Lessons from a Sarcophogus

A few weeks ago at church, I attempted to start a conversation with a friend by asking what her plans were for the upcoming week. Something seemed to have gotten lost in translation, however, because she somehow assumed that meant I needed her help and wanted to know when she was free to help me. Gratefully, this “misunderstanding” led to us meeting up for a talk & walk date at the zoo on Monday, because I DID in fact need something ---- help practicing French! So, while Gideon was in school Pierce and Rosalyn and I walked around the Zoo and chatted in French. I learned how to say “rodent” and “stripped tail” as well as just practiced forming questions and comprehending responses. And best of all, I felt like I had a friend!! Pierce fell asleep in the stroller, so after saying goodbye to Rosalyn I sat on a park bench and read scriptures while waiting for Gideon to be done. We picked him up and went home for lunch. While dropping him back off at school, I met one of the other moms that also picks her kids up for lunch. We walked back toward our house together. Fortunately, she is a talker and just talked, talked, talked (which meant I didn’t have to say much) At one point she said, “no, you speak great French! So, much about speaking a language is understanding and you are doing great!” Inside I was laughing because I had really only understood about 25% of what she had said, but I’m really good at nodding and pretending I know what is going on...so, I've got that going for me! 

Anyway, on Tuesday we met up with Daddy after work to explore the Latin Quarter. It was a beautiful evening and we got to see the lovely Fontaine Saint-Michel, lots of cool little old narrow streets and welcoming cafes. We went inside the L’eglise Saint Severin where Gideon was amazed by how outside the stained glass all looked black, but once we went inside it was a rainbow of colors! We went to a French Taco shop and got some tacos which we then took down by the Seine and enjoyed while the boys enthusiastically pointed out every Bateau Mouche that sailed by.

Wednesday, we adventured over to the Paris history museum at the Musee Carnavalet. The weather was gorgeous and the metro crowded, so we hopped out a stop early and walked from the Bastille, through the Marais. It was fun to teach Gideon what the Bastille was and how excited he was to learn that the bricks from the old prison were used to build one of the bridges downtown. He is now determined that we need to go find that bridge (plans for a future adventure day). We also stopped at Place des Vosges for some playground fun and beautiful scenery. Then we finally made our way to the museum. I’m not sure why, but my expectations were pretty low. I mean, how cool could a free city history museum be to kids, right? WRONG! We LOVED it!! We walked through the halls filled with old Paris shop signs and tried to see how many animals we could spot. Then we worked on a puzzle to recreate the crest for the city of Paris. We looked at old city landmarks and how they have evolved and made our way to the basement where we discovered old roman ruins and learned how coins were embossed. Gideon loved trying his hand at embossing paper in a similar way. One of my favorite things was a chunk of old sarcophagus that was discovered in the 1800's when they were building Paris' first sewer system. The piece had a cross symbol letting everyone know that the person inside was Christian. What a remarkable thing! This person buried back in Roman France chose to pattern their life in the same way that I try to.  

After the basement, we took a lunch break and let Pierce (and Gideon) run around the captivating courtyard. We finished off our visit upstairs where there were rooms showcasing various Parisian interior design styles. We did a quick walk through and then Gideon and I revealed which one was our favorite. Gideon was all about the pink! It was a blast! Surprise, surprise, I learned that city history museums can be pretty spectacular when that city is PARIS!!

Friday was Gideon’s last day of school for two weeks. So, his teacher sent him home with some of his projects he has been working on. It was amazing to see all the fun things he has done and how much he has learned/progressed. In the evening, we went to the home of “notre eveque” (our bishop) for some delicious curry, amazing pain au beurre and tiramisu. They are such an adorable family (originally from Guadeloupe and Paris/Cote d'Ivoire) and like with so many families in our ward, we left saying, “we just want to grow up to be like them!!”

Saturday, we took a trip to the Temple, which means a 1.5 plus hour train/bus ride. This time also included a potty detour involving me running frantically all around the metro station and nearby shops begging store owners to please let us use their restroom. Bathroom access is not one of the things Europe does particularly well (which has proven challenging with a 4-year-old.) But, we eventually made it to the temple dry pants intact. I stayed outside with the boys (because I had caught the cold that the boys had earlier and didn’t want to pass it on). But it was lovely to walk around the grounds, look in the visitor’s center and chat with the sister missionaries. I couldn’t get over the profound gratitude I had for the sacrifices of so many missionaries, members, etc over the years who paved the way for the temple to be built here. How very lucky we are to be a mere hour and a half train ride away!! After that we made our way over to the woods of Versailles (which is just around the corner). We had a picnic lunch alongside the grand canal and watched the fountains dance in the blustery wind. With the wind threatening to blow us away, we decided it was time to head home. We made our way home by way of the Jardin des plants (showing daddy the cool Museum of Evolution).

Sunday was again full of public transit. This time we learned that the bus we typically take to church was not running. Fortunately, one of our dear friends from the ward was there to tell us where to go. On the way back we were not so lucky. We tried to take a train, but that was broken down. We walked half an hour to the next train stop and then took that train to another station and then walked again to a metro stop and then took that metro and then walked home. All in all it took us 2.5 hours to get home from church!! That’s means it was almost 4 hours of travel time for 2 hours of church!! It the middle of the "attempting to get home fiasco," I had a total melt down. It was just all too much... I had just spent 4 hours of my life lugging children on and off trains only to try and wrangle them in church without really understanding what anyone was saying! What are we doing? Is this really worth it?!

Looking back at the week it's amazing how I started out so high, feeling like I was really making progress making friends and speaking French only to get beaten down by public transit problems, sickness, language barriers, etc. But, I wonder if that guy in the sarcophagus ever faced the same questions? Were his sacrifices worth it? The symbol he chose to have etched on his casket suggests he believed it was. Through hundreds of years and across language and culture barriers his testimony is clear that even the blackest looking window can be eliminated by the light of Jesus Christ. And when Christ's light shines through, the rainbow of colors is spectacular!! 

Bisous!

La Famille Facer