Trevor Dolby: One Place de l'Eglise

An Englishman's home is his castle. But what if it's French? One Place de L'Eglise is a thousand-year-old Languedoc ruin. Leaky, crumbling, lacking basic amenities, it is ignored by the local villagers. But for Londoners Trevor and Kaz it is love at first sight. Over the years they turn the house into a home, navigating floods and freezing winters. Here, these two English find their place - their bar, their baker, their builder (ignore him at your peril). And gradually they learn slower joys - scents of thyme and lavender, warm sun on stone, nights hung with stars, silence in the hills, the secrets of fig jam.