The Chateau Diaries #108 Crazy, strange, eyes wide shut, in the middle of nowhere

[The Lickety Split]

Well.

So, I've stumbled across this site by accident and realised this was the so-called hate site the MP called out in his vlog. I started reading it out of curiosity and for the past month or so, I have to say, I found the gossip here is far more entertaining than watching The Chateau Diaries.

Full disclosure, I don't watch TCD. I find the vlogs dull and aimless. There's no...entertainment factor. It's just a person bringing their phone around with them constantly and filming everything. Just because SJ vlogs...doesn't actually mean there's anything worth vlogging. The Pethricks have the same problem. I watch youtube to be entertained. And watching people going about their daily lives is not entertaining, at all.

Anyway, all this brings me to the reason why I'm posting today (my original plan was to lurk forever. Oh well). I'm not sure if anyone's noticed this, but as of today, the Fleuries have passed SJ in subscriber count.

Ever since the BBC published the article about French chateau owners using Youtube to pay for their chateau, SJ has gained 3K subscribers and the Fleuries...have gained 46K. And, they're still going. In fact, I've started noticing the Fleuries gaining more views and subscribers in the last week or so. You'd almost say they're going semi-viral. Their 2 years looking back video has gone past 1 million views and, in comparison, SJ's 'How Youtube is renovating my chateau' is sitting at 158K.

So why are the two channels, both chateau channels, and both featured on the BBC article, having such different responses? Well, if you asked me, one has content and actual direction in the vlogs (however boring the Fleuries may be) and the other is kinda aimless, plotless and pointless. When I bake a cake, however long the process, at the end, I want to be able to eat a cake. Watching SJ's vlog doesn't make me feel like I'm getting a cake.

Uh, anyway, enough talking about cake....back to the original question that sparked this post.

There's been a lot of discussion about SJ getting her comeuppance - losing her patrons, the scales falling off the eyes of her fans or the tax man come collecting. I had a thought, what if it's none of the above? What if her viewers and patrons simply...lose interest? Will her superfans and patrons hold on until the end of time? Or will they gradually lose interest as they realise that every video is just life, love and laughter on repeat?

(On the side note, as I was typing this, I realised the BBC didn't use the title 'Save their chateau' as SJ does but rather, they say 'to pay for their chateau'. I think they see past the bullshit, just like Tattlers do.)

 

[Marquis de Potpourri]

O MY GOSH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

JUST KIDDING! IT'S A PIPE DREAM.
IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!
SORRY, UNICORNS.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Health and safety being observed once more..... and right outside of the kitchen doors too. I hope Don Jarvis had the foresight to tell the others not to go outside, but that could have the potential to kill someone, but as long as it's minimal effort for SJ, all is well. Dumb


View attachment 1003293


This clean out is such a farce. At one point SJ states mirrored tiles haven't been used in 16 years so they need to be binned, and yet she decides to keep a crappy tv of no design importance, wood covings, which she thinks she'll cast new cornices from (yeah right), suspected billiard table legs to build a new table for the attic (get real), amongst many other flights of fancy. Launch it all out the window, maybe Phyllis will be listening to his new squirrel CD on a walkman below... I jest.

A farce indeed. Before she started filming this episode they carefully removed all tat SJ previously received on her grab-channel from creative super fans and filled up the big garbage bins outside with it. SJ was quiet pleased with herself for preventing us from spotting recognizable items, thinking for once she was ahead of the game.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Well.

So, I've stumbled across this site by accident and realised this was the so-called hate site the MP called out in his vlog. I started reading it out of curiosity and for the past month or so, I have to say, I found the gossip here is far more entertaining than watching The Chateau Diaries.

Full disclosure, I don't watch TCD. I find the vlogs dull and aimless. There's no...entertainment factor. It's just a person bringing their phone around with them constantly and filming everything. Just because SJ vlogs...doesn't actually mean there's anything worth vlogging. The Pethricks have the same problem. I watch youtube to be entertained. And watching people going about their daily lives is not entertaining, at all.

Anyway, all this brings me to the reason why I'm posting today (my original plan was to lurk forever. Oh well). I'm not sure if anyone's noticed this, but as of today, the Fleuries have passed SJ in subscriber count.

Ever since the BBC published the article about French chateau owners using Youtube to pay for their chateau, SJ has gained 3K subscribers and the Fleuries...have gained 46K. And, they're still going. In fact, I've started noticing the Fleuries gaining more views and subscribers in the last week or so. You'd almost say they're going semi-viral. Their 2 years looking back video has gone past 1 million views and, in comparison, SJ's 'How Youtube is renovating my chateau' is sitting at 158K.

