The Chateau Diaries - Stephanie Jarvis

[Raspberrybrulee]

@Calvignac I noticed the people at the table behind looking annoyed too! The other thing I found a bit telling was that Stephanie and Hanni were supposed to go on holiday with Nati, Marie and Kat but at the last minute Stephanie realised she wasn't able to go and then Hanni couldn't go either!

@Lululime I didn't know that about scampi although I'm happy for it go on record that I bloody love the stuff.....

 

[Great_Kate]

Thing as, before Selmar probably didn’t have to pay rent or food. He also didn’t pay for the utensils or materials. That saves a ton of money in the first place. He lived there for free in exchange for work. I wouldn’t say the situation before was exactly a rip off for him. While we saw what he did in the vlogs it is unclear how much he actually worked. He certainly took days off to go surfing but those vlogs are very much edited so you cannot draw good conclusions. Just as the whole fairytale perma party gives a wrong impression.
But when a situation like this gets more permanent it’s important to make sure both sides are legally set up right. He needs health insurance and pay into his pension fund. This status will make sure he will have a legally employed status. He isn’t french after all, so there is a lot to consider. Access to French health care and social security options for example.
If he starts putting more on his own channel, I wonder if he will vanish from the vlogs as well?

 

[Lululime]

@Calvignac I noticed the people at the table behind looking annoyed too! The other thing I found a bit telling was that Stephanie and Hanni were supposed to go on holiday with Nati, Marie and Kat but at the last minute Stephanie realised she wasn't able to go and then Hanni couldn't go either!

@Lululime I didn't know that about scampi although I'm happy for it go on record that I bloody love the stuff.....

Good on you! Me too! X
Yes....I noticed that they had both stayed home......wonder if there’s something financial that Hanni’s helping with if she works in banking.....perhaps some external investment in the place or management of the Patron funds......We need Madam Mystery on this one....

 

[Great_Kate]

Good on you! Me too! X
Yes....I noticed that they had both stayed home......wonder if there’s something financial that Hanni’s helping with if she works in banking.....perhaps some external investment in the place or management of the Patron funds......We need Madam Mystery on this one....

Maybe Stephanie will look for a Patreon alternative as Patreon itself seems to have legal problem? If so, she is wise to go somewhere else.

 

[SableOnBlonde]

@Raspberrybrulee Agree, with you I like this thread because its a space for us to critique. I think Stephanie is great too and I like everyone at the chateau. Doesn't mean I think they are perfect people. I mostly watch the videos for decorating, food and garden inspiration. I found The Chateau Diaries through Escape to the Chateau DIY. Mummy and Dan gardening together is adorable, love what they are doing. And yay Selmar is staying on!

I presume Selmar has incorporated himself as his own business. Just as I presume Dan has. I had no idea the continental countries made it so difficult to start up as a small, independent business. Health insurance and pensions should not be a big concern, France has universal healthcare and state pensions (like every developed nation) which all pay into through our taxes.

In the most recent video, it's clear Hanni (and maybe Stephanie) is deep in the honeymoon period. Stephanie ended the video on Hanni saying she is having an identity crisis! Considering Stephanie does a lot of editing, that is not a coincidence, she must be aware.

I wonder why Stephanie did not specify why she and Hanni couldn't go on the girls trip? That pinged my radar.

It’s not because of Hanni’s professional experience, she’s not a banker (let alone a lawyer), she works for a Fintech (financial tech company) in an operations role. Hanni is a tech geek, she doesn’t state her degree so I’m guessing it’s not that impressive. I don’t think Stephanie is foolish enough to take financial or legal advice from Hanni.

Hanni could be helping out with tech stuff.

 

[SableOnBlonde]

Pretty similar, Baked Alaska has some sponge cake in as well and double cream rather than Chantilly ....
Oh didn’t notice that.....understandable though....

I’ve never eaten baked Alaska, scampi or vacherin, now I’m going to have try!

It looked like a sweet, homespun restaurant they went to, not surprised the French country folk thought they were weird

@Raspberrybrulee It was weird, nothing wrong with liking non posh food, but I think she aspires to being posh. That desert looked good.

 

[Calvignac]

@Raspberrybrulee Agree, with you I like this thread because its a space for us to critique. I think Stephanie is great too and I like everyone at the chateau. Doesn't mean I think they are perfect people. I mostly watch the videos for decorating, food and garden inspiration. I found The Chateau Diaries through Escape to the Chateau DIY. Mummy and Dan gardening together is adorable, love what they are doing. And yay Selmar is staying on!

I presume Selmar has incorporated himself as his own business. Just as I presume Dan has. I had no idea the continental countries made it so difficult to start up as a small, independent business. Health insurance and pensions should not be a big concern, France has universal healthcare and state pensions (like every developed nation) which all pay into through our taxes.

