The Chateau Diaries #210 PhiPhi. He's the first Real Housewife of Lalande

Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.
New to Tattle Life? Click "Order Thread by Most Liked Posts" button below to get an idea of what the site is about:
I don't mind the curtain fabric, but draw the line at the shape of the pelmet and the beaded fringe. Neither do I like the grey wingback chairs - wrong colour and way too big for the space. And the non-matching throw blankets did nothing to enhance them. Pro-tip for them - don't buy Hermes throws. It's an awkward room shape for that big heavy four poster bed. Notice too that new bed curtains were only attached to the end of the bed frame and not the pillow end. I like the prints, however, the shabby effort at framing them wasn't the way to go. Yes, it's fine to buy cheap frames at Emmaus to use, I do it myself, but to hang them with the chipped old paint doesn't doesn't suggest antique or vintage - it just makes the frames look damaged because they are. Despite what Steve said, I'd have put proper matt-board surrounding the prints too. Still, I give them credit for trying and I wish them sweet dreams in their new bedroom. They love it and that's what matters. They've done a far superior job of it that Fanny would have ever done. She'd have smothered the walls in some god-awful and woefully expensive print, put kitchy nick-knacks on every surface, brought in a drinks fridge, then added a chandelier that would dominate the the room. She would have also hung it too low, stunning anyone who entered the room into unconsciousness when they inevitably wacked their skull into it.
 
Reactions: 20
Looking for opinions. Just watched Dan’s latest video…where he builds the roof and calls it “practice” for the chateau roof. I was wondering…should Dan try to restore his chateau to its original state? OR…should he use what’s left of the chateau (the “shell”) as the starting point for something new? Instead of recreating what was there, maybe build a more modern, contemporary structure that incorporates the old? I don’t know what would be better. Normally I would say the chateau should be restored to the original, but his chateau is so far gone maybe it’s an opportunity to do something different? Personally, I think it would be easier, cheaper, and faster if he DIDN’T try to restore the chateau strictly back to its original state. I know there was a similar debate about how to rebuild Notre Dame before it was finally decided to restore the cathedral to the way it was before the fire (but, of course, Dan’s chateau isn’t as iconic as Notre Dame). Either way, I think Dan would be wise to get the opinion of an architect before starting any significant work on his chateau.
 
Reactions: 31
Has Angie taken a break from all of the chateau strife? Who’s going to paint the leather couch????????

View attachment 1908117
OMG! What a hideous room. Where are the windows? Really, brown paint? It's so fugly! I can't stand it. Did I say I didn't like it? And whoever that guy is, he has a bad hairstyle.

---

You're thinking this through way too much. There will be no 'plan' for Dan, because Dan doesn't do plans. There will be no upscale blend of new and old because Dan has no imagination. There will be no restoration because Dan has no money. There will be no architect opinion because Dan knows it all and has no money. What there will be is ongoing decay and reforestation. I'm putting my money on the forest.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Reactions: 24
Can’t have permanent non working company!!

also never piss off your hairdresser

---

Whenever I scratch my head, baffled, and wonder why in the world anyone would give Fanny money every month, I remember it’s the same people who would buy this…

View attachment 1905682

A sucker is born every minute!
Every second
 
Reactions: 14
I would do a brand new structure inside… Won’t even try to restore what was there. Kind of like Venetian buildings where they kept the facade but inside is a modern building.

Now it doesn’t need to be modern style, but it can be something more practical than recreating wood carvings and restoring to the exact style and floor plan of the previous building.

That building is beyond restore… you need to recreate.
 
Reactions: 26
So Dan is not only manless but planless also?
 
Reactions: 20
Ahhhh... don't let @Jules100 at that photo, I'm sure it's Mouse's reflection in the glass door not Brenda Gibbons
 
Reactions: 13
I agree. The skills, time, energy, and cost to recreate the flooring, paneling, ceilings alone would be massive. I wonder if it’s finally dawned on Dan just how huge the chateau project will be? I have to think his chateau is a big reason why Dan and Annalise are no longer together. I don’t think she wanted anything to do with that place…it’s HIS dream.
 
Reactions: 22
He should take a look at the way damaged historic buildings in the UK are remade. Planning permission usually requires the new sections and restored connections be contemporary as opposed to recreating what was original.

