- 4 months ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:01Owning a property abroad is the ultimate goal for most Brits.
00:05It's like a dream come true. It's just so magical.
00:09But for some, a conventional home just won't do.
00:13A lot of it was ruins, but we fell in love with it.
00:18They're setting aside their fears.
00:21The key is to never look down.
00:23To do something remarkable.
00:25It's a mammoth task, really.
00:27Resurrecting Europe's lost villages.
00:30I think any sort of rational person would probably not try and do that.
00:35In this series, we meet the brand new pioneers.
00:39I think I'm a bit all over the place. It's like it's a big day.
00:42Delving into their village's past.
00:44I think that's powder flask.
00:47And we revisit those who already made the bold leap.
00:53And are still battling to keep their dreams alive.
00:57One year. One year without some disaster.
01:00But can they win the race against time?
01:03At the moment, it just feels like everything's falling down and nothing's going up.
01:06To turn crumbling buildings into family homes and successful businesses.
01:11It's a really big moment.
01:14Oh, bless you!
01:16Or will it all fall down around their ears?
01:20Oh! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out! Come out!
01:23Oh, dear.
01:25as they try to restore the past to build their future because there's a whole village to be built
01:32yet today brace yourself oh you're not kidding our heroic saviors in normandy risk life and limb
01:43hang on whoa it seems to be loose as their village threatens to fall apart at the seams
01:51you'll see it's just literally mud it's just holding everything together it's mad
01:58guests at a ghost village in italy are overwhelmed by their room without a roof
02:04oh my god this is oh my gosh it is so rare that i don't find any words but this is now happening
02:18and at a hamlet in western france
02:22it takes some heavy lifting and plenty of help from the neighbors
02:29okay that's okay nicely done to get a fire going for the first time in years
02:38we have flame
02:41when you're trying to restore an entire ghost village it's vital to be able to turn your hand to a wide
03:03range of jobs and southwest of rouen in the old farming community of la bouillère kent couple
03:10paul and yip have found that multitasking is now just second nature we are workmen project manager
03:19yeah um finance advisor um bank architect you know we're all of those things because we can afford none of those things
03:29yeah
03:30since 2021 these landscape gardeners have been the custodians of five cottages two barns a hayloft a bakery
03:43and two acres of land but they've also just taken on a sixth cottage after it unexpectedly came up for sale
03:51we've recently acquired this with the same thinking that we've had all along really is wanting to
03:58piece la bouillère back together yeah feels more secure to know that we now own this yeah and it's the
04:04oldest property in la bouillère yeah 250 years old it's exciting although other priorities mean it
04:12hasn't yet risen to the top of paul and yip's to-do list they can't wait to get inside and start
04:18transforming it into another potential revenue stream this is not going to steal our attention
04:26away from everything else but it is uh going to be running alongside all the other works we've got
04:33going on yeah i mean we just added another two plates to the poles
04:37it's june and paul and yip have had to refocus their attention away from the village
04:49because paul's mum is ill and they're spending much more time in the uk
04:54the couple did have a plan to move out of the house they live in and into the derelict cottage next
05:00door but that project is now on pause some jobs are too urgent to delay though and there's a
05:08building in the village that's crying out for paul and yip's help it is a nightmare it's quite a
05:14challenge yes i must admit i'm not looking forward to it the middle cottage in their row is increasingly
05:21unsafe so paul and yip need to do some emergency work on the front wall the wall is is split and
05:31you're starting to separate inside and outside you can see daylight through the wall it's not good is
05:36it so we need to bring it down probably halfway past that window until i know where it's all good
05:42stonework we've been dreading it a bit haven't we yeah it's quite a risky thing because it's you know
05:48we kind of don't really know what's going to happen but we go into most jobs like that
05:53the wall is so bowed that it could collapse at any minute so the couple need to be careful how they
06:01tackle it right mind no cats about hopefully paul starts by removing any loose stones at the roof line
06:10it's great for rebuilding
06:12all these stones that i'm chucking down they slid from this gable end they've all slid down and pushed
06:21this out so i've got to just get all the loose ones off and then i can start taking all this down