In the most recent video, it's clear Hanni (and maybe Stephanie) is deep in the honeymoon period. Stephanie ended the video on Hanni saying she is having an identity crisis! Considering Stephanie does a lot of editing, that is not a coincidence, she must be aware.

I wonder why Stephanie did not specify why she and Hanni couldn't go on the girls trip? That pinged my radar.

It’s not because of Hanni’s professional experience, she’s not a banker (let alone a lawyer), she works for a Fintech (financial tech company) in an operations role. Hanni is a tech geek, she doesn’t state her degree so I’m guessing it’s not that impressive. I don’t think Stephanie is foolish enough to take financial or legal advice from Hanni.

Hanni could be helping out with tech stuff.

Hanni has been recruited by Monzo last year.

@Raspberrybrulee Agree, with you I like this thread because its a space for us to critique. I think Stephanie is great too and I like everyone at the chateau. Doesn't mean I think they are perfect people. I mostly watch the videos for decorating, food and garden inspiration. I found The Chateau Diaries through Escape to the Chateau DIY. Mummy and Dan gardening together is adorable, love what they are doing. And yay Selmar is staying on!

I presume Selmar has incorporated himself as his own business. Just as I presume Dan has. I had no idea the continental countries made it so difficult to start up as a small, independent business. Health insurance and pensions should not be a big concern, France has universal healthcare and state pensions (like every developed nation) which all pay into through our taxes.

In the most recent video, it's clear Hanni (and maybe Stephanie) is deep in the honeymoon period. Stephanie ended the video on Hanni saying she is having an identity crisis! Considering Stephanie does a lot of editing, that is not a coincidence, she must be aware.

I wonder why Stephanie did not specify why she and Hanni couldn't go on the girls trip? That pinged my radar.

It’s not because of Hanni’s professional experience, she’s not a banker (let alone a lawyer), she works for a Fintech (financial tech company) in an operations role. Hanni is a tech geek, she doesn’t state her degree so I’m guessing it’s not that impressive. I don’t think Stephanie is foolish enough to take financial or legal advice from Hanni.

Hanni could be helping out with tech stuff.

For Selmar, he had to do some paperwork for being registered as self employed. Normal process for anybody who wants to be self employed. Nothing complicated.

 

[SableOnBlonde]

@Calvignac In banking an online bank like Monzo is called a fintech. They've hired Hanni for her tech knowledge.

"Financial technology is the technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. It is an emerging industry that uses technology to improve activities in finance. "

I've worked in banking for a lot of years, a company like Monzo, while offering banking services is essentially a tech company. Often fintechs aim to disrupt traditional banking with technology to then get bought out by a large banking organization and make a mint!

Hanni could have quite a good salary.

 

[Calvignac]

@Calvignac In banking an online bank like Monzo is called a fintech. They've hired Hanni for her tech knowledge.

"Financial technology is the technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. It is an emerging industry that uses technology to improve activities in finance. "

I've worked in banking for a lot of years, a company like Monzo, while offering banking services is essentially a tech company. Often fintechs aim to disrupt traditional banking with technology to then get bought out by a large banking organization and make a mint!

Hanni could have quite a good salary.

Thank you. I love learning new things Yes I think she's got a good salary.

 

[Lieileen]

Hanni lists herself as Chief of Staff to the CFO which sounds like a glorified PA but at the same time she does seem to have a tech background.

She may work remotely but Monzo announced that they were cutting 150 jobs in June so I wouldn’t be surprised if she got laid off. From her Instagram, I would have said she was paying a decent amount in rent so it might have suited her to disappear somewhere and cut a deal with Stephanie for her board.

 

[Raspberrybrulee]

I thought it was very good of Mummy to go along with Selmar to sort everything out for his self-employed status as I've heard that bureaucracy in France, and the multiple forms that need completing, can be super complicated.

Another advantage of employing Selmar has got to be security as having him outside in his camper van would make the place safer especially when Mummy is on her own there.

Did anyone ever see the French TV show that Stephanie and Mummy appeared in called something like "Bienvenue Chez Nous"? I know they won and that another couple were critical of them and for a while they became national hate figures (the critical couple that is not Mummy and Stephanie). I would have loved to have seen it although my French is very basic.

I agree with whoever above said that Stephanie may stop doing B&B at some point as she may attract stalker types and it's a lot of hassle too.

Does anyone have a favourite Chateau character after Stephanie? I love Dana and I really like Kat too. I love how Dana is such a feeder and always churns out an enormous amount of delicious food whilst looking fabulous. Kat has a great energy about her. I also like Michael Potts as he's very funny. I wasn't sure about Oliver at first but he's really grown on me.

 

[Calvignac]

I thought it was very good of Mummy to go along with Selmar to sort everything out for his self-employed status as I've heard that bureaucracy in France, and the multiple forms that need completing, can be super complicated.

