The Million Dollar Cave Man

From the Lascaux caves to the Palace of Versailles, France is home to some of the most unique and cherished one-of-a-kind dwellings in the world.  But for the past 25 years, Ra Paulette (sounds French) has been carving out man-made caves from the sandstone hills of New Mexico, USA. Driven by passion, not profit he sculpts these spaces into works of art he calls wilderness shrines. In one case he only charged a client 12 dollars and hour for his labor. Yet 2 of his caves along with the 200 acres around them are selling for close to a million dollars .

Vive l’amour!

 

Vacationing family decides to restore abandoned French chateau


They’ve unearthed mysterious medieval tunnels, uncovered ancient artifacts that hint to what daily life was like , and uncovered a beautiful fresco in a salon on the first floor. (Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.) It sounds romantic, but the process of buying and restoring a property of such size and significance has been an arduous labor of love.

Join this Australian family who had been on the hunt for a vacation home in France and then stumbled on a property in need of some major TLC that captured their hearts.

“We had never planned on a chateau. Our French friends warned us about those,” says Karina Waters,  “But after driving down the snow-capped mountains and seeing the chateau’s grounds from the village, we were sold.”

Click here to visit their website and see how things are going.

Demolition Mission – Les Déchetteries De Paris

Ull lilaYou’ve got the eye of the Tiger! You’re gonna do it!! You’re going take down those old shelves, tear apart those tired kitchen cabinets, disassemble that worn out furniture or renovate that space into something more wonderful and amazing! You are Monsieur or Madame DIY. You have your tools dusted off and you are ready to go.

But before you can do anything your mission is the demolition of the old to bring in the new. What are you going to do with all the debris? Stuff it in the building garbage can and the concierge will freak out. Wait until the middle of the night and stack everything up by one of those public plastic green garbage bags? Not very glamorous.

It’s Paris. Style is everything and in this case the French language is your friend.

“Honey, I’m off to the garbage dump. Should I come back with some breakfast?”

Yeah, ok… But it just doesn’t have the ring of,

“Honey, I’m off to les déchetterie. Should I come back with a few croissants?”

Much better! If you are not a professional builder, Paris provides the public with a place you can go and get rid of heaps of debris for free.

Tips:

  • Keep like materials together. There are bins for different types of rubbish.
  • Don’t borrow a vehicle from a friend that’s in the trades. They may hassle you or prevent you from dumping if they think you are a Pro. Rent a van.
  • If your a woman pretend you are damsel in distress. They guys working there will love to come to your rescue!

Below is a listing of ‘les déchetteries’ in and around Paris. Hours and more detailed maps are also listed in the links

You’re Welcome.

Bon courage.

Now get to work! 😀

Les dechetteries

Par arrondissements

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