Winter Into Spring

Commons green at Lonlay l'Abbaye

Our last visit to Lonlay l'Abbaye was at the end of February. While it was chilly and rained a bit, the sun came out some days to promise Spring was not far off.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=13AVqj0XGfw&feature=youtu.be

Misty morning view

The old cider press in the commons area

But even in bleak midwinter, Lonlay was picturesque. We always enjoy spending time in the village, even if we sometimes spend more time indoors. We stayed again in the charming AirBnB run by Sarah and Geoff, cooking up cassoulet and enjoying some of their carefully selected red wines. We also had a few satisfying lunches at the village's restaurant, Le Relais de l'Abbaye.

View of the abbey and mairie from our AirBnB

Lichen on the walls of the abbey

Rather than take the train to Caen and rent a car there, as we had for previous visits, this time we opted to take a train from Montparnasse station to Flers, a town that is only about 20 minutes drive from Lonlay l'Abbaye. Joseph arranged to have a driver pick us up at the train station and take us to Lonlay for a reasonable cost. The downside was that we did not have a car to explore with, but we were happy not to have to drive at all, and planned to spend most of our time checking on the state of the tiny house, reading and relaxing at the AirBnB, and walking about the village anyway. That all worked out so well, we will likely travel this way again.

Our tiny house on the corner of Place Jules Levée - February 2018

Wide angle shot of bedroom looking out into small study and bathroom door

So, on to the house. We were very pleased to see that the walls, ceilings and doors had all been put in place on the upstairs level. The bathroom door was sticking a bit, but no doubt that has already been remedied by our builders. All of the electrical outlets are in place now too, and two electric heaters have already been installed - albeit they are not functioning yet because we need a new electrical panel.
Some of these pictures are darker than others as they may have been taken on different days. The weather was rather fickle.

Far side of bedroom with electric heater

The two bedroom windows with our new walls and ceiling

Window bay in bedroom just inside and to the right of the door from the study

Another view from inside the bedroom looking out into the study

We chose to have the door into the bedroom open inwards because the bedroom is bigger than the study. Conversely, the door to the miniscule bathroom will open out into the study because otherwise we probably could not fit a sink into the bathroom!

Looking into the bathroom-to-be

Top of the stairs looking into the study and further into the bedroom

Recessed wall in the study to the left of the door to the bedroom

Study

The slightly widened study now has room for shelving or a library on the right. We were constrained in this area by common walls that belong to our neighbor's portion of the original larger house - and also by the fact that some of the floor here is part  of their downstairs ceiling.

​We plan to have recessed lights in the study, but likely only a chandelier overhead in the bedroom. Lots of "prises" (electrical outlets) in each room for additional floor and table lamps, and the ubiquitous electronics. The outlets in the study are not actually red, they just have a temporary plastic covering over them.

Ground level - the decrepit door to the side street

Water damage at the foot of the decrepit door

The only bad news we had to face related to our doors. The main door into the kitchen from the square was no longer holding securely and had to be screwed open and closed. It looked very much the worse for wear. And we had already known that the other old wooden door to the side street had to be replaced as it was rotting out, but now we could see some water damage into our ground level living room. Time and the elements, particularly this past harsh winter, made it more clear to me that both doors would have to be replaced.

​Our builders, Jim and Nicola, had previously gotten a bid for a replacement door in wood, but the cost was exorbitant. After speaking with our mayor and seeing what other villagers had done, Nicola told us that the only alternative would be custom-made aluminum doors. Not my first choice, and they will still be very expensive, but at least they are better than PVC, and the tiny house will be very secure with new doors.

Because our house is in close proximity to the 11th century abbey, a listed historic site, we had to request planning permission to change out our doors not only from the mayor, who is always helpful and reasonable, but also from the architects of the notoriously demanding Bâtiments de France. At the same time, we took advantage of Nicola's suggestion to have them approve two skylights for the roof as well.

We recently received the official blessing - really more of a statement that no one opposes what we want to do. It looks wonderfully formal and came in an envelope with a nice photo of the village. I'd keep it as a souvenir, even if we did not desperately need it.

So now the doors have been ordered, but will take some time to be custom-made and fitted. We are anxious, as ever, to complete the rest of the inside of the house and have made a plan to meet our builders again in early June.
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​This time we will meet in Caen and go directly to the building supply stores to pick out workable materials for finishing the bathroom. I have found it too difficult to tell whether something will work just from looking at it online, and only Jim and Nicola can tell us if our selections are realistic.

Meanwhile, as we always do this time of year, we are remembering the sacrifices of the Allied soldiers and the French resistance - particularly those who fought and died in and near Lonlay l'Abbaye in 1944 - a great turning point in the war. We will always remember how much we owe them for this beautiful and free corner of France.