I’ve spent hours of my life watching Escape to the Chateau- dreaming of winning the Euromillions and buying my own project property.
I definitely don’t possess the DIY skills of Dick Strawbridge nor the design eye of wife Angel, and sadly I haven’t yet won the lottery, so watching the show on TV is as close as I am realistically going to get to French chateau living.
For those unfamiliar with the Channel 4 show, Dick and Angel, alongside their two children Arthur and Dorothy, have spent almost a decade turning Chateau de la Motte Husson in Martigné-sur-Mayenne, France, into their home and business.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a live show of this type, but the stage a the Music Hall was beautifully decorated with illustrations of the chateau, alongside quirky touches such as a giraffe and unicorn head.
I settled down in my seat eager to hear more about their challenges and successes.
Life in the chateau
Split into two parts, the first half of the show followed the family’s lives and stories up until the point that the two met.
Joined on stage for a portion of the production by their children, there was a healthy dose of friendly banter.
The audience got to find out a bit more about Dick and Angel individually, how they built up their individual careers in the army and early days of TV for Dick, and Angel’s love of vintage and the beginnings of her own business Vintage Patisserie.
They shared the story of how they met and fell in love, and how Russell Crowe film A Good Year played a part in the inspiration for buying a chateau.
It was interesting to hear more about them as individuals, and they were open and honest about the journey – which included having to manually translate 200 pages of a French survey on the building to find out exactly what they were getting into.
But this wasn’t just a normal show discussing their lives…
‘Jack of all trades’
I don’t think I’ve been to a show before with quite so much interactivity with the audience.
Before starting and throughout the start of the show, a QR code was shown to encourage you to take part in a quiz. The winners of the quiz, which included a range of questions from whether they were selling the chateau to what tech item was invented first, were invited up onstage to take part in a series of challenges.
These included upholstering a stool, tiling a wall, wiring a plug to turn on some lights and decorating a wreath – all in about 10 minutes.
You have to applaud their effort – minus one set of lights not being switched on in time, everyone completed all their challenges.
A clapometer was used for the audience to select the winner- who will go on to be entered into a competition with the winners from the other live shows.
While I’m confident I could reupholster a chair (given 10 hours rather than 10 minutes), it made me realise that I definitely do not have the skills it takes to renovate a chateau myself.
Renovation costs are… staggering
As the night drew to a close, it ended with a Q&A session where Dick and Angel discussed questions that had been sent in by audience members throughout the night.
These ranged from the slightly cheeky to sentimental, as Angel said the people she would most like to see get married in the chateau were the children.
A hot topic of the night was, unsurprisingly, the cost of renovating such a property.
After jokes that they would never be selling the property – hence the title Forever Home – to begin the process again, they revealed the costs so far for renovation have been more than £750,000.
That doesn’t include the property price, so if anyone has their eye on following in their footsteps, you might also want to think about putting the lottery on.
The show was in Aberdeen for one night only, but will continue across the UK until November 17.
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