JustCommonSense
Member
Hello everyone! I have been reading for a while and thought it was time that I added my own two cents (not giving them to Patreon though!)…
Before I start ranting, I have to say that I discovered SJ’s channel in early 2020 and I watched the entire backlog of videos during the now famous first European lockdown. She has a real way with people and her joy is infectious – qualities that were terribly needed when we all first started to isolate. The memory of these videos is dear to me.
My first surprise was when she mentioned in one of those earlier vlogs that there were many “Château de Lalande” and that guests had already driven to the wrong place. Well, turns out that the mix-up is all SJ’s doing because the Château should not be called “Château de Lalande” but “Château de la Lande”. Small but mighty difference when you ask your GPS to show you the way! A traveler with no grasp of French geography could very easily be misdirected and not question the route before arrival.
I am puzzled as to why the name was changed. Was “la Lande” not deemed to be a grand enough name? “La lande”, in French, refers to a wildish not very fertile area of land with only shrubs and bushes. The area that she lives in is called “La Lande”, so is the street that the château is on and that is also the name of the local stream. As far as I can tell from a quick search, there are many “Château de Lalande” but only one “Château de la Lande”. Hers. There may be others, but obviously not as prominent landmarks as CDL. Was the name "la Lande" too obviously rural?
This leads me to my second point which is that the rurality of the location and the building are not being honored. Her taste is clearly influenced by Italy (and the south of France, to a certain extent, the Riviera having been Italian, historically). This is of course only a matter of personal taste but I am a little offended by the design choices that so clearly do not fit the character of the building and the area. Pink gravel, really? There is nothing pink in this landscape. You should have to go further south to find it, or to fancier castles further north that have been influenced by Italian architecture at the time they were built or remodeled.
By contrast, the pink color also highlights the grey of the walls and the damp issues. That damp will of course make the place feel colder than it already is and, eventually, damage the structure of the building. The building probably won’t collapse today, nor tomorrow but it needs to be addressed. Please correct me if there already is a drain that I am not aware of. I would be surprised though, because the leak that we saw in the vlog this week, in my opinion, is not a leak. My observations could be wrong, of course, but I believe that the water did not come from the bathroom but is a result of the heavy rainfall lately. Let me explain:
With the castle sitting on top of that hill (and the drop behind the castle towards the bed of the lake), I suspect that the rain water was not as easily absorbed by the land in front of the chateau, which, as we know from the gardening attempts, was already rockhard before the gravel. The gravel has probably made it even easier for the water to travel further down. I tell you, that gravel again! Rural courtyards have one or two layers of greyish gravel, just to prevent muddy feast. That is it. (In honesty I am probably just truly disliking the pink and finding every reason there is to fault it). Heavy rainfalls coupled with the absence of an efficient draining system, has made the water travel differently than usual. Since water comes up and out again wherever it can, it found itself under the floor of the chateau. As we know, there is no cellar and the limestone tiles are laid almost directly over the mud. That the garden is being prioritized over the installation of a drain around the building cries out mismanagement to me.
We all make mistakes but it looks to me like the Patreon money is starting to fund them! Talk about “maquiller le cochon” (putting make-up on the pig). Even worse, the funds required for these make-up sessions are filmed by british television, but SJ can’t show the results before it airs. YT is the milkcow but the network comes first. Doesn’t sound very fair to all those that have allowed her to move forward by watching the adds, participating on patreon, etc. I don’t have an issue with people giving their money away if they want, I don’t judge. Just like I won’t judge people’s appearances. But as you all have noted before, when such funds are being mismanaged and used for personal gain, it makes my skin crawl.
This was a long enough rant to start with, wasn’t it?
Before I start ranting, I have to say that I discovered SJ’s channel in early 2020 and I watched the entire backlog of videos during the now famous first European lockdown. She has a real way with people and her joy is infectious – qualities that were terribly needed when we all first started to isolate. The memory of these videos is dear to me.
My first surprise was when she mentioned in one of those earlier vlogs that there were many “Château de Lalande” and that guests had already driven to the wrong place. Well, turns out that the mix-up is all SJ’s doing because the Château should not be called “Château de Lalande” but “Château de la Lande”. Small but mighty difference when you ask your GPS to show you the way! A traveler with no grasp of French geography could very easily be misdirected and not question the route before arrival.
I am puzzled as to why the name was changed. Was “la Lande” not deemed to be a grand enough name? “La lande”, in French, refers to a wildish not very fertile area of land with only shrubs and bushes. The area that she lives in is called “La Lande”, so is the street that the château is on and that is also the name of the local stream. As far as I can tell from a quick search, there are many “Château de Lalande” but only one “Château de la Lande”. Hers. There may be others, but obviously not as prominent landmarks as CDL. Was the name "la Lande" too obviously rural?
This leads me to my second point which is that the rurality of the location and the building are not being honored. Her taste is clearly influenced by Italy (and the south of France, to a certain extent, the Riviera having been Italian, historically). This is of course only a matter of personal taste but I am a little offended by the design choices that so clearly do not fit the character of the building and the area. Pink gravel, really? There is nothing pink in this landscape. You should have to go further south to find it, or to fancier castles further north that have been influenced by Italian architecture at the time they were built or remodeled.
By contrast, the pink color also highlights the grey of the walls and the damp issues. That damp will of course make the place feel colder than it already is and, eventually, damage the structure of the building. The building probably won’t collapse today, nor tomorrow but it needs to be addressed. Please correct me if there already is a drain that I am not aware of. I would be surprised though, because the leak that we saw in the vlog this week, in my opinion, is not a leak. My observations could be wrong, of course, but I believe that the water did not come from the bathroom but is a result of the heavy rainfall lately. Let me explain:
With the castle sitting on top of that hill (and the drop behind the castle towards the bed of the lake), I suspect that the rain water was not as easily absorbed by the land in front of the chateau, which, as we know from the gardening attempts, was already rockhard before the gravel. The gravel has probably made it even easier for the water to travel further down. I tell you, that gravel again! Rural courtyards have one or two layers of greyish gravel, just to prevent muddy feast. That is it. (In honesty I am probably just truly disliking the pink and finding every reason there is to fault it). Heavy rainfalls coupled with the absence of an efficient draining system, has made the water travel differently than usual. Since water comes up and out again wherever it can, it found itself under the floor of the chateau. As we know, there is no cellar and the limestone tiles are laid almost directly over the mud. That the garden is being prioritized over the installation of a drain around the building cries out mismanagement to me.
We all make mistakes but it looks to me like the Patreon money is starting to fund them! Talk about “maquiller le cochon” (putting make-up on the pig). Even worse, the funds required for these make-up sessions are filmed by british television, but SJ can’t show the results before it airs. YT is the milkcow but the network comes first. Doesn’t sound very fair to all those that have allowed her to move forward by watching the adds, participating on patreon, etc. I don’t have an issue with people giving their money away if they want, I don’t judge. Just like I won’t judge people’s appearances. But as you all have noted before, when such funds are being mismanaged and used for personal gain, it makes my skin crawl.
This was a long enough rant to start with, wasn’t it?
Fast Forward with Frances 
. 1. What would the former marquises think if they knew their precious chapel was being used for this type of ‘art’? 2. Did SJ know about this, although judging by her father’s art, she’d probably approve. 3. If the patrons were aware guests of lalaland were using the sacred chapel as lingerie photo shoot, would they appreciate their hard earned money being used to renovate a photography backdrop? Maybe I’m over analyzing , but I thought it interesting nonetheless.