06:28to where it starts to come out which is about down there there is a lot of work here and we've got
06:33just us two no loader next they need to start dismantling the wall by hand one stone at a time
06:45well done paul and yip have put together a rudimentary pulley system so they can lower
06:52multiple stones to the ground at once the bucket and rope may be mass produced from modern materials
06:58i'm going to lower this down but their methods are following in the footsteps of the original
07:04craftsman the builders who went before them could have used ox or horsepower but paul and yip are
07:12having to rely on their own muscle well done bloody i'm nowhere near as strong as i used to be i know
07:24none of us are pop it welcome to your late 40s 50s not for me yet they're making progress but it
07:35isn't exactly fast and without an extra pair of hands on the ground to empty the bucket it could
07:40take days paul yip and le bouillier are locked together in a fight for survival with little more
07:48than sweat and determination on their side and they know it's a battle they might not win
07:54you want me to get down and empty that into the wheelbarrow well don't you have to keep coming up
07:59and down well it is what it is
08:01the italian region of basilicata was one of the cradles of european civilization home to mathematician
08:15pythagoras it was once an area so populated and vibrant that it sent its own delegation of athletes
08:21to the original greek olympics just above the modern town of torsi stands rabatana founded in the
08:29eighth century by invading arabs it grew to a peak of around 2 500 people who farmed the surrounding fields
08:37and lived a traditional mediterranean lifestyle but emigration demographic decline and successive
08:44earthquakes led to the complete abandonment of this town about 50 years ago it's a trend that martine
08:52an ex-wine merchant from norfolk is desperately trying to reverse
08:57i would imagine the last time that really this was populated was in the 50s most people left because
09:11there was no no work so basically you know that the towns are abandoned i'm fascinated by this um coat of
09:19arms because it has the skull and crossbones on the bottom and this is a beautiful palazzo which is
09:27for sale there's something like 10 people living in the whole of rabatana now where once it would
09:36have been thriving with schools and shops so yes it was very sad that the whole thing was just abandoned
09:44a joke there are more cats than people but there probably is martine has been living amongst the
09:50ruins of rabatana for the last 16 years after buying and renovating various derelict properties she now
09:58runs what is known as a diffused hotel with four elegant apartments she saved from collapse the more
10:05that i was here the more i realized that there were so many possibilities that you know there's all this
10:11fantastic landscape this history this culture so yeah that kind of it grew on me
10:22it's august and martine is hard at work on her next renovation project
10:28but we found veronica's secret place what are you doing in here veronica hey
10:33it's a cellar underneath the rooms she calls the mandarin suite and thought to be at least 400 years
10:40old this will probably be made into like two bedrooms with an ensuite bathroom if we're going
10:46to put an ensuite down here put a bath in front of here so you can lay in the bath and look at the
10:51convent i mean it would just be incredible with these beams exposed and all of this lovely stone
10:57martine has already spent a day chipping away at the old plaster and she's hoping to make more
11:03progress today look you see it's just it comes off so easily
11:15i think that it's just been damp coming in here for a long time
11:21wow could look pretty fantastic couldn't it imagine finding some buried treasure
11:27something from the knights templars because apparently they came through here
11:30with everybody else after the best part of an hour it's not buried treasure martine has found
11:36but some mysterious stones
11:41and there are quite a lot of black stones like this one
11:44in that wall as well there's a lot i wonder if they maybe even have been rescued from another house
11:49that burnt down because there's obviously no sign of the chimney or anything here
11:52it's likely these blackened stones were once part of an old fireplace and they were taken from other
11:59houses in rabatana when they were dismantled the builders of the past recognized the importance of
12:06reusing raw materials and not just for economic reasons stones like these would have had to be
12:12dragged all the way up the hillside from the local riverbeds so wasting them would have been unthinkable
12:18working away to peel off these layers of history is a privilege for this passionate village savior
12:27you know when a project's finished it's like it's like finishing a good book you're bereft because
12:31it's gone and all you've got is memories really but there's still a long way to go for martine
