Day 14

 Today started of nicely with breakfast and a trip to Brico Marche to pick up a shovel and debris bags.

I got the outside all swept up from the debris pick up and sprayed it all down with a hose and looks better than before I started.  I filled four large debris bags and got the patio furniture outside to the back courtyard.

And that's where the day took a turn.  I started working in the Master Bedroom.  I took off all of the baseboards as they were either damaged or rotten.  At that point I removed a piece of base board and a layer of drywall that was applied to the plaster fell off of the wall.  To my surprise the entire wall behind the drywall was soaking wet and had black mold all over it.  So, I guess adding drywall to a damaged wet wall is the answer.  I've been busting my butt off for the past three days and physically worn and I have to admit this set me over the edge and had a mini breakdown.  I'm also missing home right about now!

I had someone out today to give us a quote for 4 new windows and to exterior doors as well as having Nick the electrician out to look at the scope of work to be done.

After I got past the last issue, I realized that all of the exterior walls have holes in the bottoms of them.  In each hole there is rotten wet wood.  I can't even imagine why there would be large wood logs/pegs along the base of the walls.  

So I worked my way into the living room area and thought that I better check behind the insulation on the wall I can't figure out why it was installed.  Sure enough, holes all along the wall and the insulation was soaking wet.  Needless to say, all of the insulation came of and had to scrape of about 3-4' of wet plaster.  It wasn't till I saw a large crack right down the middle of the wall that I had my last pretty good meltdown.  So, the answer to a F'ed up wall is to build a new one in front of it. WTF!

Then Mykle stopped over and let me know that the delivery of our new armoire has arrived.  Our house is an a SMALL one way street so the delivery truck had to stop on the street and unload, putting it inside our gates. Again, Mykle and I headed back to Brico Marche to pick up a furniture dolly.  We got it in the house and at the point I was DONE!  Showered up and came back to Doug and Mykle's for a well deserved dirty martini followed by a bottle of Madiran wine. 

Doug made a chicken dish with a zucchini courgette. 

Lastly,  we heard back from the historian about our property and the history of our street....

Rue Saint Grat

The street bears the name of "Saint Grat" since October 26, 1877: it is "the street starting from the cathedral to the Melle bridge".

It was once called "Rue Grandes-Bordes", but also "Street Grosse", "rue Grande" and "Grande Rue".

In the 1930s, the street was so badly maintained that in rainy weather pedestrians were splashed with mud from head to toe.

Until 1858, the cities of Oloron and Sainte-Marie were separated. Your house is located on the territory of the ancient town of Sainte-Marie. There were ramparts all around the city and your street was closed by two fortified doors, one to the west which bore the name of "Portal des Oustelots". In 1920, there was still a big wall of this door, pierced with two floors of loopholes.

The 9bis building rue Saint Grat

According to Sandra Goyhetche who works at the Haut-Béarn cultural and heritage center: on this side of the street was the entrance to the Pierre çarçabal factory, the house of which was then bought by Comptadour. She finds information in Pierre Claverie's "Collective memory workshops".

Sandra Goyhetche discussed with Pierre Castillou, a local writer who himself carried out a lot of research and he confirms that there was a first factory Çarçabal there, but according to him the owner was Casimir çarçabal. Later, the factory entrance was moved to rue d'Arboré.

Your entry corresponds to that of the video which films the release of the çarçabal workshops. At the end of your street, there are also the Villas Çarçabal, urban villas directly related to industrial activity. Indeed, near factories, industrialists have large bourgeois residences built.

2/2

That

Çarçabal was active from 1875 to 1960.

The founder of the "Maison çarçabal" is François Çarçabal, born in Mauléon on September 19, 1844.

The workshops produce sneakers, all kinds of sandals and berets.

Installed in Sainte-Marie, the factory moves to the Gave with the arrival of hydraulic energy.

Documents / archives

 Basses-Pyrénées: Biographical dictionary and album, Librairie E. Flammarion (Paris) 1905 (p 121)

↘ https://www.pireneas.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k91176314

 Napoleonic cadastre: leaf n ° 1 plots n ° 1-488 (1832), sheet n ° 2 plots n ° 102-436 (1832)

Biblio / Links

 "The streets of Oloron Sainte-Marie", Michel Fabre

 "Oloron Sainte-Marie", Historical Atlas, Jacques Dumonteil

Pyrenees Béarnaises digital library: https://bibliothequenumerique.pyreneesbearnaises.fr/

As if my night couldn't get any better...We plaid three games of Farkle and I got a Facetime call from a dear friend Mellisa Capo Murray and a brief hello from Pete. That totally made my night!!!!!!!!!!