GREEN without GREED: Day 1

After our train ride from Paris we arrived on site at 8:30 am. The air was thick with fog. As we entered the festival site it felt as though we were stepping into an enchanted forest. We were kindly greeted by the head gardener, Gerard, and the woman who manages the on site accommodation, Isabelle. Hard to believe that our crew will spend the next 12 days living here at the Domaine Chaumont-sur-Loire!

As per our specifications, our plot had been graded and compacted with a limestone sub-base before our arrival. The lumber we ordered last week was sitting and waiting for us too. First task, set out the baselines. The design is structured on a 1m x 1m grid. Once we determined the center point for the design (which took several attempts) we were able to run perpendicular string lines to delineate the gird. We used the 3-4-5 triangle method to make sure we were square.

After our 3-course lunch (they serve us three robust meals a day in the dining hall!) we headed back out to check on the construction of the trusses. Prior to our arrival we coordinated with the local/on site carpenter crew to help us build our truss system for the ramps--they delivered them to our plot late this afternoon.

While the trusses were finishing up we decided to delve into cutting turf squares. First we had to locate our turf rolls, which were being stored alongside a greenhouse in the back work yard. With a handy carpet cutter we were able to quickly begin cutting a few pieces. The head groundsman, Gigi, used a fork lift to deliver the 5m long rolls to our plot area.

Day 1 was extremely productive--luckily we shipped our tool set over last week, I'm not sure what we would have done without all our wonderful supplies right at hand.

Progress Update: trusses for ramp one are up and standing.