12:37before her renovations here are over
12:47coming up i don't think it's that bad honestly yeah look oh our village saviors are playing with fire
12:56in france i always wanted to be a chimney tree and
13:00it must be nearly through it's the moment of truth for paul and jip in la bouillière
13:12what i don't want to do is for this lot to fall because it's tied into this stonework close my eyes
13:17and ears and hope for the best
13:31despite the fact that the uk and france have similar sized populations
13:35there are over two million more homes lying empty on the other side of the channel
13:40sometimes properties are abandoned in france because of the high cost of renovations
13:45or complicated inheritance laws but in rural areas it's often just down to the dwindling number
13:51of jobs on the land the ghost village of chicheville in western france is a prime example
14:04and it could have been lost forever if it wasn't for two british saviors
14:09the guy that we bought it off when we signed at the notaire on that day was 99 and he said his
14:17great-grandmother was born in the house so that's um going back a bit
14:28tony and terry are antique restorers from gloucestershire who are now the proud custodians
14:33of three houses half a dozen buildings and an extensive wood they paid about 60 000 pounds for
14:39the hamlet and intend to do most of the renovation work themselves
14:46it's not getting handed over to anyone to sort out for us is it no no we can't afford that
14:52can't afford that it's the labor so whereas you might do a room and it cost you
14:56a thousand euros if you're paying something to do it might be five six thousand euros by the time
15:01we've improved the drainage redo the electrics have some work on the roof we think we can bring it in
15:07maybe maybe 90 000 pounds
15:16it's november so before winter spreads its icy tentacles across the village tony and terry are
15:22turning their attention to keeping warm there's also damp in the farmhouse that needs drying out
15:29so the couple have a plan so here's our lovely wood burner
15:33the burner is made of steel plate so it weighs well over 100 kilos that's 16 stone or about the
15:43same as a well-fed great dane i don't think it's that bad honestly yeah look oh their first task
15:52okay keep going a little bit of right that's it is getting it from the open barn to the main house
15:59oh spot on my spear reversing that bang in the middle look at that
16:10tony has once again called on his good friend peter who's brought his son toby for extra manpower
16:15but it's a struggle even for the three of them i did say wear steel toe caps didn't i luckily teamwork
16:29and a bit of british grit
16:34gets the job done
16:36i don't know why you're making such a fuss
16:38it isn't over yet though after a short drive to the front door oh what god i got the light in
16:48and with more help from another neighbor john let them take it the reclaimed wood burner finally
16:55makes it across the threshold where are we heading through here okay are we lifting or sliding
17:02okay okay wow that's okay nicely done they say it takes a village to raise a child but it can also
17:15take the neighbors to raise a village thank you john appreciate that very welcome and tony and terry
17:22feel blessed to be surrounded by willing friends happy to lend a hand the bills and the post
17:27their neighbors are just as delighted with what the newbies are bringing to their community
17:34well the first time i saw this building i really thought it was dangerous and it was a sort of a
17:38couple of months away from collapsing it's been amazing what they've actually done in the relatively
17:43short time that they've been here in this i don't know 200 year old house that didn't have
17:48much done to me in that first 200 years to be honest before they can get the home fires burning
17:53the chimney is in need of a flue and since tony doesn't have a good head for heights
17:57he's happy to let peter take the lead
18:01hey that's only are you there peter i'm here okay when do you want to start we'll have you ready
18:07let's go yeah go on you push and i'll pull this is where glad i didn't paint the wood burner
18:14nice and steady because it keeps getting caught yeah right there
18:24take a bit of tension off i always wanted to be a chimney sweep job's a good one
18:29although we've just got to light the fire now see if it works
18:32we have flame the wood burner can now start drying out the damp ready for lime plastering
18:43and when it's time to do that terry and tony are determined to stay true to the techniques of the
18:48past but for now like generations of farming families in sheathsville before them they can
18:54cuddle up in front of a warm fire and rest their aching bones
19:01here's to a good day's work i'd say yeah cheers well done
19:15in the lost village of la bouillère paul and yip have discovered exactly what's at the root
