La Pigasse!

 I found myself chatting with Sanyotse when we returned from Turkey. He casually let slip that he was "keeping up with [his]Chemo", whch shocked me. I vaguely knew he had some health issue, I didn't expect it to be chemo-worthy. He mentioned that he is lonely. I immediately told him I would be coming before the end of the summer holidays with or without the lad.

I made it clear to the lad that I wanted him to come, bus that this was not going to be a holiday in the sense of being in Turkey: there would be minimal "activities" and, the aim of the holiday was to chil. If he did not want to go, I was going to arrange for him to stay with his previous carers. He chose to come. I warned him that I would not listen to any moaning about being "bored"!

Sanoytse has a place in Normandy called La Pigasse. It had been briefly marketed as a retreat space- the page is still on Facebook. I remembered it being launched and said at the time that I thought it would struggle as it was not in a very accessible place. For us it was plane from Newcastle to Paris Charles De Gaule, taxi to Montparnasse Station, Train to Flers, picked up by Sanyotse by car. It turns out that Sanyotse has had the property for years- paid for in francs! He has been a builder, so most of the property has been done by him.

He has two Malinois/Labrador dogs, a cat and three chickens- they kept the lad distracted for much of the time! Also the weather was pretty good. The lad did a lot of cooking which impressed Sanyotse who thought he was a good lad etc. 

It was great to see Sanyotse. He is doing OK. Although he does live alone (apart from the menagerie), he is surrounded by Brits and has a best friend who is an ex naval diver and explosives expert- until he had a stroke a few years ago. Talking to the friend is an interesting experience as the stroke has robbed him of the ability to make full sentences. You get to learn his verbal shorthand e.g. "boobies"= woman- any woman in any situation LOL. There is quie an enclave of Brits. I was bemused to hear them talking in English, about "foreigners" lol.

I discovered we were only a few miles from the village featured in a tv programme: "Help, We Bought a Village". I had been in touch with them on Facebook and asked if we could come over- especially as Sanyotse hadn't met them. They said yes and we went over. They're even nicer than they seemed on the programme. They've made a lot of progress and have had back to back bookings in their horsebox glamping pod over the summer.

I felt a million times more relaxed when I returned from this trip. It was great to get to know Sanyotse more and to feel calm that his demise is not imminent! The animals were a tonic in themselves. It would be so great to have a dog in Newcastle, but I'm pretty sure the cats would piss off!