My last visit to the chalet was a brief one but a great one. I had gone to prepare the place for the winter season or at least see what needed doing in order to get Christian to do the necessary jobs. It was beautiful weather as seems often to be the case when I go and I arrived excited as always to be there and in ore of the place as I always am. To still get that feeling after 30 plus years is wonderful.
My first day there I walked out onto the wooden patio area and my foot when clean through the decking. It was rotten through and was a complete mess. So too was the side of the jacuzzi. A quick trip to town to find Jean Michel and Morgan who worked in the ski shop in the winter but built chalets and had done some work for me in the past. They came, quoted for the job and agreed to do it the following week. It is so important to have a good power team wherever your properties are.
I then decided it was time to get a bigger and better tv and went to the local electrical store where I purchased the tv and they agreed an engineer would bring it to the chalet a couple of days later and put it on the bracket which we’d taken to the shop where they’d agreed it was suitable for TV I’d purchased.
The man arrived and spent ages doing something, not really sure what. He then tried to put the tv on the bracket and the two wouldn’t match up. There were holes were there shouldn’t be and no holes where they were needed. He was getting stressed and tried to make a hole and bodge the job. Marc Delhaye my friend and ski instructor from La Clusaz arrived and ended up having a massive argument with him in French, which I’d completely lost track of. Fast and loud I watched as though entertainment. It seems the man sorting the tv was late home to his wife and was going to be in trouble. He was apparently rude about me and this didn’t go down well with Marc, who threatened to tell the engineers boss. It then all kicked off as he became seriously worried about the implications and consequences of his bad workmanship and attitude.
Where tradesman and technicians or any people working on your properties are concerned, always be sure to understand them yourself or have someone else who can understand them for you.
I believe everyone should have the opportunity to live or stay in lovely homes and properties, so where you can create an ‘X’ factor do so, but always maintain the property so that 34 years later it still looks as good because of how you have cared for it. The Chalet is an example of this but I cannot take credit for the ‘X’ factor in this case, where L’Etale mountain is the stunning view from the chalet.
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