationnel said I was doing so well that I could reconstruct the missing bits of stone. Great! I was very skeptical at first but in end I managed to create something very reasonable. However, half the reconstruction fell out of one of the gaps I had filled, which was disappointing to say the least. So I didn’t even look at the biggest one.

Partial reconstruction on the largest gap

Next day, I surveyed my handiwork and declared that the sand was too coarse so Relationnel produced some ultra-fine sand. Now why didn’t he tell me about that the day before? It produced much better results and I was able to reconstruct the one that broke and, with infinite patience, complete the gap I hadn’t even attempted. I was getting the hang of it.

The lintel after doctoring with a multitude of different colours and textures

On Friday we needed more mortar so we both went to Brico Depot together. It was the first time in four days that Relationnel had set foot outside the yard. I’d been grocery shopping in the morning, so I was marginally luckier. We decided to go out for dinner on Saturday night to have a côte de bœuf at Au Coin du Table in lieu of champagne in front of an open fire and not talk about renovations or fireplaces. We almost succeeded.

On Sunday morning, I got a new job – putting a coat of light-coloured rendering on the mantel using a water-down version of the fine-sand and lime concoction applied with a spatula. That was a joke! The first batch was too thick but we eventually found a workable consistency and did it together, with me on either side and Relationnel at the front. When it dried, it looked very uneven and not much lighter than the first time, just not as rough. Hmm …

Mantle after second lot of rendering on the mantle

When Susan and Simon from Days on the Claise arrived for lunch, with half the meal to boot, we were definitely glad of the diversion. They also run a tour business called Loire Valley Time Travel, taking visitors to the châteaux in Celestine, a Citroën called a traction avant which started life in 1953. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t brilliant and we didn’t get to meet Celestine, though maybe we’d never have got back to our renovations if she we had!

After lunch, I volunteered to whitewash the fireplace. Well, I gathered that was what “fleur de chaux”, water and a savvy mixture of pigments corresponded to. I was a bit doubtful about its ability to cover up all my handiwork, not to mention someone else’s plasters and the remains of a colour job somewhere along the way, ranging from dark red to yellow and pink. So we got out the scales and made up our extremely liquid mixture.

Relationnel started panicking and said it wasn’t even worth trying but I was more philosophical. It looked a darned sight easier than anything else I’d done up until that stage. Why not give it a try? The result was not quite what we expected. I’ll tell you what we did about it in the next post!

Architecture, France, Travel photos

Monday’s Travel Photos – “Wet” Champagne – Half-Timbered Churches

January 6, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 11 Comments

Like most people, our only view of Champagne was Reims, Troyes, Epinay and vineyards but late one September, we were looking for somewhere to spend a long weekend and do some cycling before the cold weather set in. We found a gîte near Lac du Der and discovered, to our amazement, the existence of no fewer than eleven half-timber churches in the area, four of which we visited by bike and the rest by car. It was like a treasure hunt as we went from to the other and as you can see from the photos, it was an absolutely perfect day. Many of these churches used to exist in Normandy, but were bombed during the war. The ones in Champagne,mainly built in the 16th century, have been miraculously preserved.

Sainte-Marie-du-Lac-Nuisement 1479, which was dismantled when Lac du Der was built and reassembled in a regional museum

For interior views, see Monday’s Travel Photos – “Wet” Champagne – Half-Timbered Churches – Interiors

This post is part of Lou Messugo’s All About France Link-Up #6. For other contributions, click here.

Loire Valley, Renovation

More Progress on the Fireplace

January 3, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

Relationnel said today that if he’d known how long the fireplace was going to take, he’d never have started the renovations. I’m not convinced though. I somehow can’t see him going to stay in a gîte somewhere else in France to enjoy an open fire when we are the proud owners of a 400-year old house with no less than four fireplaces. He might have started the refurbishment earlier though …

He has been working full speed for three days. The mantle is now more or less ready to take the whitewash. He’s had to reconstruct it inside and outside, requiring large amounts of refractory mortar and bits of brick and a lot of skill and patience. We had hoped to be able to renovate the stone but it is really quite damaged and would take weeks and weeks to restore. It has also been painted various pink and ocre shades over the centuries so whitewash seems the best solution.

Having spent the first two days getting all my translations out of the way, I was finally able to contribute to the renovations today. Although there is rendering on the other walls of the room, the two panels on either side of the fireplace had been left unfinished, covered by a large bookcase on the right and a large cupboard on the left. Another cupboard stood in front of the fireplace. The previous owner left the bookcase on the right as it is almost an exact fit but the other side is completely bare.

