Help! We Bought a Village S04E05

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Transcript

00:01Buying a home abroad is a big step to take.

00:05This is my piece of heaven now.

00:08But imagine taking that to a whole new level.

00:11I'm down! Amazing.

00:14The ghost villages of Europe are crying out for help.

00:17It's just like Battle of the Somme, innit?

00:20And a strong-willed few have answered their calls.

00:23Our whole world, our whole life and belongings are now in Ichaka.

00:28In this series...

00:29There's a real sense of history and you can feel it.

00:32..we rediscover the settlement's time left behind.

00:36Like ten people living in the whole of Rabatana now,

00:39where once it would have been thriving with schools and shops.

00:43..and meet the intrepid Brits...

00:45Trying to get this board in the hole without falling through.

00:49..who are trying to save them.

00:51It is more tricky than you imagine.

00:55But can they turn these crumbling villages...

00:58This is going to be a big crash.

01:02..into beautiful homes...

01:05This is no longer a ruin. It is now a chateau.

01:08..and successful businesses.

01:10This one are gorgeous.

01:13..or will it all prove to be...

01:15That was a close shave.

01:16..beyond their grasp.

01:18As it stands at the moment, in two years' time, it might collapse.

01:21..as they restore the past to build their future.

01:25The village has come back to life and that's exactly what we set out to do.

01:37Today...

01:38..enter into your home for the next week.

01:42..in France, a pair of village owners come to a big decision.

01:46Wow.

01:47We need to make sacrifices for this restoration.

01:50This is definitely the start of a, er...

01:52..new chapter in our lives.

01:53Definitely.

01:54While initially...

01:56There were houses that people had just got up from the table and left.

01:59..left behind artefacts tell the story of a village's past.

02:03Drinking wine out of a glass like this, it's just so typical.

02:08And in northern Spain...

02:10It's drained my accounts,

02:11but what I'm getting for the amount of money is, er...

02:15..is phenomenal.

02:16After a five-year wait,

02:18one man hopes this is the year he finally buys his village.

02:22This was dying, really,

02:23and it's a privilege for me to have the chance to carry it on.

02:33Europe's abandoned hamlets can be bottomless money pits,

02:42draining their custodians' hard-earned savings.

02:46In the end, most of our village saviours come to a realisation

02:50that for their settlements to properly thrive,

02:52they need to start to pay for themselves.

02:57Landscape gardeners Paul and Yip from Kent

02:59bought La Boullière in north-west France for £22,000 in 2021.

03:05Breathing new life into their village

03:07has been a labour of love for the couple.

03:10But it's not been easy.

03:13It feels like La Boullière is being dragged,

03:15kicking and screaming, into restoration-hood.

03:18Yeah, by two Englishmen.

03:21It's always bubbling about in the background, isn't it?

03:24Yeah.

03:25You know, what needs to be done,

03:26and just constant plate-spinning.

03:29What needs to be done?

03:31We need to be done.

03:33No, just a week.

03:35And we need to be done.

03:37Paul and Yip own a total of six cottages,

03:38with one renovated and the others

03:40in various states of disrepair.

03:43Finances limit the scope of the work

03:44the couple are able to accomplish.

03:48Roofs are expensive.

03:50We haven't got that kind of money,

03:51but we also can't get on with anything to do with those houses

03:54until it's made watertight.

03:56Until it's dry, yeah.

03:57you know we're stuck between a rock and a hard place with this we've got the lorry but obviously

04:02it hasn't brought the money in that we need we're well aware that we need at least one maybe two

04:08rental cottages done it's october and with the converted horse box lorry not bringing in

04:17enough rental income the couple are taking the drastic step of moving out of their own cottage

04:22and renting it to paying guests oh is that the last of it that's the last of it it's all systems

04:30go it is all systems go it's a big day today we've got some guests that came and stayed in the horse

04:35box annabelle and nigel they had an amazing time didn't they and we kind of gave them a tour of

04:40la bouillière and part of that um they ended up coming into our cottage we said then didn't we

04:46that we were going to rent it out and uh long story short they're our guinea pigs they're on their way

04:52yes paul and yip plan to eventually move into one of their other cottages where's he's going

