We're Home!!!!!

We are Home!!!!!

Everthing went very smoothly on our flights home (Thank you again Nathan for taking us to the airport.) We flew from Marseille to Frankfort - walked through the airport to our next gate which was already boarding - got situated and the pilot announced there would be a short delay which always makes you a little nervous. But then he said it would only be 5 minutes, so it certainly couldn't be anything serious! We prayed for a smooth flight and it couldn't have been smoother! We watched 3 movies, ate two meals and we were home!Our last few days in Aix were very nice. There was a potluck for us where we were presented with a picture in a watercolor style depicting Aix en Provence and a package of gourmet chocolate for each of us. Kathryn had a going-away get together with some friends where she experienced how beer is served at nightclubs. We also both went to dinner one last time with some friends to our Tunisian restaurant where the owner and assistant got out their drums and sat down and played for us.

We are exhausted, but we finished! We are happy to be home and we will cherish all our memories and experiences. 

Thank you again for all your prayers and support!

God Bless!

deb and kat 

Better Late than Never Barcelona

After some slight hesitation, we decided to follow through with our original plans and go to Barcelona to wrap up our last excursion. 

With noticing the amount of books that still needed to be done, we did not want to leave before we knew that we left ourselves enough time to complete the rest of the books when we came back. So, with this motivation we worked several 10 hour days before we left. And we were both so happy to have a break from the work. It is hard to be in the apartment without

 feeling like we should be working, as the library occupies one of rooms!

The train ride was really long (which was ok by us!) In between two four-hour train rides we had a four hour layover in Montpellier. We were not originally excited about this layover as none of tour books even talked about the place! But what a surprise! The town was simply marvelous.  We had lunch and walked around to see the town and both agreed that we would come back if we had the opportunity.

Barcelona was a mixture of letting go from the strenuous past week of work to seeing all the sights that Kathryn in particular was excited to see. We did minimal planning with only reading a guide book on the train ride there, and booking two shows that were a must see, including a Flamenco show and going to the Palau de Musica to hear a Classical Quartet. This was much different from the past two excursions where we planned a lot before going.

The first day we spent walking the street of Barcelona, walking down La Rambla which is long pedestrian mall. The lined streets are filled with bird and flower vendors (yes bird vendors – from roosters cockal-do-a doing to canaries!), as well as street entertainers for the tourists. Right off this road is the St. Joseph Market, - which is said to be one of the most beautiful and colorful markets of Europe. 

We were both going crazy when we walked in, we had never seen such pretty display of vendors selling vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, chocolate, eggs, andspices. This same day we visited the Port Vell, Ciutadella Park, Monument to Columbus and Barceloneta. That night we experienced some heartache as we got terribly lost finding the Palau de Musica and then come to find out we had our nights mixed up and showed up for our quartet when we were supposed to be up the mountain at the Flamenco show. We were both devastated. After some time of Kathryn crying and Debbie consoling we thought we needed to contact theFlamenco show. 

There was a hotel right there and the receptionist did not only know perfect English but she used to work at that particular Flamenco show. We explained our story and she as able to get our tickets changed to the next night, even though the show had already ended! We were both so grateful.

The next day we visited many of Gaudi’s works scattered through out Barcelona including Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, Temple of the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and Palau Guell. We both considered Gaudi’s works before as well, “gaudy”. But after learning and touring just a small amount of his works, we were fascinated at the some of reasons and inspirations of his architecture- he was very ingenious and creative at the same time. Upon his graduation one of his professeurs said I don’t know if he’s a genious or a lunatic. 

We went to the Flamenco show and at intermission we left and made it to the Quartet just in time for us to take our seats, take in the beautiful scenery and for the lights to lower for the music to start.

We were truly felt watched-over and led by God through-out our time in Barcelona. There were times we felt very frustrated and lost and while sometime we could not feel his presence, He was there always guiding us. Looking back we can only now see how protected we were- We really look forward to sharing in more detail the experiences we have both had when His presence was so great- it could not be chalked-up to coincidence.

We have arrived back home safely to our home away from home and working very long hours to finish things up. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel- but we both know that we still have to work really hard to get to the end of the tunnel! With less then a week to go we are wrapping up with work and our time here in Aix. And as we like it here very much, we are both ready to come home now- but enjoying every day up until we leave!

