Dancing Lobsters and Harrowing Bus Trips

Here we are! Another week has passed. First, I wanted to set the stage and describe our little town of Saint-Mandé. We live a block from the towncenter/Hotel de Ville, where there is a lovely French garden with gravel paths, a monument for all the soldiers from the town who died in World War I and lovely flowers. Our town is actually known as the town of flowers and it lives up to its name with flower pots/arrangements lining all the streets. Additionally, we live a block from the Bois de Vincennes which is a massive park/forest with trails, gardens, lakes, playgrounds, carousels, and even the Zoo. If you walk through the Bois, you can visit the Chateau de Vincennes which was built in the 1300’s and has an epic drawbridge/mote situation. Our streets are filled with classic French Parisian architecture. All the buildings have small shops on the first floor (Boulangeries (for bread), chocolatiers, poissonneries (for fish, etc). At main intersections there are lots of cafes where no matter what time of day, people will be sitting outside with a coffee and a book. Our favorite café has a beautiful display of seafood in the window and it has become our tradition, when returning from the metro to stop and check if the lobsters are out. If they are, we will hold our boys up to the window to see and one of the chefs will pick up a crab or lobster and make them dance for the boys. Our apartment is 5 stories up and has a little balcony that looks out onto the rooftops of France. The church bells down the street ring reminding us of the hour and adding to the charm. We feel so lucky to be in such a charming place!

Having said all of that, this week has certainly had its moments!

Last week ended with us saying goodbye to my dad and flying solo. Well, our first step of flying solo was buying groceries. After going exploring the Chateau Vincennes a bit, we decided to stop at the Monoprix grocery store two blocks from our house. It seemed convenient to go there on our way home until we got in there are realized that our kids were loosing it after walking around so much and not having lunch. On top of that, we realized that Pierce had just totally BLOWN out his diaper. So, there we were, standing with a poopy screaming baby in the basement of Carrefore while classy Parisians went about buying their food. Benjin thankfully said he would take the boys home, but that left me to figure out the shopping. That sounds simple at first, but that included how to weigh each piece of produce and get a sticker at the weighing station. I struggled with that for a while until finally I asked a nice store worker for help. It also included trying to figure out what spices were what (incase you’re interested cinnamon in French is cannelle) (my phone still didn’t work, so it wasn’t like I could just google it). While trying to sort through the spice isle a sweet older French lady came over to give me her sage wisdom… something about grinding my own spices, but I mostly just nodded and said, “ahhh…. Merci, oui, d’accord!” over and over. Then a store worker came over to tell me I had to weigh my lettuce upstairs and I realized that I didn’t have any shopping bags with me. Anyway, by the end of the trip, I was feeling silly and overwhelmed, but the ladies at the checkout were super kind and we had a nice chat about how it was possible that I wasn’t freezing wearing a t-shirt (the lady behind me had on a full-on parka).

The next day we went to the Zoo (which is just a 25ish min walk from our apartment. It was delightful! When we got home, we had to figure out the laundry situation which is just different because the washing machine is tiny and there is no dryer. But, I have quickly learned the art of hanging up ornamental wet laundry all around our house and have actually become grateful for the small load size (there are only so many places to hang stuff!!)

On Thursday we walked to Aldi and had another grocery store experience, but this time we were a little more prepared. We had bags, our children were fresher and we had a fairly successful trip (but it is amazing how often we have to go to the grocery store when you can only buy what you can carry!) That afternoon we made our way via metro to the Eiffel Tower. A bunch of the lines were closed (because they are getting ready for the Olympics) so, what should have been a 40ish min ride was and hour and a half. But, we got to the Eiffel Tower and walked around. It was fun especially for Gideon to finally see the thing we have been talking about for soooo long!

Friday morning, we walked over to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) to sign Gideon up for school. We met this delightful lady who at first seemed a little closed off, but when I told her we were hoping Gideon would go to a French school rather than the English school in the other town, she opened up and became my best friend. She gave me all the brochures about the town and told me she would help me practice my French. It was so nice to leave feeling like I really had a friend in the town hall.

Saturday, we decided to go to the Temple which is on the other side of Paris. So, we needed to ride a long metro ride and then a long train ride. The boys were troopers and we made it to Versailles where Benjin took a bus to the Temple and Gideon, Pierce and I walked through the Bois de Versailles (forests of Versailles) and looked at the gardens, horses, etc. Then we walked through the Bois to the Temple to meet up with daddy. We got to the temple around 1 and I ran inside to see if I could do some sealings. After changing clothes and talking to a couple different French ladies, I was told that nothing started until 2:45. I left distraught. We had ridden the train for such a long time and walked around the chateau and now either I wouldn’t get to do anything, or my kids would have to wait another almost 2 hours only to then wait another hour plus for me to get out! This was crazy. Luckily Benjin convinced me to stay, and we hung out on the grounds until it was time for me to go in. I went in and immediately felt so much peace. While doing sealings, I was struck by the term “alliance.” In English we typically say “covenant,” but I LOVE how in French it reminds us that our covenants/promises help us form an alliance with God. I walked out of the temple feeling so so good. It was ok that we still had a long train ride home. It was ok that my kids were exhausted and starving. God was my ally.

And boy did I need that reminder the next day! The next day was church which meant we needed to walk to the bus stop, ride that bus to another bus, wait for 15 mins, get on another bus, ride that and then walk 10mins to the church building. All in all, it took us an hour to get to church. So, by the time we got to church Pierce was already wanting lunch and a nap… but we still had church (all in French) and the ride home. Church was great, everyone was super nice (but it is a little daunting to have it all be in French). We met some delightful people one of whom was in the stake presidency and invited us to their house that night for dinner. When church was over, we walked back to the bus station and started our journey home. This time, the bus was even more crowded. There were literally 100 plus people on the bus. Everyone shoved up against everyone else, sweaty and with Pierce crying/falling asleep in Benjin’s armpit who was trying to hang on above him while avoiding dropping pierce. It was harrowing to say the least, but we eventually made it home with just enough time to let pierce sleep for half an hour before it was time to get back on the buses to ride to our new friend’s house for dinner. It was hard to ignore the little voice in my head saying, “seriously! This just cannot be worth it!” But we got to their house, and it was totally worth it! They fed us delicious crepes, let us play with their amazingly gracious and delightful kids and their super fun bikes/toys. Gideon left and for the first time since moving here, really felt like he had a friend. So, as we got back on the bus and had a funny older Yugoslavian lady yell at us for not being more careful about pick pocketers, we just smiled and said, “merci!” Totally worth it.

So, our week was full of lots of bus/metro time, lots of exhausted/hungry bubbas, and lots of time still trying to figure out the grocery food system. But that is part of what I love about the term, “alliance.” Having an alliance to some degree implies a fight. That is what I felt this week. There were certainly a lot of moments where things did not come easily. It was a struggle to perform even some of the most simple/mundane tasks (laundry, groceries, getting to church), but in an alliance with the Lord, there are also flowers to smell, lobster dances to watch, crepes to eat, and friends to make!  

 Love,

La famillie Facer