When we were handed the keys by the sellers, they arrived in a shoebox and a basket, and inside what seemed like a hundred keys. In fact, it was just over that. Some were labelled, many were not. We already had the front door, the two side doors, and the Orangerie door keys set aside, but there were still 26 bedroom keys to identify, along with the cellar key, the laundry key, the keys for our apartment and its three entrance doors, the barn key, the back gate key, the side terrace door key, the summer house key, the tower room key, and probably a few more besides. We still have that box of unidentified keys to this day, just in case one day we discover a forgotten door, a hidden lock, or an old cellar door we decide to bring back into use.

Just four days after moving in, our first major paint order arrived: 49 large buckets of paint and several smaller tins. It was an early sign of the scale of what lay ahead. We were about to begin redecorating and renovating five apartments, 21 ensuite bedrooms, our private apartment, two large reception rooms, the Orangerie, the shared kitchen, hallways, and public toilets. To keep track of it all, we created an Excel spreadsheet recording every wall colour, code, and brand used throughout the château. Over time, that same file has expanded to include the technical pool house, the breakfast kitchen, the barn, the summer house, and all the exterior shutters and window paint colours. It has become a château-sized document in its own right, but it is invaluable whenever touch-ups or repainting are needed.

The bathroom deliveries were another moment of pure logistics. At one point, we received in a single delivery the items needed for 14 bathrooms. The number of boxes was extraordinary. Before anything could even come into the château, we had to lay everything out in rows by room and label each box carefully so it could be taken to the correct floor and area, ready for installation. On that scale, organisation felt less like household management and more like military precision.

The kitchens brought another wave of deliveries. In phase one alone, we installed eight kitchens, out of the ten we now have. Because Peter had run a cooking school in Switzerland, we thought we already had plenty of kitchen supplies. We soon realised that furnishing guest kitchens on this scale was something else entirely. Another spreadsheet was born, this time to define the standard inventory for each kitchen, track what we already had, and work out what still needed to be bought. There is something quite memorable about buying eight lemon squeezers at once and watching people wonder what on earth you are doing. Then came the deliveries of fridges, ovens, sinks, cupboards, hotplates, and benchtops. The Orangerie, which is a very large room, became our temporary storage space, and for a while it was so full that only a narrow walkway remained.

Not every delivery was quite so grand, but some became unexpectedly essential. One of my own favourites was being introduced to magic sponges, which I promptly fell in love with. We used them constantly, from removing marks on walls to cleaning the sides of the pool. They felt, quite honestly, like one of the best inventions in the world.

Then there was the scaffolding — one of Pete’s favourite “toys”. That tower has been used in virtually every room and outbuilding and is still in regular use now, even for cleaning windows. When you are dealing with four-metre-high ceilings and tall château windows, it quickly becomes less of a luxury and more of an absolute necessity.

And then there was one final delivery that felt especially memorable. Many French châteaux are wine châteaux, but Château Destinée was never one of them. It began life as two separate hunting lodges, built in 1626, with the central section added in 1904 to join the two wings. It later became the multi-generational home of a farming family. Even so, after we completed the common area rooms, some friends decided we deserved a celebration and sent us our very own Château Destinée wine. It was a one-off, and I can honestly say it was very much appreciated.