I am very optimistic that once the parquet is lifted, we will find some fine old floorboards ready to be sanded and polished. The landing floor in the hallway is polished wood, and looks lovely. So fingers crossed !

My friend Liz is going to be my eyes and ears for the next week, staying in Apartment Lalande and visiting the studio to report back to me on progress. In the meantime my task is to schedule out all of the materials and fittings that I am due to purchase to be installed by the contractor, and be ready to place the orders next trip…..

The process in France is much more formal than is typical for domestic scale works in the UK.  Drawings showing all of the features wanted are given to the contractor for itemisation and pricing – down to the number and location of power supply sockets,  light fittings and kitchen and bathrom fittings. Having to wait for nearly a year has meant that I have drawn more different plans for the space than would ever seem to be possible for somewhere so compact ! But the smaller it is, the more important that the plan makes the best use of every square millimeter..

Once the contractor produces his written pricing which is itemised in detail, this is signed “bon pour accord” by the client, who then also pays a % up front payment, and work can begin.

I am hoping that work can start on May 4th and be complete within 6 weeks – with interim visits to check on progress and correct the inevitable misinterpretations of my plans. Experience with Apartment Lalande taught me that just because something is shown clearly on a drawing, it doesnt necessarily get built that way without an argument. If the contractor and his colleagues think they have a better solution, then they will argue their point of view vigorously, and at every opportunity. I was astonished by the degree to which others felt the need to suggest “better” alternatives, or even to try to do away with some of the elements I had carefully planned into my design. I did suspect a sense of French superiority, and dare I say it French male superiority driving these lively and sometimes totally exhausting debates.  Always good natured and polite of course – but during the course of these I became practiced in being dogged and where necessary abandoned attempts to justify my intent through logic and resorted to saying simply  ”its a question of taste”, which appeared to flummox them entirely !  My French became, in a very short space of time,  effective in communication, if grammatically hideous….

So now let the new battle commence !

Over the next few weeks I will be recording the progress on my blog… with all the inevitable ups and downs, so come and share the excitement with me !