Working in August - Floors going in

New oak flooring being installed in the bedroom - August 2017

I answered my French phone last month and heard a man's voice making a rather strange proclamation: "Bonjour, c'est Le Parquet." My first thought was that I did not know anyone named Parquet, but then it dawned on me: it must be the nice salesman from the flooring store! Parquet=flooring. Quite rightly, he assumed that I would have been even more confused if he had introduced himself by his last name, so he identified himself as his product. So much of our transaction had been through email to that point. Email is a godsend for language cowards like myself, because I can use iTranslate or Google to correct the written word as best I can before I hit "send." He was calling to let us know that our special order of solid oak was ready. He would tell the delivery company to call us so we could set a date for delivery to Lonlay l'Abbaye.

A few days later, after having heard nothing, I had nearly given up on the delivery company, and was about to make the first move to call them, but I delayed out of abject telephone fear. Finally, a cheerful man called and we chose a date. Then I gave Nicola, our builder, the delivery company number so that she could call them and coordinate a time. The boxes of flooring were duly received, but then needed to be opened and acclimated to the ambient humidity in the house. Typically, this takes from one to three weeks, and we knew that would take us to August.

​Ah, August, when time stands still in France! Despite the internationalization of so many other business customs, the great majority of French workmen still take month-long vacations in July or August. Office workers as well. Our vet and his staff have decamped. The butchers and cheese shops and the fishmonger are closed, and we hear very little morning traffic on our street. A few days ago, we were having lunch at a tandoori restaurant and stood to greet the owner of our local laundry and dry cleaning place who was there with a friend to kickoff her "vacances."

Our builders Jim and Nicola thought that their team could begin installation of the floors near the end of July, but I had visions of brakes being applied to the project as soon as August rolled around. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear that they had started on the upstairs floor this week. And we got photos to boot! The photos are so reassuring, because we can see that the wood is the color and finish that we had wanted.

Main beam and older floor to the left

Our upstairs (middle level of the house) is where our bedroom and bathroom will be. The French refer to this as the first floor. The ancient beam that supports the original stone walls had to be sanded down so that the new floor could be laid level. 

New oak floor to the edge of the stairwell

While the wood flooring is brand new, it has the look and texture of the old floors we had to tear up. We're trying to retain the feel of the original house as much as possible. Looks like the new flooring complements the built in linen chest that our builders worked so hard to preserve too. We're very happy about that!

Built-in linen closet as seen September 2, 2015

Above photo is a picture of the old built-in linen cupboard as of September 2, 2015, the day after buying the house. While I was still hoping then that the floor on this level would not have to be replaced (the downstairs wood was riddled with a zoological compendium of insect damage), I knew that I definitely wanted to preserve this cabinet. Fortunately, the harder wood  that the cabinet was made of (perhaps chestnut or mahogany) was resistant to the insects. The same was true of the staircase, so our builders were able to save both. All the wood flooring had to be replaced, however, as did the electrics and plumbing. Fortunately, the whole house is a relatively small space.

In the video above you can see the whole of the "premier étage" (French first floor) of the house, including the built-in cupboard and the "vétuste"(decrepit) pine floors, as I did my walk through back in September, 2015. Yes, the bathroom is definitely next on the list!

From August 24 through August 28, Joseph and I will be visiting Lonlay l'Abbaye. We are very excited to make this trip because we will get to see the new floors and make plans with our builders for the next steps: bathroom and kitchen. As a plus, the weekend of August 26 and 27 is a celebration weekend in Lonlay l'Abbaye with its annual "vide-grenier" (literally, the "empty-attic") where all sorts of vintage goods will be up for sale. The village will be abuzz with food stalls and visitors from near and far. We've found a lovely AirBnB rental that was just recently renovated by some folks who live in a nearby town. We love their sympathetic renovation of the ancient cobbler's house, and hope to meet up with them during the festivities! Here is the link to the rental if you'd like to stay in Lonlay l'Abbaye sometime:
​www.airbnb.fr/rooms/18046218?location=Lonlay%20l%27Abbaye%2C%20France&s=BGpqBU5l