Today ended our pet- and house sit in Saint Perreux. We spent yesterday preparing for our departure this morning. Packing and cleaning, and preparing a nice dinner for Teresa. She arrived by train in Redon where we picked her up at 20:15h. The three of us spent the rest of the evening dining in the garden, while catching up on the happenings of the last 17 days.

Teresa informed after our schedule for later this year, for she would like us to return in 3 months when she is leaving again for a week or so. Unfortunately, we’re fully booked until half November. Otherwise, we would gladly have taken her up on the offer, for we have really enjoyed our stay in her house.

Munchkins the cat

Munchkins is Teresa’s cat. As a youngster, he arrived at her door one day and decided to stay. And he was ours to take care of these last 17 days. He was a bit reluctant in the beginning, only entering the house for food and brushing. But after about 4 days, he decided that we are okay and can be trusted, and spent much more time in our proximity.

The last 3 days, we didn’t see much of him. We worried a bit, because he vomited two mornings in a row and didn’t eat much of anything. However, we had found a partially chewed mouse in the garden, and when we consulted Teresa, she confirmed that he often vomits after eating a mouse, and that he doesn’t eat much when it’s warm, which it was. We were reasured by this, and Munchkins did seem in good health apart from the vomiting.

He’s a lovely cat who adores being brushed. There’s a special glove with rubber “hair” for the purpose, and the amount of hair that you can brush off of him every day is unbelievable. You would think there wouldn’t be any left after two weeks, but fortunately, that’s not at all the case.

The garden

The day we arrived and the next day, it rained. But after that, the weather got progressivly better and we spent more and more time in the garden. We took our meals there, we worked there, and we spent quite some hours weeding, dead heading and mowing the lawn.

There’s a small vegetable plot that yielded three different kind of beans and a hand full of blueberries every day. From the second week on, we watered all the pots and certain parts of the garden at least every other day.

The garden is stunningly beautiful. Amazing that is has only been 2,5 years since Teresa started it. It has a great variety in plants and there were flowers everywhere. And there must be at least 20 different kinds of roses.

The house

It looks nice from the outside and is comfortable at the inside. It has all that you need to live comfortably. The only disadvantage is that the main living area is on the first floor and therefore, you cannot easily walk into the garden. Descending and mounting the stairs provided us with some extra movement though, so there you have it: every disadvantage has an advantage 😉

We met the neighbors, and they are extremely friendly and prepared to help. Teresa hasn’t had much contact with them so far, but we hope she will now. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to get better at speaking french 🙂

The region

We explored the surroundings on foot and bicycle, and the wider region by car. There is lots to see and experience, with many historical sites. For example Vannes, Carnac, Quiberon, Mont Saint Michel, Saint Malo and Rochefort en Terre. We could easily have spent much, much longer there without getting bored.

Thank you Teresa for your trust in us, thus enabling us to enjoy your house and garden and the company of Munchkins!