Relationnel decided that if we were going to do renovations, we had to do them properly, including rendering on both walls. So that is my job. Today, I did the undercoat, an easy though tiring job because I’m not used to stretching my arms above my head, getting up and down a ladder to dip my roller in the paint, getting down on all fours to finish off the bottom, etc.

I donned my throwaway overalls and put plastic bags over my shoes to protect them and used the cap that I won with Carolyn Barnabo at the barbecue quizz we attended last year at the Australian Embassy in Paris. I always knew it would come in handy. Relationnel demonstrated how to put paint on the roller and I was off.

The mantle with only the right side to go

We used to have our house repainted regularly when I was a child in Townsville by professional painters and I certainly don’t remember ever seeing them use paint rollers. I don’t know when they were invented, but they are certainly a big improvement over those large brushes I used when I did my first paint job thirty years ago.

Relationnel does the last bit of rendering

Also, that water-based paint is a real boon. When you’ve finished, you just have to wash it all off the brush, roller (though since it was a cheap-O one so we threw it away), paint bucket and grid thing. The only disadvantage is that in winter, cleaning everything outside with no running water is a bit of a bind. It was easier when we painted the front gate in the heat wave last summer.

But Relationnel said I did a good job so I went off to make lunch while he did some more mortaring. We finally sat down at 2 pm by which time I didn’t want to move another inch. I asked Relationnel how long it would take to dry. “Oh, you can put the rendering on this afternoon if you want.” No way. I had a nap instead. I’ll attack that tomorrow!

Lifestyle, Loire Valley

SAD No Longer

January 2, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

It was very comforting to have so many people commisserating with me during my attack of SAD, alias Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter depression and light deprivation disorder, with lots of helpful comments both on the blog and on Facebook. You’ll be pleased to hear it is OVER. I probably could have avoided it to some extent if I had been expecting it to happen. First, I would not have left my vitamin D in Blois and second, I would have made sure I went out each day to at least partly counteract the lack of light.

View from my temporary office window — Sun streaming through my temporary office window

Now that we are back in Blois, even though I have been working like crazy to catch up with the translations I didn’t do when I was feeling so depressed, and incidentally suffering from RSI (repeated strain injury) in my mouse-hand, the light streaming through the window of my temporary office seems to have done the trick. I’ve now caught up and can devote the rest of the week to helping Relationnel with the fireplace so that we can celebrate New Year before we leave on 7th January.

More news on the progress of the fireplace soon!

View from the kitchen windows on a sunny morning

Winter pansies and sweet mock orange (hydrangea philadelphus) — Winter pansies and a flowering laurel on a sunny afternoon

France, Lifestyle, Loire Valley

Happy New Year 2013

December 31, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

Even though we are not sitting in front of a roaring fire in the renovated upstairs fireplace as planned (we’re in front of the closed-up fireplace downstairs) and the oysters are unfortunately back on our balcony in Paris, we are nevertheless in Closerie Falaiseau in Blois. People have been seeing in the New Year in this very house for 438 years. We are about to break that tradition.

What a mementous year! Knowing the hard work awaiting us in April to convert the bottom of the house into rental accommodation, we organised our first home exchange with Madrid and were not disappointed! Since then we have clocked up seven other house swaps in various parts of Australia.

John and Toshiko Modesitt in front of Closerie Falaiseau

The final signature for Closerie Falaiseau at the end of March was followed by two superhuman weeks during which we divided off, furnished and decorated the ground floor mainly with French provinicial furniture. The rental went well, with our first paying guests, American impressionist John Modesitt and his wife Toshiko in June. We are now the proud owners of one of their paintings! The comments in our guest book are very encouraging and it was wonderful to meet so many interesting people.

We came back several times during the spring and summer, doing a lot of cycling and gardening, even eating our first homegrown potatoes, planted in the rain. We repainted the front gate and fitted out a temporary kitchen in our “little house” next door so we wouldn’t inconvenience our guests. Relationnel will be turning it into a gîte after he retires in October 2014 and we take over the entire house.

The roof of the little house seen from the garden

I came to the momentous decision to give up teaching translation at university in June after 15 years. I felt I was ready to turn over a new page particularly since my vocation seemed to have given out. I also wanted to be free of any geographical constraints so we can come to Blois whenever we want.

In September, we went to Australia for 5 weeks via Hong Kong, holidaying first in Tasmania, then in Armidale where I organised a family reunion attended by 50 members of the Kneipp family. We spent many wonderful hours catching up with family I hadn’t seen for a very, very long time. But it was heartbreaking to leave so many people behind. We finished our holiday on the Gold Coast and Brisbane but unfortunately came home with only one suitcase out of two. Next day Black Cat was burgled.