 
Reactions: 33
He should take a look at the way damaged historic buildings in the UK are remade. Planning permission usually requires the new sections and restored connections be contemporary as opposed to recreating what was original.

View attachment 1908309
I really like the way the old and new are combined and work together. It might not be the right choice for every situation, but when so much of the original is lost I think it makes sense.
 
Reactions: 28
My thoughts too. In fact I don't think there is any money saved. She has lived high on the hog since realizing she could do it on other peoples money and she has no shame at all. She is so obvious that she now doesn't care what we all think of her. Her coterie of supporters believe everything she says and so long as she keeps giving them a sob story she will continue to suck them dry. I think she is loathsome!
 
Reactions: 23
At various times she’s told various stories, including that Baghead and Potty were both there and figured out how to open the sluice gates. She’s said she was alone and pressured into it by the Water Police, it was to comply with new regs or was going to cost money she didn’t have. In other words, she has many excuses, many stories and no real facts are known. Well, other than the lake is empty and ultimately she’s at fault. Amended rule applies. Her mouth is moving, there’s a more than 99.9% chance the grifter queen is lying.
 
Last edited:
Reactions: 23
Fanny, the ultimate drama queen, is a bad actor acting badly and PhiPhi is her understudy. Close the curtains before the set collapses!
 
Reactions: 19
Anything that collects dust, I throw that shit away, can’t be bothered.

Oh, and Fanny is as phony as they come. That was the biggest load of fake despair I have ever seen. Such a ‘catastrophe’ yet the two of ‘em managed to buy a ton of junk and travel to assuage their deep despair.

Filled with the devil my gramma would’ve said. They surely are in need of the good Lord. I would tell her, gramma, it’s much too late for that, the evil has burrowed in much too deep, like a blood sucking tick. No where for these two heathens to go, but to sink deeper into the bowels of hell…look away all good people, and hope and pray the wicked stays contained.

( What a racket they got goin’. )
 
Reactions: 13
It does seem to have all happened at the same time, she went with him and the kids originally... then they split up..

---

He should take a look at the way damaged historic buildings in the UK are remade. Planning permission usually requires the new sections and restored connections be contemporary as opposed to recreating what was original.

View attachment 1908309
I actually don't like that. I've never seen it before, so I haven't had time to consider it, but first impressions, it's a mess.
 
Reactions: 8
Years ago, every English speaking person in France had a blog about living there. I read them all, including one American girl who'd fallen in love with a French farmer at some sort of kumbayah young peoples' international meeting. Very smart, very humble background, college educated as he was not. She lived with him in the middle of nowhere, getting the civil union thing done, citizenship moves, wedding planning, furnishing a home -- until he ran off with the tart from the village bar. Totally Frenched Out was the name of her blog thereafter -- went to Paris, got a really good job and a really good French hubz......Aaaaaaaaanyway, I'll never forget the essays she did on the cheapness of French farmers and their incredibly shitty doing up of crumbling corners of the barn as gites. With fanciful stylish touches.
Dan's gnome apartment reminds me of these 15-year-old descriptions of the gnome apartments d'antan. The jaunty pix of the dog in the hat and bowtie really set off the just-kill-me now sofa and the astonishing tile work in the stove niche. The ladder upstairs. The balls it takes to advertise $30-a-night accommodation no one 6'2" can stand up in. The red toilet seat. This will be la France profonde.
 
Reactions: 14
Why
Found Dan's airbnb. 29 a night. Clearly warns about the low height ceilings.
is he not staying at the chateau where he could pick up some work and cook again? Is he too good to work there? Or is there no room at the Chateau with 40 rooms? I’m sure they could use the extra help to find a place to store all that new furniture and deal with all the moving of things for the heating.
nothing here makes sense.
 
Reactions: 15
I think she did, and she shared the dream. In the very first vlog which featured the chateau, when Dan and Annalise with kids in tow went for a walk about the place, it was Annalise who was the most encouraging about the ruin. She continually tried to point out features to Dan, to engage him in her enthusiasm for what's left of the building and he remained pretty much unresponsive to her. Perhaps she dreamed of them both doing the place up together for them and living there as a family. But he was so uncommunicative, basically ignoring her. Perhaps it was then, when he first saw that shell of a chateau, that he formulated plans that didn't include her.
 
Reactions: 18
Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.