Meet Señor Pier, aka Yves

^“Back in 1989 I was Mr. Pier,” Yves De Choulot told me. “We had a big opening for that restaurant with two lovely ladies from Mexico City waiting at the door. One of them is now my wife.” So began my recent interview with Yves, owner of a current restaurant on the west end of Ajijic, familiar to lakeside residents as the place with the white donkeys.

Yves moved here from San Antonio, Texas back in 1986. He became friends with Morley Eager, whose family operates the hotel and restaurant La Nueva Posada to this day.“ Morley offered me a position as manager of his restaurant, found me a house and gave me a car.” Back in those days there were only five restaurants in town. Soon Yves opened The Pier, “a shack on a pile of rocks.”

He went on to open a restaurant behind the church, then one near the pier, and most recently (12 years ago now) his current location. And while his profession is restaurateur, he is best known for his love of animals and his kindness and compassion for people.

How did he come to own the donkeys? It began with a retired criminal lawyer from Halifax, Nova Scotia named Peter Mayer. Peter needed transportation and decided a donkey was preferable to a car. He started off riding a black one named Isabella. “She was his designated driver,” joked Yves. Next it was a brown one named Margarita, and finally a white one, Vino Blanco.

“Pedro Loco transformed himself into a Mexican cowboy. He wore charro suits and plastic boots painted silver and gold to match the suits.” He was a regular customer. One day he confessed to Yves he thought he was suffering from Alzheimer’s and offered to sell him his donkey for a single peso. Yves jumped at the chance.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant,” he laughed. “We named her baby Martini. Pedro’s driver stole the baby donkey and sold it to wood gatherers in San Juan Cosalá, where she carried wood for years.” Yves rescued her and boasts she is still alive at 27. “She and Vino Blanco recognized one another immediately.”

Now Yves runs his own animal shelter: three donkeys, a mule, three sheep, two goats, seven cats and four dogs. He accepts donations to cover rent for the shelter, hay for the donkeys, and salary for a staff person. Every autumn he holds a blessing of the animals at his restaurant where customers can bring their beloved pets and priests bless them.

I count myself an animal lover, but I think Yves rescue of a local woman is special. When he owned his restaurant by the Ajijic pier, Conchita was the weaver who sold her craft on the beach. “We became friends and have known one another for 39 years.”

“Last rainy season she was attacked. Two men broke into her house in the village, stole what little money and food she had, and beat her severely.” A neighbor called Yves, who arranged for an ambulance. “She was hospitalized for two weeks.”

Conchita needed a new safe place to live. Yves found her one in San Pedro Tesistán where nuns care for 30 abandoned women. He realized Conchita was eligible for a small senior’s pension and arranged for her to receive it. Now he collects donations, both financial and material, to support her and the other ladies who live in the senior’s home. “It costs $8,000 pesos per month for Conchita’s lodging and care,” he told me. Every Sunday he packs his car with supplies – rice, beans, sugar, soap, coffee, and toilet paper and pays her a visit.

Señor Pier, aka Yves, should be renamed Señor Peerless! He’s one of a kind.