So why are the two channels, both chateau channels, and both featured on the BBC article, having such different responses? Well, if you asked me, one has content and actual direction in the vlogs (however boring the Fleuries may be) and the other is kinda aimless, plotless and pointless. When I bake a cake, however long the process, at the end, I want to be able to eat a cake. Watching SJ's vlog doesn't make me feel like I'm getting a cake.

Uh, anyway, enough talking about cake....back to the original question that sparked this post.

There's been a lot of discussion about SJ getting her comeuppance - losing her patrons, the scales falling off the eyes of her fans or the tax man come collecting. I had a thought, what if it's none of the above? What if her viewers and patrons simply...lose interest? Will her superfans and patrons hold on until the end of time? Or will they gradually lose interest as they realise that every video is just life, love and laughter on repeat?

(On the side note, as I was typing this, I realised the BBC didn't use the title 'Save their chateau' as SJ does but rather, they say 'to pay for their chateau'. I think they see past the bullshit, just like Tattlers do.)

Hi and welcome, thank you for your post. I totally agree and am looking forward to the day she gets ignored instead of adored. That day can't come soon enough and will be bittersweet, a fitting revenge for what she's done to others. However, she has a habit in live in general to always land on her feet and I'm sure she'll find a way out of that one too, so I still gladly put my money on Monsieur Tax, as he will hit her where it hurts the most. Maybe after that, her crowd can look away and thus create a second fall, that would be a-m-a-z-ing!

 

[Clara Burnett]

So I wonder who or what lit a fuse under SJ to get the rest of the attic sorted just as she is about to leave for her travels

Wonder no more, as the sole reason behind this sudden inspired "clean up" had nothing to do with actually cleaning up. She needed to prerecord vlogs to give them a chance to escape to London and South Africa, that's why. It is also why the snorting Squirrel Cameltoe looked so uninspired in this vlog, apart from the awkwardness of having her still dearly beloved ex around, who hates his guts: his mind was already on safari.

 

[Marty McFly 9]

There's been a lot of discussion about SJ getting her comeuppance - losing her patrons, the scales falling off the eyes of her fans or the tax man come collecting. I had a thought, what if it's none of the above? What if her viewers and patrons simply...lose interest? Will her superfans and patrons hold on until the end of time? Or will they gradually lose interest as they realise that every video is just life, love and laughter on repeat?

Welcome to posting! Great first post!

You make an excellent point! I was a patron of SJ for 6 month ish, and I left out of boredom! I thought, how many vlogs of the same person doing the same stuff can I watch? She puts out enough on YouTube, who needs another video a week? I totally saw Patreon like a magazine subscription, not as contributing to the restoration, I wasn't invested in it from that point of view. So I cancelled my subscription. And I stopped watching ads that I could skip on YT. This was all months before I found Tattle. I think people like me should be SJ's worst nightmare ... for someone with her need for attention and being fawned over to be told you're actually boring me ... well, that's got to hurt. I'm not the only one who has gotten bored, nor the last one ... TICK TOCK!

 

[Espe]

Out of their natural habitat (Lalande), both look so odd like out of place there... Especially with the two healthy and sane girls.

SJ never likes to be anywhere where she is not in control and not the centre of attention in the limelight. I watched two of the Positano Diaries for a change of scene: one where Nicky and her husband were visiting her father in England and then the one where they drive home to Italy via Eurostar and through France, stopping in Dijon, Avignon, and staying with friends in a Provencal village. Nicky managed to make all that interesting and enjoyable. There are no histrionics; no prancing about performing for the camera; no ridiculous fake laughter, and no reciting of chunks out of guidebooks or Wikipedia. She and her husband have natural conversations and are charming and sometimes amusing. She manages to make all the places they visit look attractive and interesting, even though most places were shut and towns empty. The problem with SJ is, that no matter what the intended subject of each blog is, be it another chateau; a church, or whatever, the only real subject of each of her vlogs is SJ, herself. It's all "Look ay me, me , me", there's no other motive. If she's out and about, she has to take up a pose in or outside the building. Nicky does not do that, she just films naturally as they walk about and shows a genuine interest in everything, She doesn't totter around in flimsy mini skirts and high heels but dresses appropriately. Thank goodness, SJ and Ollie's channel has not yet started. The Positano vlogs are far more enjoyable and don't make you feel you want to strangle someone by the end of them! N's husband, Carlos, speaks very little English but he takes part with sub-titles and he is pleasant, natural and amusing, unlike SJ's partner. They stayed in modest Ibis hotels on the way and there is nothing pretentious about them. They grow most of their own food and live simply, showing the beautiful locations around their home. There is no comparison.