After we arrived home, I came down to Blois with some Australian friends for 10 days and Relationnel joined us for a long weekend. I then stayed on, mainly going back to Paris for weekends due to ongoing renovation on the balcony of the Palais Royal which was supposed to take 10 weeks and is still not finished after 4 1/2 months. It has not only been noisy, but also blocked out our view and light, giving me winter depression.

Scaffolding in front of our balcony in Paris

Relationnel came down for two one-week periods to renovate the upstairs fireplace which has turned out to be a major undertaking. We’re still hoping to finish it before going back to Paris on 7th January, by which time the scaffolding should be gone from the Palais Royal as well. We’ve decided to only herald in the New Year when we can do so in front of a blazing fire. We’re hoping it will happen this week!

So what are my good resolutions,plans and expectations for 2013? The first is NO MORE RENOVATION until we move here permanently. The second is more travelling in Europe, starting with Barcelona in February for which I’m looking looking for a home exchange. After that, maybe Italy or Scandinavia, Ireland or one of the Eastern European countries.

The third is going back to fitter occupations than I’ve had in 2012 and losing the 3 or 4 kilos I’ve gained recently mainly due to going back and forth between two houses! The fourth is getting out and about in Paris more. The fifth is learning to make the most of my iPhone camera so I can take better photos particularly at night.

I haven’t mentioned Aussie in France, but that goes without saying. It’s a part of my life and I’ll keep writing posts until I run out of things to say.

And what about you, my faithful readers, what are your plans for 2013?

Bonne année à tous!

Australia, Austria, Egypt, France, Italy, Prague, Saint Petersburg, Travel photos

Monday’s Travel Photos – Highlights of 2012

December 30, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

I wanted to pick out the highlights of my Monday’s Travel Photos posts in 2012 but rather than choose my own favourites, always a difficult task, I asked Relationnel to tell me which of my Monday’s travel photos he preferred month by month. These, of course, are not the places I went to in 2012, but taken from various holidays over the last few years. Which is your favourite? Or is there a photo you remember from another post that you prefer?

Burano Island, Italy

The Dancing House, Prague

Orvieto Cathedral, Italy

The Sphinx and the Pyramid of Kheph, Egypt

French customs, Lifestyle

Celebrating New Year in France

December 28, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

When I submitted my latest post to My French Life, the global community of French and francophiles connecting like-minded people in English & French on 11th December, I firmly believed that the fireplace renovation would be finished. We still plan to celebrate New Year in front of the fire – it might just be a few days late!

An earlier article on My French Life™ by Hannah Duke, called Christmas en Français: Festive Vocabulary, included the word réveillon,which set me thinking about New Year because the same word is used for both celebrations.

When I was growing up in Australia, I don’t particularly remember celebrating the New Year and I certainly didn’t stay up until past midnight as implied by the word réveillon, which contains veiller, meaning to stay awake. Read more

Lifestyle, Paris, Renovation

SAD and Au Vieux Campeur

December 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 20 Comments

I don’t know if displaced tropical Queenslanders are more likely to suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Depression) than others but I can’t find any other explanation for having felt so down this week. Already the days are short (it’s only light from 9 am to 5 pm max) but the scaffolding on the balcony cuts out most of what natural light there is and gives artificial neon light from 8 am until 7 pm. The flower seller at the market found me so down on Sunday that he gave me a kitchy little pot of four-leaf clover!

Relationnel was told the scaffolding was moving to the next set of windows today so about 10.30 am, I went downstairs to find some workmen to ask. They reassured me it was D-Day so I raised my arm and said “yey!”. They looked a little surprised so I explained that they were my windows that had been obscured for the last four months.

The sun was out, the sky was blue and just going downstairs seemed to cheer me up so I thought I’d go to Rue de Rennes to look after the missing suitcase invoice problem. First stop was a shoe shop called Arcus. I gave them the date and amount. They were very friendly and immediately tracked down the purchase and gave me a receipt.

Then I walked down to Boulevard Saint Germain to one of the Au Vieux Campeur shops. Parisians swear by this shop, though I don’t really understand why. It used to be just one shop on rue des Ecoles selling outdoorsey stuff. It is now a series of speciality shops – 29 in the Latin quarter alone – selling everything to do with sport and camping.

My objection, apart from the prices, is that the shops I go to (mainly for walking shoes) are always full of people. I spent a full hour trying on every possible pair of shoes in the shop before we went to Australia in September. I finally bought some ugly looking turquoise and grey shoes that gave me horrendous blisters in Tasmania. And then, when I had finally worn them in, they disappeared with the suitcase!