05:00lorry aren't they yeah okay come on but without the funds to make it habitable for now they're

05:06planning to stay in their existing guest accommodation straight to the horse box paul how exciting

05:14there's a little bit unsettling that all of our stuff is distributed between the cottages and the

05:22horse box and nerve-racking we're quite anxious aren't we to see what someone's response is going

05:29to be to our home but it's the push we need we can get quite comfortable in our house with

05:36unfinished projects and all the time we're like that we're not moving forwards the couple need

05:43this new venture to be a success if they can bring in more money then they can begin to develop the

05:49rest of their village with nigel and annabelle arriving in three hours there you go hold on the pressure is

05:59on to deliver a five-star experience for their first ever cottage rental guests so we just need

06:06to uh fix this hook for their towel what sort of height do we think yes that's good

06:14so this is a little trick i learned off of someone years ago i've just got an envelope and you

06:24put a bit of masking tape on the back of it and then pinch the front and then you put that

06:30underneath and all the dust fall into that rather than going on the floor look at this

06:44all of that would have ended up on my nice clean floor work of art isn't it isn't it next their

06:54fridge needs to be emptied and cleaned i'll leave some stuff for them in case they want to use it i

07:00won't be leaving my chocolate bar i'll be eating that but the empty fridge appears to have sprung a

07:07leak oh where did that water come from oh i don't know i'm not sure what's going on with the fridge

07:15but this water doesn't seem to be draining that collects in the gully

07:22oh that's quite a lot i don't know that's where it's coming from

07:27that's the last thing we need is when you're about to have guests come

07:31and then one of your major appliances breaks down

07:35in southern italy another english village savior has spent the last 10 years establishing a holiday

07:49business to ensure her village pays its way rabatana in the basilicata region suffered mass

07:57depopulation in the 20th century as the residents emigrated for work so far martine a former wine

08:05merchant from norfolk has transformed four properties renting them out to holiday makers

08:10to begin with the locals weren't convinced that her plans were at all viable i think that people are

08:18starting to believe in the rabatana a little bit more now they see that somebody's come in from outside

08:24and appreciates it i mean they say revaluazione i think and i am revaluing what has been abandoned

08:32for years i just need to be positive myself and believe that what i'm doing is you know is

08:39absolutely the right thing

08:40it's march and martine's current project is the transformation of an abandoned cellar into yet

08:56another holiday let

08:57inside the cellar walls have been given a light render allowing an impression of the historic stonework to

09:06remain on show this is just perfect for what i wanted to achieve it's incredible that we managed

09:13to do it and outside the terrace has been leveled in preparation for tiling

09:18this time last week you couldn't even walk on here it wasn't straight it was like

09:23it was going down into the ditch there now it's completely straight and it's i can't believe so much

09:30it's happening leaving the builders to get on with their work martine is keen to explore the history

09:36of rabatana she's recently uncovered a treasure trove of items from one of her abandoned properties

09:42including these vintage wine tumblers i don't exactly know how old these are but they're very very

09:50traditional 12 of these is a litre so going around the table everybody's glass would be filled up and

09:56when it was empty it would be filled up again and filled up again so you'd know whether you'd had a

10:00litre so obviously this kind of glass isn't a half fillet and swill it round it's fillet right to the top

10:08these wine tumblers were popularized by italian vineyard workers keen for an affordable and sturdy glass

10:16which could withstand the rigors of rural life

10:19it's just a feeling that nobody's drunk out this glass for about 30 years

10:29it's just incredible they're quite thick oh my god but drinking wine out of a glass like this it

10:35it's just so typical wine glasses are not the only items martine has uncovered left behind by former

10:43rabatana residents there were houses that people just got up off the tape from the table and left

10:50everything on the table and just gone either to germany or to america or to wherever they emigrated to

10:57there were toys in the corner still that were left and i think quite a lot of people left salt for

11:02some reason i don't know whether that's some sort of luck thing amongst the left behind items are

11:09documents helping to paint an even more vivid picture of the people who once lived here it's

11:16something to do with the military i presume it's not wartime it was 1951 he came out of here born in

11:2529 so he wouldn't have been involved in the war but this is probably something to do with national

11:31service a 1960s payslip is a reminder of italy's pre-euro currency it's impossible for us to fathom