 

Work Hard to Play Hard!!!!!

We have been working 10-hour days and decided to take a couple days off, rent a car and see Provence. Kathryn loves cars and was very excited to see what we would be driving around for two days. It was a Panda, made by Fiat. It was nice, but going up a couple hills on the Auto route,we slowed down a bit.

Seeing Provence was strongly recommended (thanks Dave), and we thoroughly enjoyed it! 

We visited Arles, Avignon, Orange, Les Beau and admired the views of Gordes built on the side of a large steep hill/mountainside. We saw some really, really old stuff and also visited an enormous Roman aqueduct, perfectly preserved, called Pont du Gard (the 5^th most popular tourist site in all of France) as well as visiting the Abbey at Senanque. Except for the Abbey, this entire region is known for the Roman Ruins; Orange

being one of the most noteable for the ancient Roman theatre being the best preserved in existence, and the only one in Europe with its acoustical wall still standing. (Thank you Rick Steve’s Tour Book for teaching us about what we all saw!)

 And what would a trip around Provence be without touring a few of the many, many vineyards. Even though everything is dormant right now, it was a beautiful day, the vinyards were open for tasting and it felt like springs as we drove along and saw farmers and tractors working in the rolling fields.

It is very cold in southern France!  The cold seems to cut right through, so you rarely see man or woman without a scarf wrapped around their necks. The first day on our outing was windy, but not a cloud in the sky. The  second was absolutely gorgeous, we actually took off our coats; which was first day since we left Colorado that we haven’t needed them – along with hat, gloves and a scarf!

Now it is back to the salt mine – working day and  night it seems. With less than two weeks to go, we are on a time crunch and we have one last excursion. We will keep it a secret and show pictures on our next blog. Where has the time gone? We are making good time after some grueling sections of books that required a lot of attention!!!!!!  It’s actually starting to look like a library! Good thing eh?

Thank you for tuning in! Salut!

 

Food and Books

We have started the count down, having less than 3 weeks left until we leave for back home. It is bitter sweet for both of us as we are really enjoying experiencing the French life but missing our lives back home. Time seems to go by more quickly and we are starting to feel the crunch of our job and desperately wanting to complete it. We have mapped out the remaining books that need to be completed, and we are having some days doing over 100 books. Those days are not the greatest but we create ‘carrots’ for motivation to make them a little more enjoyable! Today, having a very productive day in books, we bought fresh gnocchi from a local Italian shop. They were definitely the best gnocchi either of us have ever had. And because our job requires us to sit - a lot, we have exercise time every once in while where we do jumping jacks in the living room to help us get our blood going.

We are also feeling the crunch of our job because of the other activities we wanted to do while we are here. We did have the opportunity to climb Sainte Victoire, which is the famous mountain where Cezanne spent much of his time painting the wonderful landscape. We did not make it all the way to the top, but we made it close enough and it was a wonderful spot to have a picnic. Our host family took us to two wineries in Provence. We had a great time seeing more of Provence and tasting the wines of the region.

Kathryn has been making her hair cutting talents useful, cutting hair for some of the students that attend our church. She has stayed busy with other activities with the church as well including attending a football match (soccer game) in Marseille. She was amazed at the intensity of the fans and players; it is nothing like American football.

Debbie continues to meet with Colette for ‘Franglish’ chats over French pastries and tea. She has thoroughly enjoyed her company and feels like it is helping her French a lot.

We have really settled in, in our area. We have a regular bakery that we visit and love seeing the same women. She is so nice; Kathryn wants to bring her home with us. We though it was great, she describes her pastries by showing you a corresponding candy bar – they must be her inspiration! We thought that could make a great Iron Chef Episode – make a dessert to taste like your favorite candy bar! 

We try to limit out sweets but when we need bread, we try to visit around 5 p.m. when the baguettes are just coming out of the oven and sold piping hot.  It takes a lot of will-power to have at least a little bread left when we gethome!  

We also found a Tunisian restaurant that we’ve visited twice for lunch.. The food is inexpensive, the service is excellent and they always serve us complementary tea and a Tunisian bonbon for dessert afterwards. Both the owner and employee know some English –  and we have such a great time talking with them!   