19:20of their crumbling wall you can see it's just literally mud it's just holding everything
19:27together it's mad back in the 18th century when the village was built the stonemasons used to pack
19:34the gap between the inner and outer granite walls with mud because it was a good insulator and it was
19:39easy to get hold of most importantly of course it was also free but as la bouillère was abandoned for
19:46over 25 years before paul and yip moved in rain water has seeped into the stonework and washed away
19:52the mud making the wall unstable but that's the trouble you know you only starts with a
19:59slit tile yeah 25 years of rain through that one hole was a big deal and we're just trying to pick up
20:05the pieces really literally and hope they somehow go back together with a large section of stones removed
20:15the couple now need to free up the thick timber beam at the top of the wall to reach the stones below
20:22they can't use a chainsaw because anything too vigorous could cause a collapse
20:30i'm already creating quite a lot of movement here yeah
20:33i feel like a spoon a bit quicker what are you getting there pop it it's oak isn't it
20:42as the beam is tied into the stonework at multiple points along the wall it's back-breaking work
20:48it's great that is pop it doesn't feel great at the minute
21:15it's at the end of the timber there's one more pop it
21:25at 30 feet up this isn't a job for the faint-hearted
21:29especially as there's no way of knowing if the beam will fall as soon as it's released
21:34brace yourself oh bloody hell you're not kidding i must be nearly through oh there you go all right
21:41i felt that relax then all right hang on so we've spent quite a bit of time
21:48releasing this beam what i don't want to do is for this lot to fall because it's tied into this stonework
21:54so i need to lift this and throw it and just get it off and out the way so we need to just move
22:00this scaffold tower back so that i can just lean over and there's no danger of this hitting the tower
22:06with me on it paul and yip reposition the tower lovely right you ready for this because i'm just
22:15going to do this oh god close my eyes and ears and hope for the best i'll spend the life insurance
22:23money well don't worry thank you hang on whoa it seems to be loose okay right okay
22:38oh that was close oh
22:42well done oh i need a cup of tea strangely emotional isn't it yeah
22:46i'm just pleased to have you still alive today paul yip and la bouillère have proved they all have the
22:55determination to slow down the march of time even if they can't stop it altogether there's still more
23:02to do on the wall but at least it's still standing and so are our village saviors we have to take risks
23:10on this project otherwise nothing will get done because there's a whole village to be built yet
23:19coming up in rabatana martine is behind schedule and racing to get a remarkable room ready
23:27as the days kind of disappeared you think you've got loads of time in the morning and then all of a
23:31sudden the guests are arriving in 10 minutes and one forgotten corner of sheeshville reaches the end of
23:37the road probably dating back 100 150 years lovely building and we're gonna have to knock half of it
23:44down
23:57back in the abandoned town of rabatana the tourist season is in full swing and village savior martine
24:03has had to take some time off renovating her old cantina to concentrate on running her diffused hotel
24:11two guests are on their way to stay in the mandarin suite and martine can't wait to share with them
24:17the room she is most proud of for me this is my most special room it's just magical sleeping out here
24:23with the stars and with the twinkly lights and the candles and everything else it really is beautiful
24:28up until the 1950s this room could have housed a whole family and possibly their animals too
24:36the roof space above would have doubled up as a larder where hams and sausages would have hung
24:41alongside drying peppers but with the roof gone martine has taken the opportunity to conjure up the spirit
24:48of the moors who first settled in rabatana over a thousand years ago it reminds me of a riad maybe in
24:56morocco um so you know without arabic um roots here it's kind of where you would sleep and you'd be
25:04completely hidden from everybody but you can look at the stars a riad is a house centered around an inner
25:11courtyard usually with gardens and fountains riads are more often associated with rooftop terraces than
25:19roofless bedrooms but both designs give visitors the chance to relax and gaze at the heavens
25:26martine can't do any cloud spotting now though she has guests from switzerland due any minute
25:33as the days kind of disappeared you think you've got loads of time in the morning and then all of a
25:36sudden the guests are arriving in 10 minutes i'm going to start making the bed up now
25:43it doesn't take too long to finish the final touches and martine can now head off to greet her guests