11:41isn't it but 27 595 lira is probably worth about 50 quid or something they're really good at their

11:50maths the italians could have to work with the lira while the previous residents of the house have passed

11:55away martine is in contact with the surviving family members who she hopes may be interested in

12:02these mementos of their parents lives i want to look at them put them properly back into the envelopes

12:08that they came out of and then try and get hold of one of the daughters it's the history of their

12:13family so i've definitely got to offer it to them if they don't want it i'm going to do something with

12:18it preservation of the past is not always about looking after bricks and mortar

12:23often it's safeguarding the evidence of those who came before for martine both are of equal

12:31importance coming up open all the windows let's get some air in in galicia a hibernating village

12:45wakes from its slumber i haven't been here for 11 months but i'll dry soon enough while in france

12:52we just need to dust and hoover and then we're done paul and yip make sure everything is spotless for

13:00their guests what's left to do is try and get yip out of here because every time we get close to

13:06the door there's something else that needs doing

13:08while some of our village saviors are years into the transformation of their settlements

13:23others have waited almost as long just to get the keys to their village

13:28in northwest spain lies the former farming community of openso which captured the heart of

13:35londoner marcial in 2019 i've got no neighbors i can't hear any motorways i've got a stream i've got

13:44access to a waterfall with problems raising the funds to purchase openso it's now five years since

13:52marcial first set eyes on his dream village in its prime openso cultivated potatoes maize

13:59and wheat and raised livestock

14:02comprising of 31 hectares and a number of properties and outbuildings the current owners put the village

14:16up for sale and retired to a nearby town finally this year marcial is in a position to purchase the

14:25village it's drained my accounts but what i'm guessing for the amount of money is uh it's phenomenal

14:31230 000 euros is about 190 000 pounds what you get for 190 000 pounds in london nothing

14:39it's july 2024 and after a 48-hour journey from london

14:46marcial and his daughters are glad to finally be back in the village they adore

14:57god let's let's get going girls let's just bring everything into the house

15:02for the fourth year in a row openso's current owner benny is allowing the family to stay

15:10even though the final paperwork is yet to be signed open all the windows let's get some air in

15:16it does smell a little bit musty the main house is the only habitable dwelling in the village

15:23they're down probably well let's put them out still got a couple hours of sunshine but it's been

15:29empty since the family left last summer i haven't been here for 11 months so um so it's was a little

15:36bit damp but i'll draw soon enough

15:44as 12 year old alice and nine-year-old celestine make themselves at home

15:49this is mine this is also mine you can go thank you marcial is full of ideas about how he might begin

16:01to breathe new life into a pencil so this uh this is a working cow shed what i'd like to do is to put

16:09solar panels on the roof and collect the rain i need yellow i need the energy and the electricity and i

16:16need a regular water before i even consider uh spending time effort energy doing the any building work

16:26while being self-sufficient will keep bills low at the main farmhouse energy efficiency was also an

16:33important consideration when the building was first constructed all right this is the kitchen

16:39to show you how thick the walls are

16:43that's about 40 45 centimeters deep there's still another 30 centimeters to the outside walls yeah

16:51the thickness of the walls helped keep the interior of the house cool during the heat of the spanish

16:57summer and in the winter time would have provided insulation against the cold and damp of the northern

17:03iberian winter the kitchen also retains a historic food preservation device from the village's past

17:13so that basically you'd have the whole pig in there and just completely covered in salt you leave it

17:19probably months and then you got pork for the rest of the year in its heyday openso would have been a

17:24home to more than 40 people a time when community was the lifeblood of the village so this is where they

17:31used to bake uh the bread um when there was you know when there was many families instead of each one of

17:37them having their own bread oven they would share having spent the last three summers here and getting

17:46to know the owners martial is now well versed in the history of the former residents of openso

17:52so apparently before they started housing pigs here there used to be a the old aunt used to have her

17:58own this was her accommodation and when she presumably passed away they put pigs in yeah very practical these

18:06these galicians

18:09the more time martial and his daughters spend at openso

18:14the deeper their love grows for this historic place

18:19but the complexity of the paperwork to finalize the sale of the village to martial means they're