 

Paris – Perfectly wonderful Paris!!!

We worked really hard on the library before we left and actually have 2/3 of the library entered into the computer, re labeled and shelved; unfortunately there are books in two other rooms from the other library we have to work with and integrate. But – we’re getting them done as we speak. Our little excursion to Paris was much needed and we really had a wonderful time. And thanks to Kathryn – who found awesome deals including our train tickets on the TGV (high speed train). It only took 3 hours; the train goes to speeds up to 200 mph.

The weather forecast for Paris was pretty dismal, but when we got there, the sun was shining and after finding our hotel (way up on the North side), we headed out sightseeing.

We started at Sacre Coeur – or in English: Sacred Heart – from there we went to the Bastille/Marais area seeing – the Vosges and the statute of Bastille. We had a wonderful dinner and went to our hotel to rest up for our next three days. For those of you who haven’t heard – Debbie is a relentless tourist, being armed with a booked itinerary, full of museums! We definitely got our moneys worth from buying a museum pass…….

The second day might wear you out just listening to all we did – are you ready?…….We started with Rick Steve’s walking tour through Paris, starting at Notre Dame. From there we went to the Deportation Memorial to remember the 200,000 French Jews who boarded boats never to be free again. Then we went to the Latin Quarter, Saint Chapelle, – which is a two-story Cathedral having stained glass from top to bottom on three sides, then to the Concierge Museum -where Marie Antoinette and Louis the 16^th were imprisoned before

 being executed. Then we went to on to Port Daphne and Pont Neuf- which are along the Seine River. We took a break for lunch and then headed to the Cluny Museum – to see the famous Unicorn tapestries and the Pantheon. Kathryn was concerned because we still hadn’t seen the Eiffel Tower – and would you know – the Pantheon is on a hill on the left Bank and as soon as we walked out the door – there she was – the tower!  

We took lots and pictures and then continued through the Luxembourg Garden, Tuilleries Garden, toured the Orangerie Museum and then to the Louvre.  We were beat, but managed to find a two story diner that’s been around for over a 100 years. You don’t necessarily have a private table – especially for parties of two. We joined a cute Finish couple and after they left – a very nice couple from New York joined us. Since you sit very close you get to see what everyone orders. The man from New York ordered Tripe. We were adventurous, but not that adventurous!

Day three was supposed to include the Eiffel Tower  - but the weather forecast included rain – all day – so we thought Versailles might be better since it would be mostly indoors. After saying a quick prayer asking God for guidance, we decided that since we didn’t hear any voice and since we went to so much trouble planning our entire trip – we better stick to our original plan. Well half way on our Metro ride – at a scheduled stop – everyone was asked to disembark the train, and board the next one. Coincidentally – it was the same stop where we had to change trains if we were going to go to Versailles! We felt like God couldn’t have told us too much clearer – so we boarded the different train and headed forVersailles. God has a sense of humor –we know this for a fact.Because as we got to Versailles, it began to SNOW – really snow – huge, wet flakes!

 And of course everyone said – it never snows here! We told them about the snow we received in Aix and that they are never supposed to get snow either – and they quickly decided that we brought the snow!!!Versailles was still fun – for a little while we thought we might actually get to stay overnight! No one was allowed to go outside to the gardens – because it was snowing pitchforks and baby buggies. But by the time we finished the tour – the snow had stopped. Safely back in Paris, we went to the Musee D’Orsay. Kathryn really liked the Impressionist Paintings. The museum was closing before we had time to see the whole thing, but that was the beauty of the museum pass – we decided to go back first things in the morning to finish. 

We started the third day with breakfast at a famous restaurant known for their hot chocolate and a pastry called Mont Blanc. Cocoa Channel is among the famous who have sipped chocolate there. It was very good, but we were glad that we only ordered one hot chocolate and a coffee. Two chocolates would have been a little too much- it was rich, but delicious. We went back to the Musee D’Orsay and finished up, and as we were walking through the gift shop we noticed several famous paintings on post cards we hadn’t seen – only to find out we missed an entire wing – so back in for the third time! Third times a charm is our story at the Musee D’Orsay!