Another advantage of employing Selmar has got to be security as having him outside in his camper van would make the place safer especially when Mummy is on her own there.

Did anyone ever see the French TV show that Stephanie and Mummy appeared in called something like "Bienvenue Chez Nous"? I know they won and that another couple were critical of them and for a while they became national hate figures (the critical couple that is not Mummy and Stephanie). I would have loved to have seen it although my French is very basic.

I agree with whoever above said that Stephanie may stop doing B&B at some point as she may attract stalker types and it's a lot of hassle too.

Does anyone have a favourite Chateau character after Stephanie? I love Dana and I really like Kat too. I love how Dana is such a feeder and always churns out an enormous amount of delicious food whilst looking fabulous. Kat has a great energy about her. I also like Michael Potts as he's very funny. I wasn't sure about Oliver at first but he's really grown on me.

I've watched this French TV program because Stephanie mentioned it. I don't watch this TV channel as it's not my type of TV normally. The couple played the role of the nasty ones in this production. Interviewed by some local newspapers, they said the TV show production deliberately showed them in this role and they were not happy with this. Later, Stephanie said that they are good friends now. They got some negative reactions from the French audience when they said that they didn't know who was Louis XIV and didn't care.

I've watched this French TV program because Stephanie mentioned it. I don't watch this TV channel as it's not my type of TV normally. The couple played the role of the nasty ones in this production. Interviewed by some local newspapers, they said the TV show production deliberately showed them in this role and they were not happy with this. Later, Stephanie said that they are good friends now. As for the national hate, they got some negative reactions mostly because they said that they didn't know who was Louis XIV and didn't care ect.

Dana lives in the area with her French husband Arnaud who doesn't really want to appear in Stephanie's video.

I thought it was very good of Mummy to go along with Selmar to sort everything out for his self-employed status as I've heard that bureaucracy in France, and the multiple forms that need completing, can be super complicated.

Another advantage of employing Selmar has got to be security as having him outside in his camper van would make the place safer especially when Mummy is on her own there.

Did anyone ever see the French TV show that Stephanie and Mummy appeared in called something like "Bienvenue Chez Nous"? I know they won and that another couple were critical of them and for a while they became national hate figures (the critical couple that is not Mummy and Stephanie). I would have loved to have seen it although my French is very basic.

I agree with whoever above said that Stephanie may stop doing B&B at some point as she may attract stalker types and it's a lot of hassle too.

Does anyone have a favourite Chateau character after Stephanie? I love Dana and I really like Kat too. I love how Dana is such a feeder and always churns out an enormous amount of delicious food whilst looking fabulous. Kat has a great energy about her. I also like Michael Potts as he's very funny. I wasn't sure about Oliver at first but he's really grown on me.

I've read some reviews on TripAdvisor about Lalande. The French customers seem to be much less enthousiastic than the British ones about the BnB at the chateau anyway. The British customers all mention the Escape to the Chateau etc whereas for the French it's just another BnB chateau with some defaults.

It seems that Stephanie has spoken again about how difficult it is for her to get a French passport. That's something I don't understand at all.
Her mother being French, she's automatically a French citizen under the French law. Either Isabelle rejected her French nationality when Stephanie was born, which is highly unlikely but still possible, or there's something weird in all this.

It seems that Stephanie has spoken again about how difficult it is for her to get a French passport. That's something I don't understand at all.
Her mother being French, she's automatically a French citizen under the French law. Either Isabelle rejected her French nationality when Stephanie was born, which is highly unlikely but still possible, or there's something weird in all this

 

[pettyicequeen]

@Calvignac Stephanie seems to have an axe to grind with France for some reason, I notice her misrepresenting a lot of things about French administration and laws, and from reading here and in the comments, her British and American audience just eats it up as facts (despite your constant correction of all the misconceptions). No, "continental countries" aren't more complicated or more hostile towards business owners than the UK or the US - heck, both France and Germany are known for their healthy smaller and middle-sized, highly specialised businesses, so I'd say they are doing something right! I myself have survived being self-employed in "continental Europe" and haven't made half the fuss Stephanie does on camera. You fill out a few papers, big whoop. The rules are there to protect people from exploitation, which is a very good thing indeed. And my parents pay high taxes and I've never seen them complain about it, and they sure as hell don't make as much money as she does with her combined Youtube and Patreon money. I'm wondering if the story about the missing lake isn't also completely overblown by Stephanie, it adds to the whole "poor me just trying to survive", storyline she likes to push forward. Again, everyone seems to just take her word as fact.