18:24going to have to wait a little bit longer until they finally get the keys

18:30the plan was for me to sign the paperwork on thursday to complete a purchase

18:35and i got an email this morning to say that the notario is um is finding uh the paperwork

18:42quite difficult because there's so many different fields and some of the deeds are very old so therefore

18:48we won't be able to complete this week possibly next week or shortly afterwards having waited five

18:55years to purchase openso another week shouldn't prove too much of a burden for martial

19:07back at the two centuries old french village of la bouillère where paul and yip are preparing to host

19:13their first ever guests in their own cottage thankfully they've solved the problem of the leaking fridge

19:22oh yeah huge relief we've saved the day it was just a blocked drain hole

19:29so it's good to know that that's working now

19:31and our guests are going to have nice cold milk and chilled goods for their holiday

19:39if their own cottage is to become a permanent guest property as the only habitable residents in the

19:48village paul and yip will need to begin renovating one of la bouillère's other abandoned properties

19:54to live in you know we're at the end of the season uh for this year but we've already got

20:01maybe 10 couples chomping at the bit to rent a cottage so this is what's pushed the need really

20:08to get one of these other cottages liveable for us you know it won't be as comfortable as this but

20:15we need to make sacrifices for this restoration so um yes exciting times really you know annabel

20:22and nigel were the first of hopefully of many guests in this cottage so fridge is done

20:31i'm just going to wipe down the rest of the kitchen sides and then we just need to dust and hoover

20:37and then we're done what's left to do is try and get yip out of here because every time we get close

20:43to the door there's something else that needs doing after three hours the couple have the place looking

20:49ship shape yes everything's now ready i'm just in time to greet their returning guests annabelle and nigel

21:00hello hello hello welcome how was your journey it's lovely to see you again thank you for being our guinea

21:10pigs come in although paul and yip aren't novice hosts these guests mark a new chapter in their time

21:18as village owners enter into your home for the next week week yeah

21:28it's crucial that annabelle and nigel give them a top rated online review to help kick start future

21:34buckings you're welcome to use anything here some beers in the fridge for you if you drink beer yeah washing

21:42machine and tumble dryer dishwasher and then upstairs drawers are empty so you feel free to use those

21:49a rail for your clothes hopefully it's comfortable enough for you guys for your week

21:56just shout if you need anything just shout brilliant cool thank you you're welcome

22:03first impressions are everything and it appears nigel and annabelle are impressed with what's on offer

22:10when you come here it's just a whole different world the way of life and everything's just relaxing

22:17and then when you just drive over the hill and you see yip and paul and you feel like you've been

22:23friends forever and it's just yeah it's amazing and the village is really lucky that it's got found then

22:30really because they they just will bring it back to life and we just look forward to having our family

22:36and our friends all coming together renting all the cottages and then having the laughter back in the

22:43in the village where it belongs yeah

22:47it is a relief isn't it to have um our first guests in the cottage it's always a bit nerve-wracking

22:53isn't it oh i hope they have a nice time hope they're not cold i hope but they've got everything they

22:59should need yeah i'm not wishing their week away but i'm excited to hear how their week has been

23:05yeah afterwards this is definitely the start of a new chapter in our lives definitely it feels like

23:13we've re-energized around all this the whole business the whole place i think so yeah you know

23:18we're on a mission now yeah and that's good it feels good coming up wow look at this isn't it

23:30fabulous in rabatana martine finds the perfect location for her next project and i really am just

23:37seeing little tables and chairs and flickering candles and a glass of wine while in france

23:43we're gonna smash this today paul yep we are paul and yip scale new heights to breathe new life into

23:51one of their cottages it's going really well at the moment you know if we keep going at this pace

23:56we'll get this corner just finished off nicely

24:03back in southern italy it's march at the once abandoned village of rabatana where village saviour

24:19martine has a spring in her step i woke up this morning feeling really full of life and energetic

24:25and ready to yeah face another week building work continues on the cellar martine's latest holiday

24:32apartment renovation she's keen to have it finished in time for the summer season this is going really

24:39well i'm looking at another 10 days i don't know what they're looking at but i'm thinking another 10

24:44days and it should be i can start putting furniture in there today builder titi is laying tiles on the

24:50apartment's terrace here's gonna be white and here's gonna be blue always keen to keep costs down these

