holiday at home

Last week our kids were still on school holidays, but we actually had a whole week at home. So we decided to do a few special things. On the Monday, the kids and I spent the morning preparing a picnic. We went down to our local supermarket to buy what we needed, and then came home to make the sandwiches ... and tried not to worry about the grey skies.

Our prayers were answered, as the skies cleared just before midday, and when we got to the park we had glorious sunshine! There was a football match before the picnic, and we almost felt it was our own private garden, as there were only a few dog-walkers or joggers around occasionally!

We are really blessed this year in having such a beautiful and well-kept park just 5 minutes walk from our flat.

Another holiday, another church visit...

One of the things I love about Home Assignment is visiting our supporting churches. There has been quite a variety to what we've been asked to do, from 5-minute interviews to entire evening meetings presenting our work. Last Sunday in Marc's sister Anne's church in Ris-Orangis they asked us to give a presentation about our work during the service, and asked Marc to preach (one hour in all), and then to stay on for the youth group meeting in the afternoon to talk about "call to mission".

As usual, we enjoyed meeting people who were interested in our work and in mission in general and who had lots of questions. It seems to me that in every meeting someone comes up with an original question we've never heard before!

During the presentation:

Marc preaching:

At the youth group:

Because of a mystery virus Benjy may or may not have had last week (he had an impressive rash for 24 hours) the doctor said he couldn't be in contact with small children until Monday. So Marc and I left all three kids with their French grandparents while we drove to the other side of Paris for church. To be honest, it was a refreshing change to be able to concentrate on what we were doing without having to think about crowd control all day (as it were!). And it gave us a chance to get to know our niece and nephews better - I had 3 year old Jean on my lap for the whole sermon, which might not have been allowed if Eve had been around!

Brussels

We spent Easter weekend with friends who live in the outskirts of Brussels. They are friends I've known for years who we were very much hoping to see this year, and having lived in Brussels 18 years ago I wanted to visit again with my family.

It was wonderful to see our friends again. And it was bittersweet to see places which held happy memories but which were now marked by recent tragedy.

Yet what a joy to celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Messiah.

The Easter egg hunt:

In the Brussels metro:

Place de la Bourse - fortunately we arrived after the extreme-right hooligans had been dispersed by police water cannons!

Le Parc du Palais Royal - I lived right next to this for four months in 1999:

Snow

One of my hopes for this year in France was that our kids would experience some "real" snow, and be able to have fun playing in it. I was disappointed by the amount we got here in Nancy, but we always said that we had the option of going to find some in the Vosges mountains, about an hour and a half from here.

So last Saturday we decided the time had come to find ourselves some snow. We drove to Gérardmer, and up into the mountains to a free sledging slope, right next to the (paying) ski slopes. Some friends had lent us a sturdy sledge (with brakes! I don't remember any of those when I was a child!) and we did have fun once we'd got the hang of it! The kids also enjoyed a soft play area which had been set up, complete with a foam igloo.

We ate early at a café which served us cheerfully and speedily, and then had a wander up into the mountain behind the slopes. And then we did some more sledging before driving home again. The weather was perfect - sunny with clear blue skies - and there had been a good snowfall during the week so conditions were just right for sledging.

I am so thankful for such a lovely family day out!

Carnaval

It was "Carnaval" at Eve's school last week. Which for 3 year olds apparently just means that they go to school dressed as whatever or whoever they want, have some party food and do some dancing. Eve enjoyed herself!

A friend lent us some dressing-up clothes for Eve. Eve had told me she wanted to be a butterfly, and fortunately this friend had wings (and a tutu-like skirt). So everyone else thought she was a fairy, but she was happy in the knowledge that she was really a butterfly! Parents were allowed to take photos at the beginning of school, so we did.

Eve the butterfly:



Eve with her teacher, Maîtresse Carole:



Eve with the teaching assistant, Catherine (and Papa in the background):

A nice cuppa?

I've been living in France on and off since the age of 20, so I feel pretty much at home here now. One thing I will always find sad is how hard it is to find a good cup of tea. Even the definition of tea is not necessarily the same.

In MacDonald's recently I ordered a cup of tea. Onto our tray arrived ... a Red Fruits Tea bag! I kind of went, "What?!" and the MacDonald's employee said pleasantly, "Oh, would you like a different kind?" "Yes, black tea, please!" I replied (having learned a very long time ago that "black tea" in France doesn't mean "without milk" but "as opposed to green"). So she found me an Earl Grey tea bag.

And then, talking of milk, I asked if I could have some for my tea. Now, I know the purists would never put milk in Earl Grey, but hey, I like what I like. She looked at me uncomprehendingly, and I repeated my request. "Yes, yes, of course you can," she replied, "I've just never heard of milk with tea before!"

"Oh, it must be because I'm English," I smiled, forgiving her (and France) for everything, now that I had the prospect of a good cup of tea before me.

Forget-me-not

It's the children's holidays, so we were down in Lyon last weekend to visit friends and to give a presentation about our work at one of our supporting churches. We were made very welcome, despite everyone (us and them!) feeling under-the-weather.

Marc preaching:

We found this sign in the Tête d'Or park in Lyon:

And as we drove home yesterday we drove through Villefranche-sur-Saône, which is twinned with Kandi (our nearest town in Benin), as you can see on this sign (unless you're reading this on your phone!!).

So we can't forget about Benin even if we were trying to (which we aren't).

Tomorrow we're off again, to Marc's parents' via a friend in Amiens. This coming Sunday Marc will be preaching in the morning in his parents' church in Poissy, and then we'll be giving a presentation about Benin in the afternoon.