When we finally left the Musee D’Orsay, we made a quick detour to  the Rodin museum to see the statute 'TheThinker.' And as the sun was shining brilliantly, we headed to the Left bank for some lunch, and then onto the Tour Eiffel! We got our tickets and it was about an hour wait to go to the top – but so worth it! We had a Maroon, Chantilly crepe afterwards. We walked to the Arc de Triumph and went to the top – if you can believe there’s a bathroom at the top of the arch and we used that too! We walked down the Champs L’Eylsees and then home – it was another big day!

Well we found out during the night that Kathryn is allergic to Maroons – more commonly called Chestnuts which was the filling in our wonderful crepe at the Eiffel Tower.  And let’s just say she had a rough night. She felt a little better in the morning and was able to continue our power Paris trip. We went to the Pompidou Museum and the Picasso museum and then we had the best Shwarma know to man – Kathryn found out about it on the internet. They were awesome. We would both take the three hour train ride back to Paris right now just to have another one. It is a lot like our Greek Gyros sandwiches, but this had cabbage and cooked eggplant, chicken, lamb and a very special sauce all wrapped up in a warm naan!

We took pictures of all our food – just about. Paris has better food at a better price than Aix for dining out. Aix is actually very expensive.We are back to our books and on a really icky section- being really tough.

We wish we could bring everyone a Shwarma, some hot chocolate and a Mont Blanc from Angelina’s!

Tour of our home!

We have had a request to see our apartment and we would both love to show you around our humble abode!

Our first stop is the Kitchen. Do not let this kitchen fool you; even though it looks small it is big enough to make awesome meals! We are both very surprised on how well equipped it is and have fallen in love with the electric tea kettle (we both want one when we get home.) There is no dishwasher (expect for the two of us), which we have actually not missed at all. It kind of goes with the rest of the old fashioned, slower paced life elements of Provence, but on the other hand you do second guess how many dishes you really need when preparing a meal!! Our stove is a small 4 burner gas range and we have a much smaller than normal fridge which is on the opposite wall. The window on the right looks to an awesome old church that rings their bells at various times through out the day. Kathryn really likes the bells. We can also see Mount Sainte-Victoire which the painter Cezanne painted frequently.

Next stop the salon. Our living room is very comfortable, with having a very hard sofa and a very soft sofa. The television is very temperamental and we do not watch it very often at all. And if we do watch television, we have been watching US television over the Internet. We receive a lot of sunshine through the French doors and often we have to shut the shutters because it gets too hot! This is our view through the French doors facing one of the main streets. It is never too loud, but there is a hospital nearby so we hear the occasional siren, which is very different than the States!




This is our infamous flagellating bathroom. It has been quite the joke around here. Sometimes the bathroom will just randomly smell really bad (we think that it has something to do with the old plumbing.) But we say that the bathroom has tooted. He try to shut the door, but sometimes it just lurks- We were irritated at first at the smell and tried to put bleach down all the drains and bought air fresheners, but now we have come accustomed to it and just say ‘excuse you!’ and shut the door. This room also has double duty as our laundry room - we are very lucky to have a washer and dryer in our house, it is not very typical at all in France. We do have to pay 1 Euro for each use of the machines. It took a bit to get used to the washer, it only has settings of 1 -7. We still do not know what they all mean, but they told us ‘6’ is the shortest- still taking 45 minutes!! We try not to use the dryer for our clothes, but hang them on a drying rack (where ever we can save money!) But it is funny when we do use it- it goes around about 5 times in one direction. Stops. Then changes directions for 5 more rotations, continually until the clothes dry. Does it work better than the ones back home? Our opinion- nope.

Our last stop of tour is our bedroom. We started in the back bedroom, but for some reason both of us wanted to switch and we have been much happier. Debbie gets the bed closer to the floor, while Kathryn gets to sleep 6 feet above the floor. As you can see the beds are really small, smaller than a typical twin- this took a bit to get used to. And for this reason Kathryn is glad that her bed has rails. We also love out work so much that we even house books in our room! Because of the limited space this was the only place to put overflow books.


Hope you have enjoyed the tour of our home!

