A posse of peeps in (La Roche) Posay

I promised last entry that I would introduce you to the peoples, to the life and times and not just the place that was my stay in The Chateau. And I will – but it is difficult to know exactly how to animate people in retrospect… do I introduce memories and cut and paste in the players or do I puff up the people with descriptions and make them dance in my memories? This is the problem with letting time elapse… it is necessarily less immediate, less natural, less urgent.

It is also the difficulty of having lived intimately with people – on the one hand I know their foibles, they all had time to really shit me, but I also know them as humans and not just the caricatures I often create and mock in other entries – I allow them their foibles and recall them with fondness even though I lived them with less generosity.

It is time to cut and paste, puff up and paint, then introduce a soundtrack of language that makes them dance… a montaged recollection – the cast and some chosen scenes...

UGGGGHHHH so much to say and shit internet here in Istanbul... here are the peeps - daily life to come.

The Central Cast -

apologies this is the only pic I have with Lawrence and Roxanne and I had to knick it from Roxanne's Facebook!

Caroline – the woman who first hired me via the internet – in her late 30s, she and her husband own the place. She lives in Belgium half the time but lives at and runs the chateau from April - September with her 2yr old, Florence, and a rotating tribe of housesitters. She was only there for the first 2.5 weeks of my stay before she and her husband flew off to Brasil for a holiday.

Caroline is full of energy and hyper-friendly, famous for an odd “tic” of twitching her nose when she is deep in excited contemplation. A shrewd business women (clearly, free workers!) she ran the place with a demand that everyone had the same attention to detail that she did. She spent most of her time dealing with guests, able to chat to them in any of three languages (French, English, Dutch).

Always up for a game of “Beans” (Bonanza) – in fact a little obsessively - she was exuberant and warm. There were down times tough when the mask wash away to reveal a bit of a stress-head, who, at the end of the season, was tired, frustrated and a little lonely.

As a mum she seemed loving but uncomfortable – not sure how to console or entertain – routinely leaving Florence to wander about between housesitters and the caretakers that lived on the property.

I have no idea how she does it though, I would be nuts after 6mths at the Chateau!

Florence – was a typical, bright 2yr old who was just developing language. A smattering of all three! She played us all. She bellowed and cried – going from one person in the house to the next until she got what she wanted (entertainment/attention or sweet things!) … unfortunately most went along with it for ease – a screaming child ain’t conducive to the atmosphere that was being created at the chateau. Personally I let her cry and the one time when she was legitimately inconsolable (her mum had gone to a local function) I found talking to her about her mum being out for a wee while and walking her around the garden worked better than the “games”, chocolate and clowning others had tried. Largely I avoided looking after her – it wasn’t part of the job description… others took care of her even on their days off!

Alexander – I only met him the one time, on one weekend. At this end of the season he had returned to Belgium to run his Real Estate business (I think!) Others seemed to fear him or feel uncomfortable around him. And he was a little Aspergerish – wooden. But is that entirely fair?– he was uncomfortable communicating in any language other than Dutch – and no-one other than Caroline could. He was driven but generous… he helped me make jam one day and it was like working with the Duracell battery bunny – he powered along, cutting and coring a box of plums with efficiency while I pottered along at my usual pace. Another night he cooked a great bbq – but had difficulty being natural around us and the guests. He totally melted, however, around Florence.

I suspect he might be a hard-ass businessman though.

Noel – you’ve already met briefly. A genuinely warm man who laughed easily and fiercely loved his family. Both he and his wife had a healthy cynicism towards the ostentatious wealth that was around them. He worked hard around the property and the love he felt for his wife and daughter were palpable and deeply affecting. He had, unfortunately, only a tad more English than I had French!

Laurence – if Caroline took care of the gloss Laurence took care of the guts of what was involved in running the chateau. About my shoulder height, she was a real spit-fire, she kept the chateau clean, doing the hard-core work inside. She also had a wicked sense of humour, I really liked her… we often pulled the piss out of others in the kitchen. She had a solid grasp of English and frequently acted as an interpreter once Caroline left. - unofficially she baby-sat us housesitters!