25:51this is the mandarin lovely lovely thank you i think it's my favorite really with these arches
25:58and uh yeah so the labatana is an arabic village so these houses nobody knows how old they are
26:06we don't find any words when i first saw it i just couldn't believe that a place like this existed
26:13and then when i managed to buy it it was just incredible
26:17oh my god
26:26oh
26:28this is oh my gosh gary and beer get have traveled nearly a thousand miles to be in rabatana
26:39but it's clear they already feel the destination is worth the journey
26:46super romantic super romantic our second honeymoon is ready to start now
26:55like martin gary and beer kit have completely fallen in love with the idea of sleeping under the stars
27:02in the middle of this stunning ghost village it is so rare that i don't find any words but
27:10this is now happening the main house is in here you don't have to sleep outside if you don't want to
27:16yes yes certainly everything is fine prego so this is where you'll be staying
27:23after settling in and getting ready for bed the couple prepare to step back into history
27:32beautiful look at that isn't it beautiful we have here the open sky just like the first visitors to
27:41rabatana over 10 centuries ago they can snuggle down and marvel at the night sky have you seen any view
27:49like that i did it when i was a child last time yeah for martin sharing the splendors of this once
27:57abandoned village is a source of never-ending satisfaction but she knows that goodwill alone
28:03is no guarantee of its future survival the revenues her guests bring are vital if martin's
28:10mission to save the rest of rabatana is ever going to succeed golden dream sleep well my darling
28:19i'll come with you and grab some more all our saviors are passionate about preserving the history
28:43that lies under every stone and behind every door but sometimes things are beyond redemption
28:50today is the outbuilding day yes we've got to do it but it's a bit sad i know you know it's an old
28:55building probably dating back 100 150 years lovely building and we're gonna have to knock half of it
29:03down in its heyday this building was probably a stable for horses but while its custodians have been
29:09away in the uk it's slowly been surrendering to the elements unfortunately last winter we had a lot
29:17of rain quite a bit of wind it's brought down some of the wall nearest the road and on the other side
29:24quite a lot came down now what we're left with it's just one high wall about that deep with a massive
29:32crack down it and it's starting to lean so now's the time to take it down if you park under it or even
29:39stand under it too long you might it might come down on you just like the cottages in la boulliere that
29:46paul and yip are wrestling with this crumbling ruin has been built from stone and mud it makes demolition
29:53unpredictable well tony's good friend peter who's more comfortable working at heights
30:01is taking the lead again have i got to stand on that all the way up there all the way up yeah yeah
30:08on your tippy toes but tony's doing his best to conquer his fears and is climbing the scaffold too
30:14would you hold your hand yeah all the time i'm up here i think there's a massive bloody gap there
30:24i can't do this awful tony slowly finds his feet but getting used to the height is only half the
30:33challenge so attached isn't it all the way growing in freeing the wall from the stranglehold of rampant
30:40ivy is going to be a battle too this has been a right pain to be honest the ivy has managed to
30:49find its way under all the roof tiles and the roof stones but when you've got a wall like this
30:55is made of mud if there's no render on it it starts to get its roots into the mud and then you've got
31:01problems it's just sticking everything together you know i begin to think there's so much ivy in it
31:06we might as well have left it because it'd never fall down as the foliage is stripped back more of
31:13the original building is revealed but it's a bittersweet moment for terry
31:20so sad to think that it's actually going to be coming down now if you get to actually see it without
31:25the massive clumps of ivy that were on it and really had hidden everything about it
31:31hid the fact that there was a window there it's going to be quite a lot lower than it and then it
31:37is now we've really got to do it but it is a shame because it's looking so beautiful
31:44despite her attachment to the old building terry isn't about to shirk her responsibilities
31:50okay i'm coming up peach so while tony takes a tea break on terra firma go for another one mind your
31:57head sir terry climbs the scaffold i'm more stressed than i was going out there myself
32:05i'm i'm well impressed it's nice to to get hands on with taking some of it down
32:12and it is quite a lot more tricky than you imagine
32:20after a big group effort would you get past the roots it's easy there's finally some progress