 

[LaFrancaise123]

Comments from CD's latest flog...
Dan Ellis-Jones
17 hours ago
Although it's interesting to see you doing cleaning up, the stark difference between Dan actually doing repairs and renovations, and you lying in bed and spending hours just looking at things is jarring to me. I guess you need to save up patreon money for big projects, but it would be good to see actual renovations that patreon money is funding. You're in the top 100 patreon accounts in the world aren't you? I know it's happened quickly, but you do need to be more transparent where this money is going.
Cynthia Lambert
16 hours ago
Huh? She goes over and over the projects and frequently makes the rounds showing what is being done. Have you actually watched her vlogs? There are a million repairs and renovations going on there.

Dan Ellis-Jones
16 hours ago
@Cynthia Lambert Not really in comparison to the level of monthly income. My whole house could be renovated with the money she has each month, and has had every month for 2? Years. 18 months definitely. What's been done that's had any big cost? The bathroom was pointlessly expensive. And look at what other chateau owners have done in the same time. Even look at Dan and his place. He definitely has far less YouTube income. And I know any property in London in zone 1 or 2 is AT LEAST £1M.
Kelly Hawes
16 hours ago (edited)
@Dan Ellis-Jones None of us know how much it actually costs to maintain such a large chateau , and pay Dan, Ian,Ian, Nick, Kirsty and others that come to work on both the inside and outside of the chateau. Although we haven't seen much of the work on Gerry's and Michaels apartments, Nati's apartment they are on going. And she has told us she is setting aside money for the chapel restoration as well as the work she had done on the stained glass.

Dan Ellis-Jones
16 hours ago
@Kelly Hawes One of my points is that we SHOULD know. At least Patrons should know. She's getting €30,000 or so each month. She's said it's being spent on renovations. So not salaries, not holidays, not new clothes or china. Philipp and Anna at Fluerie have 1 person. Ed and Anna have 1 person. Stephanie has volunteers. And some people. Now Kirsty and Dan, and some others - if they're being paid from patreon, that's great. But SJ needs to say so.

Kelly Hawes
15 hours ago
@Dan Ellis-Jones I understand your point, but I do think the Patrons do know( I am not one unfortunately) Perhaps you should ask her yourself?

Dan Ellis-Jones
15 hours ago
@Kelly Hawes I think patreon is great. I think micro payments for content makers is great. It takes time and effort to create content. Stephanie makes huge amounts of content. And paying a bit to help save a chateau is fine - if you have spare cash. But SJ has now got significant wealth from patreons, and to be frank, there's not the work being done to warrant it. Also €4k wallpaper is not money well spent. I just want to see or hear about that money being spent on real renovations. There were real works last year, but now nothing. The garden work probably cost about 1 or 2 months patreon, Max. It's difficult. I'd be freaking out a bit if I suddenly got €10k a month from people I didn't know. Tax implications. Moral implications. Temptation to use it on some nice things. It's not easy to just gain wealth like that
B Jorgensen
15 hours ago
@Dan Ellis-Jones are you a patron? Stephanie reviews the budget/finance project plans in her patron videos.

The Chateau Diaries
8 hours ago
Hi Dan, I realise you’re not one of our patrons, so you don’t have the same information that they have. My patrons do know that I’m employing many people from the patreon account. It costs me well over €15,000 per month to employ Ian, Amaury, Dan, Kirsty, Nick the Tree Surgeon, Matt, etc. (Nati, Philip, Mary Poppins and Dave are employed, not by Patreon, but from my YouTube revenue). The rest of the monthly account is for materials, equipment (digger, etc), panelling, wallpaper - anything fixed (no furniture). The rest is put aside for the lake fund. As my patrons know, no patreon funds are used towards my travels, clothes, etc. It’s only for work being done to the chateau, including the wages of those working on the chateau. Patreon does not cover any of the chateau’s running costs, which are paid for by me from my YouTube revenue. Sadly, far from lying in bed all day, I spend my time making as many videos as possible in order to renovate Lalande and continue to pay everyone’s wages. I used to do much more physical work around the chateau, but, as you can imagine, my job is now to provide content through filming and editing, to keep everyone around me in work.
LaReyne
6 hours ago
What I can tell from watching the videos the last couple of years, is she does a fair few late nights editing videos to make sure she delivers on time. So I reckon she's allowed some lie-ins. Though some people are just nighthawks. I've pals who are software developers who seem to do a lot of work in the middle of the night. Maybe cos it's the only time they can get peace to concentrate.
B Jorgensen
19 minutes ago
@LaReyne wow! I'm glad nobody is critiquing my sleep schedule! What is the concern about? People need to find something else to worry about!
LaReyne
14 minutes ago
@B Jorgensen Truth.