24:58tiles have been recycled from elsewhere in the village looking fantastic

25:13there are old times but this is how she likes marina likes this styles so usually they don't use anyone

25:23but english like the old things and so we are doing the what she asked you could play a large chess game

25:31down here martine's recycling is not quite finished so i think you might need to um open it because

25:41it's kind of really stiff it's really rusty she's keen to show titi an old sink that she'd like to use

25:48in the bathroom of the new apartment and this one here is old i know it's a little bit chipped but

25:55that's all part of the life that it's led i think do you think we can get it out in one piece it's

26:00going to be a little bit hard because there's there's too much of cement here right but uh oh i think we

26:08can we can we can make it cool martine also has big plans for this space and would like titi's opinion

26:16on how much work could be involved i'm just seeing it it's ridiculous not as if i've got enough to do

26:22a little bar place to come in the evening drink some red wine eat a italiani you know prosciutto crudo

26:28and some salami and some olives and stuff should we look inside shall we martine's vision for the

26:37wine bar extends into the two vaulted spaces to the rear of the cellar wow look at this isn't it fabulous

26:45this is very good this is really easy i could even take this out myself now just to open the archway up

26:52so that when you come in you've got the impact of the archway and i really am just seeing little tables

26:56and chairs and flickering candles and a glass of wine while the first archway is in relatively good

27:04condition this is the other half the second one needs more serious remedial work it's sandstone

27:15which means it's always eroding yeah we're lucky it's still here because it's always dropping

27:21a lot of these cantinas if they've not opened up regularly to let the air in

27:25big shards of this stuff just come off of the walls built in the 17th century for now martine owns

27:34only the basement level including this i think there are five stories massive courtyard it would be

27:41a dream to own the whole thing it's huge absolutely massive but i've just got like the little servants

27:46quarters for now martine will just have to be content transforming the cellar into a wine bar

27:54but as with everything in rabbitana martine is always keen to dream big it's great isn't it yeah i think

28:02it's gonna be really cute i didn't realize it was as lovely as this i really didn't it's gonna be very

28:06nice yeah i think so too it's nearly two decades since martine bought her first property in rabbitana

28:14and with plans in hand to create a wine bar her passion to breathe new life into this historic

28:20village shows no signs of wavering and with the new apartment due to be ready by the summer

28:26martine is feeling positive about the future i can't tell you how happy i am i'm tired but i am so happy

28:33because i honestly never thought it was going to happen this time last year i was like i don't know nobody

28:39wants to touch it nobody and honestly when it's finished we are going to have the biggest party

28:45everybody that's helped put the big table out on the terrace and we're just going to have a huge lunch

28:50i think it's going to be lovely it really is

29:03back in normandy it's a stunning october morning at la bouillière

29:08and after a week's holiday in paul and yip's cottage nigel and annabelle are heading back to the uk

29:14it's been out of this world really it was better than we expected waking up to the views the peace

29:19and the quiet yeah the birds it's just perfect yip and paul are so friendly and so welcoming we did

29:28feel like we were burglars to start with you know living their dream but we did know that they'd have

29:33a good time staying in the horse box because we've been there and done that definitely come back it's

29:38a disappointment to go home

29:44bonjour bonjour i hope you enjoyed your stay we certainly did good good good good thank you

29:54life journey home yeah thank you it's been amazing thank you

29:57all

29:59after a successful trial run with the rental of their own home paul and yip are feeling confident

30:05about offering the cottage to guests for the start of the next season

30:09well it's good lots of love lots of love ciao

30:18bye

30:20it's great to finally be at that stage where we're renting out a cottage they've had an amazing week

30:26and they've provisionally booked for december for december so so that's good and it's blessed

30:34and they paid more money than yeah it was going to tip we can get it on booking sites and we're away

30:42and obviously the money side of things you know we can just plow that straight back in

30:46and just keep moving forward definitely a new chapter for the bully on it it was a big success great success

30:51yeah with a spring in their step and some money in their pocket the couple start to tackle a pressing

30:59job that's been on their to-do list for the last three years

31:04so today we are building up

31:06the corner of this end cottage the very last corner when they first became custodians of la bouillère