 

[Calvignac]

@Calvignac Stephanie seems to have an axe to grind with France for some reason, I notice her misrepresenting a lot of things about French administration and laws, and from reading here and in the comments, her British and American audience just eats it up as facts (despite your constant correction of all the misconceptions). No, "continental countries" aren't more complicated or more hostile towards business owners than the UK or the US - heck, both France and Germany are known for their healthy smaller and middle-sized, highly specialised businesses, so I'd say they are doing something right! I myself have survived being self-employed in "continental Europe" and haven't made half the fuss Stephanie does on camera. You fill out a few papers, big whoop. The rules are there to protect people from exploitation, which is a very good thing indeed. And my parents pay high taxes and I've never seen them complain about it, and they sure as hell don't make as much money as she does with her combined Youtube and Patreon money. I'm wondering if the story about the missing lake isn't also completely overblown by Stephanie, it adds to the whole "poor me just trying to survive", storyline she likes to push forward. Again, everyone seems to just take her word as fact.

I've never bought her story about the lake. I know the French administration and they wouldn't have done half of what she said they did. Not even the famous water police.

 

[Raspberrybrulee]

Gosh sorry - I'm probably very guilty of buying into that stereotype of France being very bureaucratic without ever questioning it. I've never experienced it first hand so I've always believed what I've heard. Apologies if that's not the case. I also used to believe that the French were aloof and superior but in fact every French person I've met on holiday has been really good fun and friendly so that should have taught me not to assume!

Although Stephanie has moaned about the bureaucracy I think she shows French life in a very positive light. I love her trips to the shops, brocantes, Emmaus, markets, beautiful gardens, restaurants etc - and the beautiful historic towns too - it looks idyllic. I love how France has so many ancient buildings too. The video Michael Petherick's friend Ryan did on that ancient castle near La Lande was absolutely enthralling. I was blown away by its beauty and I loved how uncommercial it was and was very impressed by the dedication of the owner who saved it and has made it his life's work. It is unbelievably beautiful. It's called Chateau de Sarzay in case anyone is interested and he takes a drone up and around it with the most beautiful musical accompaniment.

I do beg to differ regarding Dana's husband though. He's been in loads of episodes and one episode seemed to be mainly focused on him and the museum he runs. But maybe a bit like Ruth and her book, he was happy to appear to promote his business but then decided he didn't want to appear so much.

 

[Calvignac]

Gosh sorry - I'm probably very guilty of buying into that stereotype of France being very bureaucratic without ever questioning it. I've never experienced it first hand so I've always believed what I've heard. Apologies if that's not the case. I also used to believe that the French were aloof and superior but in fact every French person I've met on holiday has been really good fun and friendly so that should have taught me not to assume!

Although Stephanie has moaned about the bureaucracy I think she shows French life in a very positive light. I love her trips to the shops, brocantes, Emmaus, markets, beautiful gardens, restaurants etc - and the beautiful historic towns too - it looks idyllic. I love how France has so many ancient buildings too. The video Michael Petherick's friend Ryan did on that ancient castle near La Lande was absolutely enthralling. I was blown away by its beauty and I loved how uncommercial it was and was very impressed by the dedication of the owner who saved it and has made it his life's work. It is unbelievably beautiful. It's called Chateau de Sarzay in case anyone is interested and he takes a drone up and around it with the most beautiful musical accompaniment.

I do beg to differ regarding Dana's husband though. He's been in loads of episodes and one episode seemed to be mainly focused on him and the museum he runs. But maybe a bit like Ruth and her book, he was happy to appear to promote his business but then decided he didn't want to appear so much.

I love Ryan's videos ! He shows real France and real French people. And I love his style

 

[Takeaway]

I’m sure Ryan mentioned at the beginning that he has a job? Can anyone remember & if so does anyone know what he does? He’s absolutely charming & I love it when he speaks French. I may have to watch all his videos again. I’m still recovering from Hannis performance over the baked Alaska so watching Ryan will be a treat !

 

[Raspberrybrulee]

@Takeaway I love it when Ryan speaks French too. He is great to watch isn't he and I love his style and enthusiasm. I've no idea what his job is but I'd love to know if you find out. I like that he's not trying to monetise his videos and is just doing it for pleasure.

I still can't get over Stephanie and Hanni pulling out of the girls' holiday at the last minute. I might re-watch that bit to see if I missed something as to why the two of them suddenly couldn't go as it seems a bit odd.

 

[Great_Kate]

As far as favourites go: apart from Stephanie I really like Nati, Kat, Marie and Dan. And Ian the builder. Hope he will be back. Also Marie & Nick. Since before lockdown I also liked both Michaels.

 

[Takeaway]

@Raspberrybrulee I may watch again too, as Hanni puzzles me, someone mentioned her instagram yesterday but it doesn’t give much away just a few posts from Lalande. I also hope Ryan visits his uncles / family Manor house again soon.
@ Great_kate that’s a great list & my favourites too.