Wow. First time the Chatelaine answers a question about finances on her YouTube comments !
What's happening ??

PS : 15.000 euros per month for people who don't work full-time at the chateau ! I'm no accountant but something is odd, no ?

 

[Espe]

Watch Casey Neistat, Dan admires him.

Dan thinks it looks cool and "in" to behave casually as if he doesn't care about anything and his "slick" way of talking quickly and casually is the same. When he was first in SJ's vlogs and when he first started his channel, he was more natural and more likeable. He still showed his dry sense of humour with witty remarks and he seemed capable of being amusing at the same time as appearing sensible and hard-working. He is now acting for the camera, doing what he thinks will be popular instead of being his natural self which Annalise manages to do well. He should forget the well-known "influencers" and just be his natural self again. This new self doesn't seem like the real Dan who is more responsible. He is much better when he is with Amaury who seems to act naturally on camera and can be both sensible and funny. Dan has had a lot of positive feedback; he completes a lot of work in a short time and he has filming skills but if he is not careful, he will lose some supporters who are put off by this attempt to look cool. He also needs to tone down his remarks about Steph and the state of the chateau. It's almost as though he's doing it especially for Tattlers. We know what state LL is in and we know why, and what SJ is like; he could show it without making such an obvious attempt to highlight the faults. It's as though he doesn't want us to associate him with her but she is still his employer despite being so annoying, and people risk losing their jobs if they make their feelings about their employer so public. If he doesn't lose his job, he could be banned from filming at LL and there's a limit to how long he can go on filming himself plastering walls, etc., at his home and visiting Brico. The people who come across best on YT are the ones who show their real selves, not those, like SJ, who put on an act especially for the camera. The longer she has been on YT, the worse she has become. Dan needs to be aware of that as it would be a shame if he deteriorated in a similar way.

 

[Patriciarella]

OUR attic is full of treasure I love it!

What’s under this piece of wood? An old piece of wood. What’s under this piece of wood? An older piece of wood.

Do watch your step darling you almost stepped on my aunt’s nephew’s grandma’s second cousin’s dead fathers grocery list- we must frame it!

 

[KyBourbon]

Just watched Dan’s latest vlog…using the digger to clear a path in the woods, using fallen trees to mark the path boundaries, spreading the wood chips, and then getting to work on the pergola. I know there’s the “Dan fans” and “Dan detractors” here…but, whether you like him or not, I have to admire that he’s actually getting things done and making progress. It’s so refreshing to see that.

 

[Eduardo35]

Well.

So, I've stumbled across this site by accident and realised this was the so-called hate site the MP called out in his vlog. I started reading it out of curiosity and for the past month or so, I have to say, I found the gossip here is far more entertaining than watching The Chateau Diaries.

Full disclosure, I don't watch TCD. I find the vlogs dull and aimless. There's no...entertainment factor. It's just a person bringing their phone around with them constantly and filming everything. Just because SJ vlogs...doesn't actually mean there's anything worth vlogging. The Pethricks have the same problem. I watch youtube to be entertained. And watching people going about their daily lives is not entertaining, at all.

Anyway, all this brings me to the reason why I'm posting today (my original plan was to lurk forever. Oh well). I'm not sure if anyone's noticed this, but as of today, the Fleuries have passed SJ in subscriber count.

Ever since the BBC published the article about French chateau owners using Youtube to pay for their chateau, SJ has gained 3K subscribers and the Fleuries...have gained 46K. And, they're still going. In fact, I've started noticing the Fleuries gaining more views and subscribers in the last week or so. You'd almost say they're going semi-viral. Their 2 years looking back video has gone past 1 million views and, in comparison, SJ's 'How Youtube is renovating my chateau' is sitting at 158K.

