Christophe has been suffering on and off of pain in his shoulder and neck. I massage his neck regularly, which helps for a while, but the pain always returns. And there’s not much I can do for his shoulder, because the pain is located to deep. He has visited several specialist, but none of them have been able to diagnose the cause despite taking x-rays and having done an MRI.

Since the pain was once again becoming more intense, Christophe decided to visit a magnetiser. Conveniently, there happens to be one just around the corner here in Indre: Patrick Piette. And he had time today, so off we went for an appointment at 3 o’clock.

The magnetiser

We are received in a house that looks like a small castle. There is no indication whatsoever of who lives there, let alone a magnetiser. We ring the bell and after a few moments, the door is opened by a big man with enormous whiskers. He leads us into a large room and starts interviewing Christophe. Once he has all the information he needs, Christophe lays down on the treatment table and the magnetiser starts to work on him.

With careful fingers, he investigates Christophe’s shoulder and neck and starts treating him. It’s hard to describe what he does. It’s very subtle but I immediately sense a change in the energy in the room. I’m quite close to the table, because I am curious and want to observe what happens. The magnetiser makes movements as if he unscrews something and then throws it away. He regularly checks whether Christophe can lift his arm higher without pain, which he can. It sounds strange and it looks even stranger, but Christophe feels significantly better when we leave 40 minutes later.

You don’t have to believe in it. As long as it works, that’s proof enough. Or as the german saying goes: Wer heilt hat recht.

Site seeing Montmorillon

85 years ago, Christophe’s mum Nathalie was born in Montmorillon. It’s only a 30 minute drive from where we are, so we decide to go visit. We have no idea what to expect and are pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the place. The Gartempe river runs through it and the bridge that spans it is beautiful and well maintained. There’s a lovely medieval city center with lots of picturesque boutiques and book shops. For Montmorillon is a villages of books and writers.

As we wander through the almost empty streets (it’s around 35 degrees Celsius, so not many people are out and about), we hear an accordeon playing. We follow the sound and end up in a square where a woman is playing while a man sings. The woman turns out to be Clarisse Laguzet. She’s a musician and professional music teacher, who regularly plays in the village to enliven things and promote herself. The man is on vacation here and used to be a professional singer. They form a lovely impromptu duo.

There’s so much to see that time flies and before we know it, the shops are closing their doors. As we head back to the car, we stumble upon a rosary planted with roses named after writers. It also has a romantic lane covered with grapes that will soon be ready for consumption. We tour the small garden and smell the roses, before we drive back home, where we are greeted with great joy by a trio of dogs that want to be fed.