Of Kings and Crowns

Good kings, bad kings

Sane kings or mad kings

Benevolent or nefarious

Here is where they bury us

These lyrics come from one of my favorite scenes in the old movie, "The Slipper and the Rose." Since moving to France, we have learned a lot about kings. We have visited many of their castles, seen rooms filled with their jewels, enjoyed what once was their hunting forest, and walked where some of them were beheaded. This week only added to our understanding of kings, both the good ones and the bad.

For our adventure day this week we ventured out east of the city on the RER toward Disney. We got to tour the Château de Champs-sur-Marne and explore the beautiful grounds. As I mentioned, we have seen A LOT of castles. In fact, we now have enough chateau experience under our belts that Gideon was able to notice that this chateau looks just like another chateau we know well. This inspired a nice discussion about “style” and what it means for buildings to look similar. I love that our remarkable surroundings inspire discussions like that.

Thursday night, it was warm enough for me to go for a downtown stroll during Erin solo time. I brought my historical walk guide and wandered through the Marais (I learned that “the Marais” means “the swamp” because that area was previously the marshy part of the city which they eventually drained.) I got to see the Jewish quarter and enjoy some delicious falafel.

Friday Gideon enjoyed his final day of “pony school” with a ride into the bois! Gideon loved it and was so sad that his pony outings had come to an end. We are blown away by how much he learned and how he faced and embraced his fears. Gideon has always had an issue with heights (ie. He would NEVER ride on anyone’s shoulders) but after this past week at pony camp, he voluntarily went up on daddy’s shoulders and rode around. He was just beaming to show that he is not scared anymore!

 In the evening our dear friends Megan and Bevan Blake arrived to spend the weekend with us. It was so delightful to have them. It feels like far too long since Benjin and I have really gotten to hang out with friends and we just loved getting to hang out in the evenings, catch up, play games, swap stories, eat treats, etc.

Saturday we all took the train down to Fontainebleau (where I lived as a baby and where Napoleon had a chateau.) We got to leave from Gare de Lyon, which is always fun because you get to leave from an actual train station, which to me feels pretty epic. Once we got to the castle, we found a nice spot by the fountain to enjoy our picnic lunch as well as the beautiful sights. Then Benjin, Gideon and the Blakes went inside the chateau while I wandered the Fontainebleau forest with sleeping Pierce. When he woke up we found a playground in the forest and played there until the castle group was done. It was easily the most peaceful playground I have ever been to. It was just me and Pierce playing in the woods with the occasional beret wearing French man riding past on his velo. After reuniting with our group and letting Gideon play for a bit, we walked back to the train station and made our way home. We fed the boys and got them ready for bed while Benjin and Bevan ran out to grab some delicious African bowls.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early in order to maintain our Easter sunrise tradition. While it was still dark we wandered into the bois, past some homeless people playing Tarzan music and finally sat down on a big log near a little stream and a large tree. We talked about the history of the forest and King Louis IX who was famous for disseminating justice at the foot of a large oak tree in this same forest. We then related that to Jesus Christ who similarly stands at the tree and pleads for us to come unto him and receive both justice and mercy. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful place. I just love starting Easter off in the quiet, dark, peaceful moments of the early morning.

We made our way to church where we had a great service followed by a small egg hunt “chasse aux oeufs” for the kids. On our way back from church we showed the Blakes the Chateau Vincennes (the castle of that same King Louis IX who we had talked about earlier) --- I told you we see A LOT of chateaux around here! In the evening we made/ate some galettes and indulged in a yummy cheese board (where the highlight was helping Bevan realize that blue cheese is actually super delicious when done right.) Then we raced out the door to make our way to St. Chappelle for an Easter concert. (Fun fact: St. Chappelle was built by that same King Louis IX as a place to house the crown of thorns which he brought back from Constantinople.) Anyway, the music was incredible, and it was so nice to have an excuse to just sit in there and look at all of the beautiful stained glass as well as the crown of thorns motif scattered throughout the building. We eventually made our way home and topped off the day with some yummy patisseries and a little more cheese (because when in France…)

Monday, we rented a car and drove to Giverny. From there we had been planning to rent bikes, but while driving Gideon said he was not feeling great. After repeatedly trying to warn me, Gideon started spewing throwup everywhere! I guess there is a cost of not having your kids ever ride in cars…

Anyway…. This resulted in Gideon riding the rest of the way in nothing but Benjin’s sweatshirt and then me running into a local Monoprix for a spontaneous shopping spree to get Gideon an entirely new outfit. From there we no longer had time to bike, so we just drove the 10 additional minutes to Monet’s house. However, halfway through that ride, Gideon again started vomiting. Fortunately, this time we were ready and caught just about everything in a Mickey Mouse baseball cap. (Huge shout out to patient, loving, understanding friends who not only helped us clean up the puke, but donated their jacket to the cause!)

Despite this rocky start, we ended up having a delightful walk through Monet’s gardens with a fun tour guide and enjoyed exploring the house and art studio. The flowers were phenomenal and the boys loved stopping to smell all the different kinds.

On our way home we stopped at an epic cider farm that our tour guide had suggested. It was gorgeous and the woman running it was out of this world kind. She let us sample everything from duck paste to milk jam in addition to multiple types of apple juice. And the setting was just perfect… exactly what you would hope for when you think of an old French cider farm in Normandy. Armed with a couple of bottles of the good stuff, we braved the drive home and thanks to a prayer by Gideon (who asked that he wouldn’t throw up again) we made it all the way home, through terrible traffic, without any barfing.

This Easter I have been thinking about the symbol of the crown of thorns. This is not the symbol I typically think of when I think about Easter, but this year because of all the castles and all the kings, crowns are a little more top of mind. I am grateful for the reminder that Christ’s coronation was a painful one. I am grateful for the contrast between the typical glorious gold and the humble woven wood. I am grateful for friends that remind me that Christ is the type of king who will not only wash my feet, but catch my child’s throw up. I am grateful that in spite of the thorns, he was willing to bear the crown and be my King. I am grateful that of all the good and bad Kings throughout history, Christ's death and resurrection set him apart as the King of Kings. 

Joyeuses Pâques!

La famille Facer