31:16part of this property had collapsed into the road slowly the couple have rebuilt the wall stone by stone

31:24but today they want to finish the job before the normandy winter storms set in

31:29we're going to smash this today paul yep we are to hoist the materials up to the roof line paul and yip

31:37have hooked up a traditional pulley system similar to the one the original craftsman might have used

31:42when the village was first built yips just putting it in our homemade mortar sling it's quite ingenious

31:50it's very good yeah well before when we've done work on these houses we've brought stone up one by one

31:56all right it's heavy this one you ready yep

32:08okay i'm off as paul carefully builds up the wall it's going really well at the moment you know if

32:16we keep going at this pace we'll get this corner just finished off nicely yip collects more stones to

32:23finish the job

32:28the couple are no strangers to rebuilding stone structures with the evidence for their craftsmanship

32:33on show across la bouillère

32:38that'll do i reckon

32:41and the years they've spent learning on the job is now coming into its own

32:46because after just three hours they're on the home straight okay last stone

32:53that's so good really really pleased with that

32:57saving a lost village is not a quick process over time jobs are ticked off and projects are completed

33:04and with each of these steps once lost villages like na bouillère move ever closer to being saved

33:10and today for paul and yip even finishing the smallest of jobs leaves them on a high

33:16congratulations paul on with the next job

33:20coming up we've never not had water in london in spain the realities of ancient plumbing systems hit home

33:36if i can't get the pump to work then there's no uh running water in the property

33:41while in rabatana very exciting times i'm packing to go to france and i can't wait

33:47martine pays a visit to paul and yip here's to uh our projects long restoration

33:56yes

34:10it's july in galicia and marcial's family is dealing with the realities of living in a centuries old

34:16ghost village as opensos somewhat rudimentary water system has broken down i'm waiting to see if

34:26the water starts coming because the water tank is empty and we need water

34:34water the village's tap water is pumped from a nearby river but for two days opensos has had no water

34:43so martial has enlisted the help of eldest daughter alice as he attempts to reset the pump

34:51i'm trying a little combination of the fuses

34:57right and then now we're gonna give that two or three minutes

35:02halfway through their summer holiday for hackney-born alice the quirks of living in a historic

35:08rural village are beginning to wear a bit thin it's definitely very different it's like

35:16at home we're like in the middle of london like we've never not had water in london

35:23if i can't get the pump to work then there's no uh running water in the property for the sink and the

35:29toilet out of ideas marcial calls current village owner benny who offers an immediate solution

35:41she's got her granddaughter staying with her she's inviting us to come over because they've got a

35:46swimming pool yeah many has also promised that her husband senen will come over tomorrow and help

35:55marcial fix the issue with the pump

36:01but for today at least the family can enjoy water on tap

36:12it's october and marcial is back in london back a month now and uh unfortunately i'm right back in the

36:19routine rain work and school runs and to add to his holiday blues he's going to have to wait a little

36:29longer to call the village his own as delays with the paperwork are still holding up the purchase

36:36the money's ready benny and her family know that um i've done everything i could so

36:41i'm not in trouble with them um it's just spanish bureaucracy it's already been a five-year wait for

36:50marcial 22 25 35 so he remains philosophical these delays haven't been all bad because things i thought

37:01were really important a year or two ago don't seem quite so important now the priorities have slightly

37:07changed so the more time i take the less likely i am to make a mistake as long as it happens this winter

37:14i want to i do want to go next summer for it to be done in five years is long enough

37:25six months later it's april in openso a little galician wine very nice

37:32got to go local haven't you and marcial finally has something to celebrate the sale went through

37:39three four weeks ago i'm picking up the deeds tomorrow and life is sweet after five long years

37:48he can finally embark on his mission to breathe new life back into openso my long-term vision for the

37:55village would be to return to becoming a working village with several people be able to earn a living

38:01from it it could be a bit more modern specialized farming it could be an artistic slant to it it

38:09could be renewable energy could even do accommodation the sky's the limit

38:18now that i'm finally the owner of openso i feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulder

38:23it's definitely exciting this was dying really and it's a privilege for me to have the chance

38:31to carry it on i'm really looking forward to to the adventures that are going to come

