Escape To The Chateau: Up Close and Personal

 

It has been another of my dreams to visit the 19th century Château de la Motte-Husson, located in Martigné-sur-Mayenne (yes, I know, it’s a mouthful) more than 200 kilometres slightly southwest of Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the château featured in the British TV reality series, Escape to the Château, which stars owners and hosts Dick (64) and Angel Strawbridge (46) and their two children Arthur and Dorothy.  

 

The couple bought the 12-acre property for a mere £280 (about $360,000 US) and then spent double that amount to renovate as the château had no water, electricity, heating or sewage treatment. Eventually the castle also needed a new roof, no small expense.  And of course, this is what makes it a show as they did most of the work themselves.

 

 

Escape to the Château ran a total of 9 seasons as we watched the couple both fix up and decorate, very creatively I might add (Angel is a designer with a penchant for “old things” which includes Dick), all 45 rooms on five floors.  

 

Smartly, they also installed an elevator in one of the towers. 

 

Ok, so I was entranced from the first episode and conjuring up a side trip from Paris on one of my many visits there, but so far it hasn’t happened.

 

Then a few months ago, I discovered that Dick and Angel were going to do their first North American tour (they have over 3 million viewers around the world) and Toronto was on the agenda.  I live only a few hours away so jumped at the chance to see the couple up close!

 

 

After being in LA, Seattle and Atlanta, they arrived to a full house at one of the city’s well known performing arts centres.

 

I was three rows back, dead centre, ideal for feeling as if they were talking to us in their living room.

 

 

 

 

They are just as they appear on their TV series, warm, gracious and self-deprecating, and they simply told us their story in more detail.

 

Their life has all the winning elements to keep an audience entertained.

 

It starts with their love story (first marriage for Angel, second for Dick) and both are engaging characters, Angel with her flaming red hair and Cockney accent, and Dick with his protruding belly and sunny personality.

 

 

The show progresses to the fantasy of buying the derelict French château (with a moat!) and witnessing the ongoing renovation and design.  Then there are the on-site vintage weddings. That’s the business the couple creates to pay for all of this,  as well as other activities such as gardening, mushroom and truffle hunting, glamping and cooking — Dick is a master home cook without the slightest concern for calories!

 

Add to that, and I think that is why I love the show so much, is their family story. Angel’s parents join the program when they move into one of several outbuildings on the property that Angel and Dick also have renovated, and the couple’s children literally grow up and are part of the show.

 

The night in Toronto, Angel and Dick took us on a  video tour of the whole château from top to bottom.  I’m not sure about everyone else, but I was exhausted by the end of it and wondered who does the cleaning? Angel claims that they also do most of that work themselves.   

 

 

The one thing that I thought was missing that night was the ability for the audience to ask them questions. Because I had one.

 

Before COVID, Dick and Angel scheduled a garden day at the château where for 75 Euros you could join the couple in helping them prune, plant and harvest from their large garden. I know. Paying them to work in their garden.  Still, I loved the idea and wanted to ask when they would be reinstating that event. I thought I might just mention that mon amour is a landscape architect and maybe secure the first few tickets.

 

We’ll see. I can always email them to ask. They say they respond to emails and they get thousands.

 

Have you also seen Dick and Angel on tour? Do you know the show?

 

Please add you comments at the bottom of the blog where indicated.

 

Note: If you have not seen the series, check your listings as it appears  regularly on local public television like PBS.  In Canada, you can also find it on CBC Gem for example.

P.S. The audience was told not to take any pictures during the performance but I still managed to snap a few as seen above. 

 

 

 

Paris Fan Club Workshop

This Week!

Provence in Springtime!

Wednesday, March 20th

12:30 pm ET/9:30 am Pacific

6:30 pm Paris

5:30 pm London

 

 

 

*Paris Fan Club Members! You should have already received a notice and the link for this workshop on Wednesday. If you have not received it, please let me know.

 

I have invited as my co-host Dee Pocquette of Jackdaw Journeys for this workshop.  She has been exclusively designing tours to personally guide people to the hidden gems of Provence for over a decade.  She will take us on one of her tours (it will be like being there!) to relish in spring in Provence, where we explore the provencal landscape of hilltop villages, castles, lesser-known markets, hotels, and restaurants, even a boat cruise in the Mediterranean.

 

But you DO have to be a member of the Paris Fan Club to join us.

 

Check it all out at parisfanclub.com or by CLICKING HERE

First Giveaway Draw

for Paris Fan Club Members

 

All Paris Fan Club Members are eligible for my Quarterly Giveaway Draw.

 

This is the first one of 2024 and the prize is my Black and White Paris Fan Club Gift Box. 

 

A collection of things that I have designed to take you along on your next trip to Paris, or elsewhere!

 

Here are just a few of the items…because there’s more…

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner is….to be announced in the next blog.

 

Paris Travel Kit

 

As a Level Three Paris Fan Club and first time member, Shirley White from Easton, Pennsylvania just received her Paris Travel Kit as part of her membership package which includes some similar items as above.

 

Thank you Shirley for being part of our community in 2024.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

Check out the Paris Fan CLub by clicking HERE.

 

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