Great Work Week!

We have had a great week, getting many books done- having Wednesday being a 100 book day! As this day we really got a lot of books done, there are other days where have to spend more time researching new subjects that we come across, these days are long. We work 7 days a week and put in at least 6 hours a day. The current total books we have completed is estimated to be around 1800, and while the original books quoted was 4000, we are constantly finding more and more books that were never entered into the database having the library be possibly closer to 4,500 books! And while the work is still being tedious, we both feel like we are getting better at our tasks and becoming more accustomed to the work. We do not want to feel overly confident, but we see that there is a possibility that we can complete this library before we leave, which would be absolutely amazing for the both of us. Mary, the librarian that trained us informed us that we will grow ‘quite fond of the library and you will call it your own.’ At the time we never thought we could have feelings for such thing as a library, but as the days pass we are learning this to be quite true! We have invested so much time and energy into this library that we would not only like it to be competed but be effective for the people that will be using it, as well as having the

capability to grow.

Pictures of La Rotonde (left) and a fountain on Cour Mirabea (below)- which are both located in the main area of town. There are many fountains everywhere!

When we are not working we are having a great time using our kitchen! It is so nice eating all the fresh food. Everything seems to just taste so much better out here. Kathryn especially likes beets, and is happy you can buy them already cooked in a package. We did have a very unusual experience with some sausage. It was called ‘andoulle sausage’ and Deb knows that she has purchased something with a similar name at Costco. Well, as it looked like sausage, this was nothing like any sausage we’ve ever had before. While cooking it to accompany our spaghetti sauce the smell of liver filled the air, which does not really go with tomato sauce nor a good smell if you are not expecting it! We did eat it, but will not go into detail on the looks……..But with both of us being pretty adventurous with food and having three more fat links left we had our own little Iron Chef Competition. We both made a dish using the sausage. It was a good idea, and we think we each actually made something very tasty. Deb made like a cassoulet, and Kathryn made a type of stir-fry with apples and raisins.
We are now planning our second excursion to Paris, which is taking much longer than expected and we have had to hurdle some challenges, but we both know that it will be all worth it in the end.

Next blog will be a bit tardy due to our trip, but looking forward to sharing our adventures when we return!

Au revour~

Quiet Week!

It has been a quiet week, so our Blog won't be too exciting. We have done a lot, a lot, and a lot of books. We don't know where we're at with the count, but Kathryn said today she's getting a callous on one of her fingers. But needless to say we have managed to stay busy with getting into quite a routine here in France, church being one that we do a lot! We go to French church on Sunday mornings - which lasts 2 full hours, and then we go to the English church on Sunday evenings - that lasts just about an hour - maybe a little longer, but then you stay and visit for quite a while! Then Kathryn goes to the young peoples service (with the French church) that meets every other Saturday evening - and last but not least - with the people associated with the library - we have prayer meeting every other Friday morning for 2 hours! So we stay pretty busy just attending church! Kathryn mentioned to one of her friends back home about how much she goes to church, and her friend teased her that she was going to come home as a nun!


Kathryn - being the very hair-conscientious person that she is - was going crazy with her hair - needing a cut and highlights terribly! After finding an ok establishment she has been on cloud 9 ever since having it done! It was the highlight this week - pun intended!

Debbie went with to help with some of the translation; we could only imagine what a disaster it could end up being? There were some words Debbie didn't know, but tried! If you need highlights - that would be called ‘meches.’ Of course you need to choose the color from - oh say - 50 choices! And you need to say if you want wide or narrow highlights, and you need to tell them just how you'd like your hair cut. Luckily we brought a picture, which is worth a thousand translated words! Then comes - do you want your hair washed, conditioned, dried, styled, teased, waxed or shaved. "I don't know" isn't a good answer, as well as you really might not want to tell them to do what they think is best (we heard the result is never good); either one could give you many more bad hair days then you ever thought possible. In the end the result is wonderful and we are all so happy with it, Kathryn says she's been French-i-fied! Elle est tres elegente! Ce n'est pas?

