The Chateau Diaries #8 Nous sommes tous VALERIE

[witchgrass]

It wasn't. This volunteer was a deranged woman my friend took pity on, but she repaid his kindness by shouting at him while he was serving breakfast to B&B guest, screaming to him all homosexuals are sinners and should die a miserable death. There, I've said it.

What the hell was she doing that was so essential that they kept her around after that? That sounds insane.

 

[66carola]

ran the whole show, literally, when there I've seen my friend drop everything he was doing, just to help Isabelle with something when she asked, and she asked a lot. After asking him why, he responded it was easier to instantly give in to her whims, because the other option was to be subjected to her complaints all day.

That's what I thought about Isabelle, I never saw her as hardworking but as a good manager delegating using charm, a girly voice and helpless manner. Same as SJ she just doesn't see all the necessary work which needs to be done better soon than later.

 

[frenchessence]

She's actually a really nice and friendly person who is still friends with my friends and used to be SJ's bff and Potty's girlfriend. After the fall out with my friends SJ lost interest in her too, apart from the use of her pool, indeed. Or maybe it was because Potty and her broke up.

Thank you Clara. I noticed on SJ’s insta that Stephanie did lots of gazing adoringly at her and also they were in Venice for a month, so clearly close friends. She just seemed to disappear from the group and I wondered what had happened to her. Interesting she dated Potty too.
So glad that someone in that circle showed some loyalty to your friends.

 

[Rory]

What the hell was she doing that was so essential that they kept her around after that? That sounds insane.

I think Clara said earlier the woman was connected to the electrian guy working on chapel at the time.

 

[66carola]

Did anyway see the link Escape to Rural France posted when Annalise was an actress? I haven't watched it yet but plan to. I like Annalise a lot despite her overuse of the word literally and I wish Dan would be nicer to her when she's filming - it's painful to watch at times when she's trying so hard to engage with him and he is a bit grumpy. I still maintain he's the hardest worker of all the chateau people and spin off vloggers - apart from maybe Fiona with the leather trousers whose DIY ability and work ethic are incredible.

I wouldn't consider him hard working, just normal working. After all he gets paid and just delivers what he is paid for. Also if you come to a neglected place there is is always the dramatic before after effect. I can't wait to see when he finishes the final touches in the kitchen. He seemed to have started alot of projects on his house but not finished them properly. Anyway if you don't have the money to pay somebody doing it you do have to do it yourselves what other choice is there?

 

[Clara Burnett]

That's what I thought about Isabelle, I never saw her as hardworking but as a good manager delegating using charm, a girly voice and helpless manner. Same as SJ she just doesn't see all the necessary work which needs to be done better soon than later.

Not entirely fair, she does work hard herself too, mostly on the never ending laundry.

I think Clara said earlier the woman was connected to the electrian guy working on chapel at the time.

Yes, that was her father in law, an 80+ electrician

 

[66carola]

I'll still be watching the Chateau Diaries (but not cadeaux obvs) and not just because it's very entertaining but also because I need to watch there in order to be able to keep up on here! I'm very grateful to @ChocLili and everyone else who trawls the facebook pages on our behalf as it's virtually a full time job being a member of tattle these days! If anyone was writing a thesis on the dark side of becoming a public figure via vlogging/social media they would have a field day here. It's not surprising Ruth has refused to be in the videos and was hiding from the camera whilst Michael Potts said his goodbyes on the last vlog - she didn't even do her usual wave from the car.

I noticed that too, I wondered if she was there at all?

Yes,they rent the Cheatux,I'd really don't get them.

I believe they said they rented for a year to see if they could handle it. But meanwhile they own it.

 

[witchgrass]

SJ, who wasn't there at the time but got the message through her mother on the phone, later denied it ever happened and my friend made it up.

Keeping the peace with a woman like Isabelle must be exhausting.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Keeping the peace with a woman like Isabelle must be exhausting.

It's a full day's job...

 

[dumbblonde]

It's a full day's job...

Or half a day, if you spend all morning in bed

 

[MojoDublin]

I loved the vlogs from the beginning, but started to have doubts about SJ's true character when it came out that she didn't keep up to date with responding to emails. That is just basic courtesy, surely. Ditto sending a prompt thank you to gift givers, and posting promised cards to her patrons.

I viewed patron as a cup of coffee - and in general I do
Nothing else

I’m sufficiently curious as to the ins and outs of HOW ... patron worked

However
Neither indeed all 3 patrons haven’t bothered their asses to lick a stamp

I oddly enough - during covid I found 2 other channels ... really needed the distraction

I’ll name them
Prehistoric guys
Patron 1 pound sterling - fascinating discussions on history

Badge received in the first week
Mentioned on podcast !!!

