We Escaped the Château… and Found the 'La Rochelle' Tourists Miss

Some days start with a harmless little outing and end with us mentally buying a fireplace, a gargoyle, a cannon, half a salvage yard and possibly a boat. This week we head to La Rochelle for the kind of day out we love most: a dangerously tempting architectural salvage shop, far too many ideas for the château, a very refreshing boat trip to see Fort Boyard, oysters, cake, tea, and the ongoing question of whether Claire can be trusted near beautiful things. There is very little self-control, quite a lot of glowing, and one serious discussion about whether Our Château Life should become Our Bateau Life. 👉 PATREON If you would like to help keep the lights on, the cameras rolling, and two slightly over-ambitious château owners out of trouble, our PATREON community makes this life possible   / ourchateaulife   👉 BUY US A COFFEE Prefer a one-off way to support the adventure? BUY US A COFFEE and help fund the glorious chaos, questionable decisions and next chapter at the château. https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchateaulife 👉 AMAZON WISHLIST Many of you have kindly asked how you can help us here at the château. We’ve added an Amazon Wishlist with a few useful things for the house, garden, dogs and filming. There is never any obligation, but every thoughtful gift is hugely appreciated and genuinely helps. https://ourchateaulife.com/wishlist 👉 This isn't really about renovation. It's a life. Today's episode is just one page of a much bigger story. 👉 Leave us a comment. We read them all, and some of our best conversations begin there. 👉 Join us again. The château will almost certainly have found a new way to surprise us by then. 👉 Follow along so you never miss a chapter in the ongoing adventures of Lionel, Claire, Mimi, Margaux and the rest of the cast. 👉 Between episodes, you'll find the bits we couldn't fit into the vlog on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK and TIKTOK: @ourchateaulife 👉 Our website: https://www.ourchateaulife.com If you've only just found us... Where have you been? Want more? This is a good place to start:    • Start Here / Meet Lionel & Claire   00:00 A Dangerous Shop, A Boat, And A Gargoyle Problem 00:48 The Day Out With Absolutely No Sensible Plan 01:16 English Car: The Reigning Champion Speaks 01:55 The Shop They Should Never Have Found 02:24 One Return To Bordeaux, Please 02:48 The Wallpaper Idea Hiding In Plain Sight 03:29 Claire Disappears Into The Future Kitchen 04:33 Lionel Finds His Inner Surrealist 05:17 Claire Has An Idea, Which Is Always Dangerous 06:13 The Front Door Starts Getting Ideas Above Its Station 07:14 The Courtyard Suddenly Needs A Well 07:43 Can We Get A Gargoyle? 08:20 No, We Don’t Have Room For A Whole Room 09:40 Claire’s French Education Finally Pays Off 11:01 The Cannon Childhood Connection 11:35 From Château Life To Bateau Life 12:32 Claire Is Not Sweating, She’s Glowing 13:03 Fort Boyard And The Boat They Now Definitely Need 15:48 Back On Dry Land, Back To Shopping 17:10 The Pizza Dream Is Cruelly Closed 18:09 Lunch, Heat, And Emergency Menu Fanning 20:11 Oysters Are Always Attractive On Camera 21:20 The Prawn Brain Soup Moment 22:15 La Rochelle’s Shady Little Streets 23:00 Claire Finds Things That Need Good Homes 24:00 The Cake Counter Becomes A Serious Problem 25:05 The Most Suspenseful Cup Of Tea In France 26:03 The Sea Urchin Cake Envy Begins 27:13 Tea, Cake, And Thank Yous 27:39 If You Don’t Like It, You Can Lump It 28:07 The Beginning Of A Love Affair