Peter in France

[mpprh]

We still have no snow, but cloudless days with cold winds. The ski resorts are delighted.

The cold weather has continued but the forecast is for warmer weather : www.weather.com/weather/tenday/FRPA0616

We had intermittent internet failure because "bad connections due to cold weather" and this morning I had no water. Don't know if it was a frozen meter (they put in a new one last week and probably didn't replace the insulation) or the whole village was off for repairs. It was back on tonight when I got back.

Some friends a little way north had -10C this morning. It is the coldest I've experienced in 12 years here.


Peter

[WillowTheWhisp]

Is that stonework sandstone or that tofu stone or whatever it's called that there seems to be a lot of in France? I just love old properties and much prefer interestingly shaped stone walls to plasterboarded ones. A friend of mine has an old farm house in Ireland and for years it was rough walls inside that you could only emulsion, impossible to wallpaper but I loved it like that. A few years ago he went and plasterboarded the whole lot and it totally lost its character. Such a shame.

I love that stone spiral staircase. I'm a bit lethal on spiral staircases though, not sure how much I'd like one of my own.

I've just discovered there are cave houses in the area of France we plan visiting in May. I'm rather intrigued by those and have noticed a few for sale in Spain. By all accounts they are cool in summer but warm in winter - I wonder if you need to get permission to carve out new rooms or even cupboards?

[mpprh]

It is pretty well always local stone and all the old towns have an ancient quarry. When I needed some, I found a quarry with a stock, then found a neighbour who had a dilapidated barn he was demolishing - so he was happy for me to take some.

It is very soft - you can see the sea shells in it - and was originally covered externally with enduit - sand, water and lime. Exposing the external stones is a modern trendy idea and the stones deteriorate quite quickly.

This is a google street view of Anduze : g.co/maps/v4w9u Most of the buildings are a pale yellowy stone or covered in enduit, except for the protestant temple which is built of the stone from Pompignan. It is darker and harder than the local stone so often exposed.

If you are down this way, Anduze is worth a visit :
g.co/maps/mfq88
g.co/maps/4ax8q

Peter

[mpprh]

Building works ...

Well, they are not exactly finished, but I have some pics :






Note this started by demolishing and rebuilding walls and rewiring.

Presently it is having new plumbing, new kitchen and new bathroom. The oven is on because the heating system hasn't been installed yet !

View from the apartment :




Peter

[mpprh]

Just to show that I am still kitchening.

Progress is slow because corners are not square, walls are not flat or vertical and it is a constant battle to make things look presentable. The work surface is 221cm along the back wall and 223cm along the front edge. The top units total 220cm with a tight squeeze. They didn't have spirit levels and tape measures in the 1300's I guess.

Escaping to Turkey next week for a bit of culcha - then back for tiling and finishing the bathroom.

[trevnhil]

Hi Peter.
Thanks for the extra pictures, it is looking good. I was surprised though to see what look like double sockets withing easy reach of the sinks.
Are the rules regarding this a bit more lax than the UK.

Regards. Trev.

[mpprh]

The rules are more strict with bathrooms.

The truth is that when the electrics were done, the idea was to have the sink in the middle. Then Mrs mpprh said - "you've got no work surface". That is why the plugs are over the draining board and the hob only has two rings. It really is a tiny space to work with.

There are another two plugs hidden on the left hand side and I'm anticipating putting in a microwave.




Peter

[mpprh]

Back from my Turkey travels, I am back in the DIY game - tiling. Tomorrow should be the end of the kitchen tiling and we aim to test the water pipes and waste system. More photos to come.

The weather is warm and I'm wearing jeans and tshirt. Forecast for Saturday is 20C.

Peter

[mpprh]

Some photos from my last week in Turkey are here :







More : www.flickr.com/photos/10686998@N08

We have lots of etruscan/phoenician/greek/roman remains locally, but not in the same league as some of these

Peter

[accykeef]

This pic confuses me

Is that carved out of the rock face?
If so why is it not all the same colour after many years exposed to the elements.

Kitchen looking good but UK planners would never pass it. The idea that people will not get hold of a plug with wet hands seems obvious but never under estimate the stupidity of some members of the human race.

[mpprh]

The tombs are carved into the rock. I don't know why the colour varies.

Some guesses :

Could they have been painted originally and some of the paint has peeled off ?

People lived in the tombs at some time and the dark patches are the result of fires ?

Fires have been lit by the tombs for some religious reason ?

Some minerals in the water cause staining, but the inset windows don't get wet !


There does seem to be some staining at Paphos, too :




Those plugs will be hidden behind a microwave in due course, but it is a lesson in what happens when ladies change their minds.

[accykeef]

Changing their minds is what they do best. Mrs Keef isn't too bad for that, fortunately but you do have a very small space to work in. I would say that our kitchen here is smaller than that area but we have the advantage of bing able to use 2 walls and still have room for a free standing oven.

You could always block the bottom half of the left hand door and bring the worktop round the corner but then you introduce the dreaded corner cupboard problem.

[mpprh]

The L shape was the original idea but the room is tiny and it seemed to eat into it too much. Other problems were coupling the extractor up to an ancient chimney, the corner problem (and can't reach he cooker !) and plumbing behind the L.

It is a medium size studio with kitchen, lounge and bathroom on one side of a partition wall and bedroom the other. I was going to remove the wall but the rentals agent said that people preferred not to sleep in the same space as the kitchen and a one bed apt rented for more than a studio.

Everything is a compromise !

[WillowTheWhisp]

Mar 4, 2012 20:29:32 GMT accykeef said:

This pic confuses me

.

I was wondering how the heck they got up there to carve it in the first place!

If you look at the topo left corner of the pic it does look like there is some uncarved rock which varies in colour too.

Amazing place. Reminded me of somewhere in Egypt.

[accykeef]

Getting there is easy, lower yourself down from the top on a rope but don't forget your tools.

Is it all carved or have they cheated by slotting the odd bit in here and there?