Escape to the Chateau

Dick Strawbridge and his partner Angel Adoree dream of swapping their two bed flat in Southend for an idyllic life in France. They imagine their £280,000 budget will stretch to a small country cottage, a Parisian flat, or a tiny place near the sea. But when they find out how cheap French property prices are, they discover they can dream bigger - much bigger - and like 10,000 Brits who move to France every year, they head off over the Channel. But this is no ordinary move.

Engineer Dick Strawbridge and his partner, designer Angel Adoree, have moved to France to do up a 45-room fairytale chateau. With £20,000 left in the coffers, they have to do most of the renovation work themselves. They decide to spend £100 on some chickens and try to live as self-sufficiently as they can. The family has eggs every morning, but it's a different story with the heating and water. The chateau's 59 windows are crumbling, and the list of problems is endless. But while Dick is pushed to the limit, Angel is on a roll, seeing the chateau as a blank canvas to work on. The project has fallen massively behind schedule, especially as they plan to celebrate their wedding at the chateau in November, just a few months away. This is craft and construction on the grandest of scales.