No, not that sort of hardcore 
What’s the best translation of hardcore when it means crushed rock to use as the base for a path or driveway - gravillons concassé? Or is there a more specific term?
blocaille ? gravats? I’ve heard both those
it’s to do with “remblayage” ?
Hi Angela. I found these on Etsy. Never used it myself. These are called ‘candles’, but maybe they’re the sort of thing you’re looking for.
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That’s what I came up with.
Gravats is is, I think, closer to “rubble” and used more for waste material I think.
Blocaille - ah, that’s a new one for me but more brick debris.
Neither of the above gets any “for sale” hits whereas gravillons/gravier concassé does, and it seems to be about the right material.
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Remblai ?
excellent.
go take a look… and see what’s what…
good luck
Another new word, thanks. More for earthworks backfill though judging by WordReference, what comes up when I Google that word.
At the moment I just need it for an email but if I ever re-lay the drive… will come in useful.
Comment faire un remblayage ?
Idéalement, le remblai doit être constitué d’une couche de gravats, puis d’une couche de graviers concassés et, pour finir, d’une couche de sable. Cependant, les matériaux qui peuvent être utilisés dépendent aussi de la nature du sol. Il faut faire particulièrement attention à la qualité des matériaux utilisés.
this is what we did for our slabbed patio…
In similar vein - weed-proof membrane?
OH prepared and laid the patio and terrace… very few weeds…
OH was taken ill, so the othe half was done professionally and included a weedproof (?) membrane… what a waste of money that has been… more difficult to keep weedfree than the un-membraned part…
but everyone has their own experiences and preferences…
EDIT: “textile anti-mauvaises-herbes”
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We used a company direct-filet.com to supply weedproof membrane for our drive and terraces.
We ordered it online.
Remblai cailloux/ gravillons? Remblai castine? I got mine directly from the quarry.
Membrane géotextile was laid on it after the dameuse did its biz and before gravel was spread on the top. Can’t remember where I got the membrane géotextile.
OH hired a machine (vibrator/compactor) which was marvellous…
That’s the dameuse! Maybe a whacker plate in English?
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Or plate vibrante.
I’ve always asked for “tout venant”
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Thanks everyone - if I re-lay the drive I have about 300m2 to do, I’ll probably need a mini backhoe or similar, to dig out the existing ravel (laid directly on the soil 
), vibrating plate compactor, 45-60 tonnes of hardcore and half that again of gravel depending on whether I can re-use the existing stuff - and it is definitely not a single person job.
It’s on the “to do” list, but not very high up.
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That’s the one for exercise usually 
get a quote from a terrassement company who will have the correct equipment and insurance to do the work.
We are just in the process of doing that ourselves for our long winding drive…
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