32:28that's a big piece one of the cornerstones it's starting to get a bit more satisfying now
32:36but the nights are drawing in and the change of season is working against them
32:42is it me or is it going a bit dark it's going down especially under the trees there i might just do a
32:48couple mil minutes and call it a day i think because i don't want to climb down the scaffold in the dark
32:54i don't want to climb down in the daylight but the dark is definite no no they'll need to do a bit
33:00more tomorrow morning but most of the job is now done and the old building is at a much safer height
33:06visa restrictions and the need to push through their uk house sale mean tony and terry will soon be
33:12heading back to gloucestershire but it feels like their village is slowly rising from its slumber
33:19we've got two weeks left now before we go back to the uk so definitely got to get more of this
33:24building down once we've got that down to a safe level which maybe another meter or so will do then
33:30we can get cracking on in the house we've got to make some progress we've got to make some progress
33:39coming up i'm so excited i can't believe it has martine found another property to rescue in rabbitana
33:49no i don't think so and will la bouillière be ready for its first guests of the season
33:56oh this isn't good this isn't i don't want that collapsing like that we're just trying to uh stop
34:03an avalanche
34:16back in southern italy martine is up early picking apricots from a nearby organic farm
34:22these are a special variety called rubies and they're biological so they're organic
34:29and they are absolutely exquisite for her saving rabbitana isn't just about breathing new life
34:35into the empty buildings she's also keen to preserve the traditional culture and takes every chance to
34:40support local artisans and farmers like marinella who share her passion i said i'm doing one and you're
34:47picking like three she's like it's my job martine plans to use the apricots in jam that she will
34:54provide the guests in her diffused hotel this is the best you know you can't get better than this
35:01it's absolutely delicious isn't it
35:04delicious two days later she's busy simmering the fruit with sugar to create a delicious breakfast
35:14treat basically the recipe is a kilo of sugar to a kilo of apricots juice of one lemon to each kilo
35:21so there's three kilos of fruit here the history of jam making goes back at least to roman times when
35:27fruit was preserved in honey to last over the winter but it was after the crusades when sugar was brought back
35:33to medieval europe that jam really took off martine may be using a gas hob instead of an open half
35:41but the recipe and the principles haven't changed in centuries but what i really like about it is
35:47there's still pieces of fruit that are whole in the jam you put it on bread it's just um lovely
35:54while the mixture is still bubbling martine transfers it to the jars
35:59the jars next the jars are turned upside down to create a vacuum that starves any unwanted
36:06microorganisms of oxygen and once it's cooled it'll be ready for her guests
36:13as fast as i can make it it gets eaten which is great
36:21martine's had a busy and successful summer season and there could be another exciting opportunity
36:27right on her doorstep just below the staircase leading to martine's mandarin apartment
36:33there's a little two-room abandoned home which could be about to go on the market
36:38they called me two days ago to say they wanted to sell the little house here and it's so exciting
36:44because it's just perfect it's in my courtyard and it's small it's really sweet i'm so excited i can't
36:50believe it
36:57my goodness
37:00considering the house hasn't been lived in for more than 50 years it's still in good condition
37:06and martine's mind is racing i reckon you could take these floors out and open it all up
37:13to give a feeling of a lot more space but if you if we got rid of all this it'd just be lovely
37:18i'd love to get up there
37:26no i don't think so
37:33it's got a little fireplace how sweet is that yeah i think the fireplace um says a lot about how they
37:40lived here they would cook dried beans in the pinata or they would cook things on the brachi on the on the
37:47cinders and you know you've got all of the equipment here for the different size pots and pans and
37:52things that they would have actually cooked on the fire just before leaving martine notices an add-on
37:59bathroom right at the back of the property a lot of these bathrooms would have been added on in the
38:0450s when water first came into the houses and and two of the houses i bought didn't even have water
38:09connected curious to see how this extra room was created martine takes a walk outside you see these
38:16all over the place these toilets attached and basically that's all they are because they don't