38:39chin chin it's the life bring it on

38:43back in rabatana where martine's readying herself for the next stage of her rescue mission

39:03i was just going to look at my to-do list which i haven't looked at all day

39:06which is a bit of a large problem isn't it really like all our saviors she's faced many challenges

39:14since taking on her once abandoned village so it's a comfort to know others are in the same boat

39:20today she's off to visit two of them very exciting times i'm packing to go to france and i can't wait

39:28i'm going to meet paul and yip it's just going to be so much fun and i can't wait to see their place

39:35the enormity of the whole thing that they've taken on because it's a big project

39:41while martine makes her way to france

39:46at la bouillière after one of their most challenging periods as village owners paul and yip are excited to

39:53meet a fellow village savior very exciting day today we've got martine as our guest and she's

40:01staying in the horse box sometimes it's really nice to be able to talk to somebody that is going

40:06through this whole thing you know the the ups and downs of it all and that kind of stuff she's a woman

40:12that gets things done we like that a couple of hours later martine arrives

40:18and straight away paul and yip take her on a tour

40:29this is incredible these stones are massive i know you wait till you see this fireplace let's

40:34go and have a look okay oh my god

40:39ah so the top of it is here oh my goodness that's quite a thing isn't it for such a small cottage and

40:49there's the norman carvings wow what a thing the scale of la bouillière's rebuild could be overwhelming

40:58but not for martine oh it's gorgeous because as a time-served village savior she can only see its

41:08potential so this is the next house to be done we'd like it yeah we'd like it it's the most work

41:15the fireplace is certainly you've really got to show the nice big log burner in there yeah

41:20lovely looking forward to that i think we'll move into here yeah probably yeah i'd like to experience

41:25living in all of them yeah i think that's that's not a bad idea because i think it gives your houses

41:30kind of a soul i try to go around mine if i can how many have you got to go around you've got one for

41:36every day of the week yeah yeah and as they work their way down the terrace this is personally my

41:44favorite house this looks like one of my rooms actually this is gorgeous she's able to empathize

41:50with the demands of restoring multiple properties it's a bit of a mess from here just needs a bit of a

41:56dust that's all martine understands the couple's struggles you just have to try and bash through

42:05one at a time yeah so that at least yeah you're sustaining one with another there's like an

42:12adrenaline high you can't stop it's an addiction it is an addiction we've both got that kind of streak

42:18yeah yeah and when you see something come into fruition for it when it was a mess there is no better

42:23feeling than that the sense of abandonment is no surprise to martine it's a real mess wow this is

42:32very rabbitana walking in and finding plastic bottles wine bottles shoes random things that have

42:38just been left remnants of previous people's existence exactly just amazing martine checks into her

42:47accommodation oh how sweet i love mezzanine gives it more movement yes and that works really really well

42:55so cozy and then it's hospitality time that's lovely thank you here's to uh

43:02uh our projects long restorations yes long restorations

43:11we're getting on too well actually we're supposed to be being serious and talking about house

43:16renovation and we're just having fun wow they're lovely lovely lovely and i think we've got lots of

43:23ideas in common all three of us going through the same kind of things and as they exchange wisdom into the

43:30night all three are ready to take on the next phase of their projects it is good to share these

43:39experiences isn't it we're not the only crazy people yeah there's a lot of risk there's always a problem

43:45that comes up that you don't expect yeah we need to do more of this yeah absolutely grounding stuff

43:51take time to be proud yeah and that's a really good yeah mantra to have i think otherwise there's

43:58something lost in not taking that time to stand back and really appreciate the work and the

44:05accomplishment and the enjoyment yeah it's bought you actually doing it and actually seeing it closed

44:10you've put your heart and souls in it yeah and your passion and you've actually done it yourselves and

44:15it's it's i think hats off to i really do thank you yeah it is a wonderful thing

44:25next time

44:29a former soldier and his band of men push forward with their mountain village rescue mission

44:35it's quite an easy job on it in sicily one man joins forces with several saviors

44:41to try and revive an ailing ghost town this came up as part of the one year scheme i'll start

44:46renovation on this once i'm closer to finishing the other property and we're back with paul and yip

44:51as their historic hamlet finally begins to reveal her past and we've been here three years now it's a

44:57massive discovery this today

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