Monsieur Martin

A knock at the door. As I open the door a couple in their sixties beam at me.

‘Bonjour’, they say, ‘Are you the owner of this house?, the man continues, I used to come here every summer as a child, the house used to belong to my Uncle, Monsieur Martin. We live in Cannes now but we are holidaying in Brittany at the moment. I wonder, could I take a photo of the engraved stone fireplace..I remember it surrounded by cows when I was about 6 years old.’

I explain that we bought the house from Monsieur Martin about 10 years ago and at that time our whole house was a cow shed with earth floors, no electrics or water.

I usher them both into our lounge, where he takes a photo of the stone fireplace (minus the cows this time !!) and he promises to send me a copy of the photo of him and the cows next to the fireplace.

Ten minutes later they have gone but promise to return again next time they visit Brittany.