So why are the two channels, both chateau channels, and both featured on the BBC article, having such different responses? Well, if you asked me, one has content and actual direction in the vlogs (however boring the Fleuries may be) and the other is kinda aimless, plotless and pointless. When I bake a cake, however long the process, at the end, I want to be able to eat a cake. Watching SJ's vlog doesn't make me feel like I'm getting a cake.

Uh, anyway, enough talking about cake....back to the original question that sparked this post.

There's been a lot of discussion about SJ getting her comeuppance - losing her patrons, the scales falling off the eyes of her fans or the tax man come collecting. I had a thought, what if it's none of the above? What if her viewers and patrons simply...lose interest? Will her superfans and patrons hold on until the end of time? Or will they gradually lose interest as they realise that every video is just life, love and laughter on repeat?

(On the side note, as I was typing this, I realised the BBC didn't use the title 'Save their chateau' as SJ does but rather, they say 'to pay for their chateau'. I think they see past the bullshit, just like Tattlers do.)

The fleuries WILL be the MOST successful in the Chateau community in Youtube, Steph vlogs has become nothing but dump and repetative lies and BS.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Don't think Selmar got around to fixing these chairs as planned., as things appear to have changed once Squirrelboy arrived in September 2020.
Unlikely they will get fixed now, so if she's not going to invest in repairing them, SJ should just toss them.

That red and gold chair used to be in her not so grand salon, the one they are currently not putting the paneling in because they have more urgent things to do, like holidaying and frolicking around in the world why the rest suffers a pandemic. When the not so grand salon is finally done up, she wants to reorganize its furniture (read: buy loads of expensive new stuff and forget about her old Emmaus crap) so she dumped those chair on the pile in the attic.

 

[Marquis de Potpourri]

It looks like a mask I do believe.

Maybe ……. Did I tell you I was in a boy band.

 

[NotAChatelaine]

Attic Treasure, going back a while: when SJ (the pageboy in attendance, natch) was skipping around what was to become Narnia of a Thousand Armoires and discussing ideas about the raised floor, etc, with Ian, they stumbled upon a rather delapidated but obviously "good" armchair, one of the myriad things left behind by the Marquis. I seem to remember it was cane-seated and possibly leather-backed. It looked the sort of chair one might use at a desk in an Estate office or study. It was clearly an antique (I forget which period - and, no, I don't have a screenshot from the relevant vlog to submit here as Exhibit A) and, while not an important find, definitely worth undergoing professional restoration.

SJ, who never falls to disappoint with her displays of all-encompassing lack of knowledge, seemed genuinely astonished when Ian told her that there was a local furniture restorer.

Said chair has never been seen since. It would be a much better memento of the de Nadallac years than an obsolete television set.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Mouse poo in bottom right hand corner

Well spotted! Dan must have wiped this shelve before taking that picture, because usually it's much worse and everything is covered in it. And that's just what you can see, imagine the pee...

 

[Clara Burnett]

I don't understand the high heeled boots - he is already quite a tall boy. It must just be a style preference... or are they costume boots from one of the Narnia wardrobes?

He's also wearing those when he's out and about, well, at the Emmaus that is, because nowadays grocery shopping is beneath the lord of her shittoo and because he is famous he can't just go anywhere (his literal words). He gets a lot of attention with them, and not in a good way...

 

[Sparrowsfart]

...and now, SJ is managing what Dan is filming???

View attachment 1005554
6 HOURS AGO
escapetoruralfrance
With the space leading to the pantry finished, me and Stephanie are talking tonight about plans for the rest!
#pantry #dailyvlog #renovation

Mouse poo in bottom right hand corner

 

[Sillywidget]

Was anyone else grossed out by them not changing their clothes to go get tested and pick up bread?? I mean I can get down and dirty and do some hard work but I wouldn't traipse all over town being that way. You can't tell me that dust isn't full of fecal matter from birds, rats, etc and it was all over their sweaters. Then Phillip is holding the bread up against it.....just disgusting.

 

[sues900]

Dan so reads tattle, someone mentioned his disrespecting tools and he makes a point of saying how he’s looked after Anne Marie’s stuff. Another comment was he needs to sort his own place out and low and behold he’s going to talk us through his plans for his own home… I’m glad he’s paying attention, him and his family deserve to have a nice home, they’ve lived in France for years struggling by I thinking for the first time since they arrived they are actually earning decent money that can make a real difference to their lives, good on um I say