The chantier: what number is this?

It's starting to get to me. It really is. I mean, it's bothered me for a long time but I'm not the calm one anymore. Poor Jérôme.

So, the stairs are solved, although not totally in place. but it's coming along. Last night when J showed me pictures, I asked the wrong question: what are we going to do with the wall? Are we going to finish around the metal plate that's anchored in the wall? The answer: I'm not sure. (I also asked if the wall was sturdy enough to support the stairs to which he replied yes).

Doing renovation in France is always an adventure and a lesson in idiocy. See Madame K's adventures for further proof of the idiocy part. Remember that we are waiting for GDF - the gas people- to hook up our gas so we can at least give notice on our place. Rewind a few months. We called and waited for them to call us back. I know it's ridiculous to think they actually would but that's what they tell you to do (like the check's in the mail). So a few weeks ago, they finally came to look at what they had to do. Then they send us their estimate which we had to pay up front. They finally got our check and called back. I finally got them on the phone yesterday. And guess what? They are coming next Monday to check out again what they have to do. See, this is the problem with paying upfront, a public service no less. Does this make sense?

Meanwhile, well, see for yourselves (Mom, don't be scared).

The top 4 steps, right where there's the scary unfinished part that looks like it's going to break, are the new steps. The broken looking part is where they broke the old staircase to reroute the stairs to the new landing.

see the scary metal structure on the scarily unstable looking wall? J assures me it's totally stable.

The office aka the mother-in-law room (my mother calls it that herself so I'm not being offensive). It's hard to tell but there is progress. There are windows, walls and even a ceiling!

Voici said ceiling. Once the stairway is done (the metal structure is to the right of this picture), we can even put up the dry wall that's meant to go on those metal profiles.

And finally, a picture of our bedroom. It's not the most recent but that's my bedroom window. It catches the light so well when there actually is some.

Have I mentioned it's going to be really nice?