Bon courage! A French renovation in rural Limousin - Richard Wiles

A dilapidated, rat-infested stone barn set amidst thirteen acres of unkempt pasture and overgrown woodland might not be many people's vision of a potential dream home. But for English couple Richard, and his wife Al, the cavernous, oak-beamed building, in a sleepy hamlet in the Limousin region of France is perfect.

Tussles with French bureaucracy allied with fierce storms that wreak havoc on the property do little to dampen their resolve, nor immerse themselves in the calme of the quiet corner of France, dreaming of taking trips in Richard's hot-air balloon and starting their very own llama farm.

The couple's colourful, often eccentric neighbours watch their progress with curiosity: the jovial ex-Gendarme and his wife, who seems able to foretell the weather; the lonely widow who proffers copious amounts of gâteaux in exchange for convivial chat; and the brawny cattleman with suspicious motives in offering to clean up the couple's land.

A well-intentioned if often hapless do-it-yourselfer, Richard's hilarious and heartwarming tale of a new life in France resounds to the Gallic refrain, 'Bon courage!'