No 2
Mythical Ireland Podcast
Actual author !!!! With a job
Felt I should learn something

Lesson learned

Spend your money wisely

Careful out there there’s charlatan s that will relive you of your generosity

 

[frenchessence]

Or half a day, if you spend all morning in bed

Lol

 

[witchgrass]

It's a full day's job...

She's reading here. Let it all out.

 

[Clara Burnett]

Did you hear that Brenda?!

She heard. I saw her commenting on one of the older post on my friends instagram... she follows them, apparently, all innocent interest, I'm sure.

 

[Takeaway]

is it the same wife as oliver has now? or is it from before she converted?
@sandro37
It’s the same wife, she had a child prior to meeting Oliver & she lived as a single parent in Cornwall. She’s from Southampton originally. The baby in her arms is the daughter she has with Oliver.
she looks lovely, it makes me sad. There’s quite a lot about her online & her Muslim faith.

Me too

 

[Hemerocallis]

Just some observations I've made in the last vlog:
- Stephanie doesn't cook anymore, what is she contributing ? Only vlogging, being chef and delegating work to others.
- when she is wrapping the provencial figures in the video: "next year i'll add some more villagers to the set, so the box is big enough to grow in future".........in her mind "you can send more figures to me, there's enough place in the box."
- when Selmar speaks about Jesus in the chapel, there is a sheet of paper lying left of the crib, I wondered if it is his cheat sheet with what he was expected to say for her christian friends

Clara wrote that her friends set up the BnB. They have been there 2014-2017, right ? So from 2009 (Dereks death) to 2014 she lived of renting off her apartment in London and the contributions of Nic ?

Concerning Camilla, Olivers wife, they married in a church in 2014, think her muslim episode is over.

 

[Incognito Chatelaine]

I think if you’re getting a free house to live in, I’m guessing bills paid for plus food in exchange for looking after a chateau I think that’s pretty fair. If you felt exploited maybe a paid job somewhere else would have suited your situation better.

Ah now, this is a bit disingenous, is it not? Carla has cleared stated above that it was not about money, but betrayal. Sending them away when they were the ones abused and wronged, and then gaslighting them that it had never happened. Ouch.

 

[Pno]

I think if you’re getting a free house to live in, I’m guessing bills paid for plus food in exchange for looking after a chateau I think that’s pretty fair. If you felt exploited maybe a paid job somewhere else would have suited your situation better.

Looks like that is exactly what they did.
We all understand that vlogging and content and editing takes a lot of hours out of the day. That said, SJ has been doing this about 18 months? The BnB never was managed properly and never broke even. Whose job was that? The chateau needs actual unglamorous serious structural work. She is finally making money and instead of paying attention to the long ignored problems that weren’t/couldn’t be addressed in years past she is buying more crap and encouraging her fans during a global pandemic to buy her more crap too.

 

[Jeeves]

I think if you’re getting a free house to live in, I’m guessing bills paid for plus food in exchange for looking after a chateau I think that’s pretty fair. If you felt exploited maybe a paid job somewhere else would have suited your situation better.

I'm not sure that the upset felt by these gentlemen is more a result of the way they were treated by someone they felt was a friend. I think that this has probably caused them more hurt and anguish than the financial side of the whole sorry situation (although I understand why this would be a sore point.).
I agree with many of you who felt that after the initial charm of the early Chateau Diaries, that as the layers peeled away, it exposed a rather grubby underlayer.
I wasn't a fan of Tomaz, but I suspect that SJ knew exactly what Brenda was doing and may have instrumental in wreaking some kind of revenge.
I am also curious about who the homophobic volunteer was! So many of the male volunteers have been rather effeminate, I suspect that SJ is probably a gay icon.

 

[sandro37]

I thought as much. No wonder SJ wanted to surround herself with people who take the pressure off of her and take it on themselves. We can diagnose narcissism all day long, but Isabelle is the stuff reddit threads about narc parents are based on. I thought it was interesting that one giant was the caretaker of the greenhouse and that ended up being the first thing restored for channel 4. Did Isabelle really involve herself in the garden then or is it all for show and free seeds? Also casts a whole new light on Isabelle simpering, "you ask too much of people," when it's her doing it. Some projection there.

Completely agree as i said steffi told us who made her and at times she wants us to know Lizzie's true colours
i see that steffi is confused at times, as if she herself doesnt understnad that to think of anything

I said a while ago...imagine Stephanie was a 45 year old good looking man who flirted with and slept with female Workaways in their early 20s. And maybe had dressup days and commented on how the Workaways looked, cooked, etc. And then filmed it all. And made money from it.

this might go against the popular belief and as much as it is also funny, the reverse role comparison doesn't really work,
we can elaborate on why it is different, but I think it is obvious