38:20shower or anything and they're just a hand basin and um yes i mean you're sitting suspended over
38:25basically a couple of bits of metal stuck into that wall nobody's actually gone thoughtfully into it
38:31and decided how to build that but i suppose back then in the 50s it was great what a luxury to have
38:36a toilet in your house the wheels of estate agency can run slowly in italy though so it could be a while
38:43before martine finds out if she can save another little piece of the village for her resurrecting
38:50rabatana is no longer just a labor of love it's also now her life's work i'm really really really
38:57interested and yes i'm very i would be absolutely distraught if i couldn't get it
39:10in normandy paul and yip's glamping horse box is prepped and ready to welcome two returning guests
39:17but as the front wall of the middle cottage is still precarious paul and yip need to make it safe
39:23before their guests check in we're on the stage three of this aren't we yeah today we're going to
39:30finish taking these stones down so where are we going about halfway down the window yeah about
39:35halfway down lovely let me get a sheet to collect all the rubbish that's going to fall off that wall yeah
39:41here we go since the couple have no professional training a risky job like this means having
39:54complete trust in your workmate luckily paul and yip have no qualms about that uh we're making as safe
40:03as possible just by putting these outrigger legs in place they've been together for 20 years
40:15and their history goes back to childhood paul says that he was aware of me at school i don't think
40:23he was aware of me as much as i was aware of him you were the troublemaker in your burgundy stay press
40:28yeah i was aware of yet when we were at school but he was in uh a different friend group friend
40:40group i suppose isn't it and you were a bit more um academic weren't you yeah so those in comparison
40:48to you i'd had it by the time i'd got to yip school the school i went to where it was i was my third
40:55school but anyway that's another story oh quite graceful do i got there like a swan shall come up
41:02yeah having broken the back of this job a few weeks ago finishing it today should be a breeze
41:11we have this done in a jiffy aren't we yeah tea and toast on its way but it isn't long before the
41:18stones start to give way oh this isn't good this isn't i don't want that collapsing like that yeah
41:26i'll take these ones off oh god and just the mud that one this one we're just trying to uh stop an
41:35avalanche some stones have started to move we're just trying to see where it should be and what's
41:41holding water it's just very precarious at the moment really carious oh i see
41:56crisis averted and after a few more hours of hard graft
42:02the couple are at last on the home stretch
42:13yeah basically we've just got some cleaning up to do yips gonna remove these handful of stones there
42:19all this has got to come out clean all the joints out sweep all this down and then we're kind of
42:25almost there aren't we well done you well done take this round paul and yip finish up just in time to
42:35roll out the red carpet for their guests george and mary who've driven all the way from somerset
42:41oh look it's just so wonderful isn't it paradise in the countryside it's great to see you both
42:58one dramatic change that's happened since mary and george were last here
43:01is at the barn that overlooks the horse box oh my goodness the top section of that fell down on its
43:08own oh did it and then we dismantled the rest of it it's a reminder of how quickly the sands of time
43:16are running out in la boulier and how huge the challenges that paul and yip still face because
43:22the buildings are so old you feel like just a blip in the long line of proprietors that it's had
43:30so we want to kind of do what we can but knowing that in terms of keeping some of it alive at least
43:36we're part of this place's history aren't we the couple are channeling their love for each other
43:43into resurrecting this ancient village and helping her come back to life like any relationship it can
43:49lurch from agony to joy in a heartbeat and there's no guarantee of a happy ending but with three such
43:57strong entities as paul yip and the boulier anything is possible most people come to france and it's a
44:06big enough project to buy a house that needs fully renovating yeah but you've got blooming village
44:13next time should we go and have a little look yeah come on paul and yip rescue another house in la
44:28boulier oh wow construction work in rabatana begins after years of waiting it was an amazing surprise
44:35and i was just so happy so happy but it comes with a risk if they happen to hit one of the
44:42rocks on the keystone it could all just collapse and in shishville just imagine it's me okay i'll do
44:49that tony and terry hit the ground running wow you hit it twice as a half
45:04so
45:10so
45:16so
45:18you
Be the first to comment