enfin

Hey guys...sorry it's been so long! Things have been pretty busy, and by the time I get home and have computer access I'm already half asleep. So, I think I'll let my pictures do most of the talking...


My second week at Chamarande went well. Although it rained the first few days and there, we still had some people show up and a good time was had by all.


An entrée plate I prepared. I'm pretty much an expert French chef by now. Btw, "entrée" in French means the first plate you have, to enter into the meal, not the main dish. Makes sense, no? I don't know how these things get mixed up.


Walking through the park around the château, we found some donkeys. At first they were just chilling in that house in the background, but when the rain let up a bit they came out. Isn't it funny how happy he looks? I would be too if I had a house like that to myself...still don't get how that worked.

A friend of mine from BYU, Brynn, was in Paris and came to visit me my last day at Chamarande. When we got back into Paris that night, we stopped to get some pastries, and made an epic find:

That's right, a PENGUIN PATISSERIE!!!! Epic.

The next day we went to visit Versailles. The gardens were breathtaking!




I got a fellafel from this super famous place, it was heavenly.


I had the rediculously awesome experience of going to Brussels for a "zone conference", just like when I was a missionary! It's the last one that my mission president held before he finishes his 3 years of service, and he invited any former missionaries in the area to come. So I headed up with a few friends from France that I had served with. We spent the night in St. Quentin, a city in northern France, at Céline's house.



The returned missionaries with President Woodland. So surreal to be back there in Brussels!


We walked around our old stomping grounds, and of course we got some frites, at this place right by the mission office where we used to go.


There was a 50's themed dance at one of the churches in Paris...doing the twist!

So I just realized that all the times I take pictures are when I'm having fun. Trust me, I'm working pretty hard too...every day during the week, I'm either helping people move, accompanying people on various visits, and helping out at L'Etape, among whatever other responsibilities they ask of me. It's still super rewarding and amazing! I just can't believe how fast time is going. Such is life.

chamarande

I left Monday night to head to the village of Chamarande, which I talked a little bit about at the end of my last entry. It's been such a rewarding experience!

Chamarande itself is quite small...they don't have any stores at all, other than one little restaurant. I have to go do shopping in another town, Etréchy, about 3 km away, or at a farmer's market that is right in the middle of a bunch of farmland a little to the northwest. Luckily, we have one of the cars from Les Petits Frères to use. Check it out on Google Earth.

The house is wonderful. It was donated to Les Petits Frères several years ago by a wealthy doctor, who only asked in return that they take care of his housekeeper until her death. I have my own room to stay in and everything. There's a beautiful garden with all sorts of flowers and herbs, and even a tilleul tree to make herbal tea from.
Although, it is quite creepy at night, especially with all the "forbidden entrance" rooms and even a whole upper floor we're not supposed to go up to because of "rennovations" that they need to do. Of course, I went up anyway:

I found a Coraline-esque door up there...just as I was about to open it, someone called for me downstairs and I didn't have the chance to see what was behind it. Pretty much straight from a scary movie! I'll check it out next week...

I'll take you through a typical day. I get up in the morning and go get baguettes and newspapers in Etréchy, then come back and help cook the noontime meal, which we make large and delicious. There's about 3 volunteers staying there on any given day. The day's vacationers, which number about 5-8 per day, arrive around 11:30, and we would serve them a little appetizer and aperitif. At 12:30 is the meal, and we give them full service! It's great to see these people enjoy themselves...for many of them it's been a long time since they've had such a full home-cooked meal.


For the rest of the afternoon, the time is theirs; we typically go to the huge park just next to the house, and either walk through the woods, relax, or play "pétanque", a game where you try to throw balls to get as close as you can to a smaller ball.


They head back to Paris at about 5 at night, and I spend the rest of the night preparing for the next day and relaxing myself.

I made an apple pie "à l'américaine" one day. Turns out that making American stuff with French ingrediants and measurements can be tricky! It wasn't my prettiest, but it still came out good.


A guy who works for Les Petits Frères came up one day to play accordeon, he was incredible! I think he knows every song ever written. We totally jammed together for the peoples.


One day after lunch, the park was closed, so we went for a little walk around the village. We followed a sign for a "pottery exposition", which lead us down a little street to this guy's house.

He had some amazing work. I was so thrilled...finding a little artist on a random road in a tiny village and being able to experience his art...that's what life is all about, is it not?

I headed back to Paris and hung out in the city with Emma for a few days. We saw a really funny play, "La Bombe".

The Eifell Tower sparkels for the first 5 minutes of the hour at night.

I'll be at Chamarande again this week, I think I come back on Friday...until then, je vous aime tous!