So I went back to the shop where I bought them, stood in line and asked for a receipt. I was sent to the “main shop”, two streets away. I queued there as well only to be told that I had to go back to the first shop. The lady rang up the guy and told him he had to give me a receipt. I went back and stood in line and gave him the details. He couldn’t find my purchase of course. “What time was it?” You gotta be joking – I’m supposed to remember the time I bought the shoes? I only know I was there for too long.

He finally sats it is not in his cash register. “Is this the only place I could have paid for the shoes I got downstairs?” “No”, he says relunctantly, “there are those two as well”, indicating a couple of computer screens further along the counter. “You mean, these three cash registers are not connected up ?” “Er, no.” “Are you telling me I have to wait until there are two more sales people to check?” “Well, I could turn them on.” Which he eventually did and I queued again while he served another few people.

The bistrot with the awful food - Le Cluny — The bistrot with the awful food – Le Cluny

Not that I blame him, it must have been very annoying for the other customers. Anyway, he still couldn’t find any trace of my purchase so I dispiritedly went out, by which time the rain was absolutely pouring down and I didn’t have an umbrella. I took refuge in the closest brasserie, Le Cluny, and ate an absolutely awful meal of spare ribs and potatoes. The young waiter commisserated and gave me a free coffee.

So, here I am, back home, still waiting for the scaffolding to move and it’s already 4.30, which is terribly close to knock-off time.

Next day’s update: removal of the scaffolding is now postponed to 7th January.

Architecture, Loire Valley, Restaurants, Sightseeing

A Visit to Chambord the Magnificent, including lunch

December 26, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 13 Comments

The day we went to Chambord, we really needed the break from our fireplace renovation. What I didn’t realise is that Chambord has over 300 fireplaces, a few of which look remarkably like ours.

We had decided to have lunch at the Saint Michel, just opposite the château and as we entered the restaurant, the waitress apologised for the smoke from the fireplace. Well, we know what the problem is, don’t we! Tightly closed windows and insufficient air intake. But it was pleasant to have a fire and our Australian friends appreciated the hunting decor and actually liked the smoke.

We all ordered the 22 euro “bistrot” menu as opposed to the 37 euro gourmet menu. I was amused to see that all the starters on the bistrot menu were Italian (smoked salmon and prawn cannelloni, prosciutto and mozarella bruschetta, beef carpaccio and mini red peppers stuffed with ricotta) while the main courses were traditional dishes (dear stew – no kidding – steamed haddock, three fishes stew and lamb knuckel-end & smashed carrots – also in the original.

Dessert was pear financier, French pain d’épices toast with salted-butter caramel ice-cream and crème brûlée with green lemon – they meant lime of course. The food was tasty and fresh, except for the French toast which had seen better days, and the service was friendly. I learnt afterwards that it’s also a very reasonably priced hotel. I don’t know what the rooms are like but having breakfast with that fabulous view of Chambord might be worth a bad bed!

The first thing we saw when we went into the château was the famous double-revolution staircase where two people can go up or down without ever meeting. Note the lack of people in the photo, perfectly possible in winter and totally unheard-of in summer. We were fascinated with the fireplaces and firebacks of course and loved the beautiful ceilings and other architectural details. One of the fireplaces is exactly the same shape as ours.

We headed for the roof (see my previous post on Chambord) while the light and weather were still good, which were were perfectly right to do because it started raining as we left.

Caisson ceiling with François Ier’s salamander and “F”

After our visit to the rooftops, I then discovered that there is a series of furnished rooms which I have never seen before. It seems that in the mid-nineteenth century, the Count of Chambord decided to open the château to the public and furnish some of the apartments with his own private collection, mainly consisting of royal portraits.

When it became State property in 1930, there were 440 pieces, but only seven pieces of furniture. Today, there are 4,500 objects, including tapestries from the 16th to 18th centuries, and a large collection of furniture, particularly four-poster beds and objets d’art.

I even saw a bust of Molière, which I found surprising, but Louis XIV was also the master of Chambord and came to stay a total of nine times (far more than François Ier!), inviting Molière’s theatre troupe for entertainment.

I felt as though I hardly touched on the wealth that Chambord has to offer, so next time we cycle there, I’ll make sure we visit as well. I may have to get a season ticket!

Le Saint Michel, Place Saint Louis – 41250 CHAMBORD, Tél. / Phone : +33 2 54 20 31 31 – Fax : +33 2 54 20 36 40, hotelsaintmichel@wanadoo.fr, www.saintmichel-chambord.com

from the Tropics to the City of Light