Roxanne – their daughter. A somewhat shy but happy (it seems) 12-yr-old who attends the local school. I only really spoke to her in the last week or two when it turns out her English was better than she had let on. I discovered then that she was also learning Spanish. Merde, joder if I’d have known I would have had someone to practice with!

Corey and Carina - so easy to caricature... With matching names and youthful middle-aged affectations it would be easy to leave them with only 2 dimensions, but I won't - I will start with the two dimensions and then colour them in.

Corey and Carina are a couple. Corey and Carina are Canadian country kids. Corey and Carina are capitalist Christians ... I think. Evidence? They are married and have bought and sold their 1st house already… they are still in their EARLY 20s (someone should have told them you can have sex without a wedding ring). The strongest swear word I heard was "jeepers" (and jeepers I'm surprised they didn't start speaking in tongues with my reflex “fuck” this and (occasionally) “cunt” that.

But this is the joy of travel and meeting people that in other contexts you would dismiss with ridicule - I like Corey and Carina!

They have been courting and flirting since they were early teens - nyaw- he finally got his gal. And they have adventured the world and done more to give time to those in need than most ever will. They were great competitors over many nights of Bonanza and other card games.

Corey: a little awkward at first he does loosen-up over time. He strikes me as a serious man who thinks about morality quite constantly (not in that pious-damnation-of-others-way, per se, but in that, what-is-the-right-thing-to-do kinda way) Of course his intellect ranges over subjects I find less than thrilling, but hey … whatever! He read books on theology and capitalist economics (gee, can I borrow those?) He seems to bare the scars of bullying when he was younger... keen to assert intellectual prowess – but that's at a guess. Disquietingly he used his intellect at times to subtly put down Carina

He went to effort in the kitchen which I really appreciated when he was making dinner! His most common utterings: “mm-hm, mm-hm,” or “innnnteressting”,.

Carina: while Corey has an awkardness, Carina is immediately at ease with people and keen to interact – permanently perky and chipper it took a while to find her hidden talents. Always happy to help and accept what others say it was as if she was always learning and discovering - everything WAS new and “innnnteresssting”.

She had an eye for detail and presentation that was revealed first in her work at the chateau and then in the photos of their first house. What she didn’t know about the world around her she made up for in making it beautiful. In the last couple of weeks I discovered she kept a visual diary of sketches and architectural designs – amazing stuff! Other than “innnnteresssting”, her favourite sayings were “my bad”, “of course, right, got it” and “jeepers”!

Nikkii: Together Nikkii and I can best be described as two 14yr old boys finding endless amusement in swearing, cocks, cunts, tits, farts, poo, burps and inappropriateness in general. I’m not sure if we’d have been like that elsewhere but the “properness” and “do-goodness” around us turned us into do-badness.

FOr example, when we found our "Sugar Daddy" (the brand of sugar!) we reacted ... appropriately!

Nikkii was also the queen of air-guitar and clowning for photos but that’s not complex enough.

Nikkii is a multifaceted creature – moody some would say (including her!) and not in the normal realm either – hyper-happy and, more occasionally, really dark. She is a quick thinker with practical and creative solutions for all sorts of problem. She can’t spell for shit and is happy to let anyone know and ask for a hand. Driven at work she can fly around with a frightening intensity – headphones in, efficiency on. Her friends are central to her, she will do all sorts of things to help em out, but she only occasionally returns texts – I have witnessed. She doesn’t just laugh she guffaws – most often she can talk, talk, talk - has a story for every occasion. But, when she is not up, a dark cloud descends, silence looms and all is engulfed – inexplicably. Then it lifts just as inexplicably. Music needs to be on and at night she falls asleep within 15 minutes of turning a dvd on. I have seen the same dvds 3 times while she has never seen their end! She loves her food but nearly always begins to eat uttering – I think I’m going to be sick!

Sharing a room with anyone for 6 weeks is intense… but we both survived - I wasn’t always sure we would! – with a new and strong friendship at the end.

Her most common utterings: “suck it up Princess”, “I’m going to be sick” or "if that makes sense"