Debbie has been feeling discouraged with French. She didn't know as much as she thought she did when she got here, and what she does know isn't coming out too well. But she is working on it. She is realizing that she could benefit greatly with more school, but it's all good because for the most part, she is able to at communicate what is needed to get us both by - even if it's pretty primitively!!!! She has been meeting once a week with a older French woman that lives down the street. They have a wonderful time speaking ‘Franglish,’ eating French pastries and enjoying each others company.
I think we are getting to experience another of Southern France's wonderful weather phenomenons - the mistral. Ten inches of snow in 8 hours was pretty exciting, but it's been cloudy and rainy for 2 days - and now the wind is blowing like crazy!!!!!!!!!! We shut the shutters to the French doors in our salon (living room) so we don't accidentally end up redecorating in a sort of out-doorsy look complete with real leaves and tree limbs. Maybe between the mistrals and the catholic population here in France, this is where the Flying Nun was inspired.

Kathryn and I will be coming home as flying Nuns!

3 days in Italy!

Time to update everyone on the goings on with Kathryn and Debbie in Aix! Well – we actually didn’t spend much time in Aix this week because we went on our first excursion. Our host family was out of town all week, so it was a good time for us to go as well.

We chose Italy – Florence to be more specific for our first destination. We were a little surprised at the cost for the train tickets, but when we realized it would take 12 hours to get there, we understood. We left our apartment Monday morning at 5:00 a.m. and arrived at the hotel in Florence around 6:00 p.m. Kathryn did a great job finding us a hotel right by the Ponte Vechio – for only $45 euro per night – and it included breakfast! It wasn’t the Ritz, but the bed was comfortable, the coffee was hot, and we were right in the Centre Ville! (We did have to share a bathroom too, but that turned out to be no problem - there are advantages to traveling during the low season – very few tourists.)

Tuesday we had reservations for the Academia Museum at 9:00 a.m. and being so early, we got to view Michelangelo’s “David” all by ourselves!!!! From there we enjoyed the beautiful day – and the view from the Duomo-tower – we climbed 420 some stairs. The day was clear and I think Kat got some superb photos. In the afternoon we visited the Uffizi Museum, had a slice of pizza – a coffee – a gelato – with sharing our lunch was only 10 euro. Before heading back to our room we stopped to have a glass of wine – and met some very nice locals. The lady sitting next to us had a real Jimmy Choo purse (if you don’t know what that is – I didn’t – ask someone in their 20’s). She worked for Jimmy Choo in San Francisco for 6 years and just transferred to Milan, but was in Florence to visit her mother. Our evening ended in a Pizza place where we had a fantastic diner and visited with a family from Australia.

Wednesday morning it was raining – what a difference a day can make. We took the train to Pisa. The tower was still leaning, and it started to rain there too, but we took our chances to head to the coast - to Cinque Terre (where Mike broke his leg!) It was another good move – it was beautiful when we arrived. Not many tourists – and we couldn’t hike between all 5 towns because of slippery trails. We had a good dinner at the one and only restaurant that was open. We stayed one night – again Kathryn did an awesome job – only 50 Euro and it included breakfast again – and we had a view of the Mediterranean! We hiked for a little bit, but then figured we better start the big trek home. From Cinque Terra we went to La Spezia, from La Spezia we went to Genoa, Genoa to Nice, Nice to Marseille and, and, and….We were supposed to go all the way to Aix – however our train wasn’t to arrive until after midnight – and it was the wrong station in Aix. Not knowing what the taxi situation would be – and not wanting to walk 10 kilometers at midnight – especially when we had no idea where that station was in respect to our home – we decided we had three choices – get a hotel – take our chances with the train – or take a taxi. We both agreed on how much we were willing to pay for the taxi – and we soon found out it wasn’t enough – but a few minutes later the taxi driver came after us and said one of the drivers lived towards Aix – and he would take us home for the price we had suggested. God is good. Home never felt so good. We were in our fast asleep in our own beds before our train would have even left Marseille!

We are back into our work schedule and have had two very productive days since we’ve been home. We work everyday, but that is okay – the little excursions will make it all worth it!

One of the other guests at our apartment introduced Debbie to an older, local woman. They are meeting once a week for study and conversation. Kathryn is working on a computer program to help her learn more French also.

Au revoir until next week- Deb and Kathryn