Nance and I made it safely home - to be picked up at the airport by daughter and two grandsons. I sat between the grandsons on the ride home and read a book to them. Nance and daughter sat in the front and chatted. It was a fabulous end to a long trip. And the view over the ice fields of the North Atlantic and Greenland were spectacular, to say nothing of the Canadian Rockies!!!!
Church Sunday AM and the wonderful greetings of old friends. Our house, big kitchen, Lay-Z-Boys in the family room and our wonderful bed feel so great. But are we home? I am not sure it will ever be quite the same. We so enjoyed our stay in France. We met so many wonderful new friends and associates. We learned so much more history on our weekend outings that we will never be the same - at least I hope not. There is so much more to see and so much more to learn. (I could say that I can't wait to go back; but I really can - at least until afer I see all of my grandkids and kids again, and can share some minute portion of our experiences.)
I am reminded of the old spiritual song "This world is not my home." This wonderful house is my home only when Nance and I and some of our kids and grandkids or frineds are here. Our home is where our heart is; and now it is spread out all over the world - from coast to coast in the USA, to Tanzania, to Nairobi, to Grenoble, to Adelboden. And this is all just temporary!!! Thank you, God, for the wondrous way we are wrought.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Last time in Grenoble
Last full day of work.
It is Thursday, April 08, 2010; and today is my last full day of work here in France. I will work till the afternoon tomorrow; then load the car and drive to Lyon St. Exupery airport hotel, turn in the rental car, and have one last dinner in France before boarding the plant to Paris early Saturday morning; then on to San Francisco.
The experience has been wonderful. History comes alive when one walks the street of Barcelona – as Nancy did or rides a tour bus for one brief afternoon – as we did together. The joy of hiking near Alpine villages in Switzerland is very difficult, if not impossible, to overstate.
There are a lot of things Nance and I will miss: Saturday mornings at the open-air market just a block from our apartment. FRESH fruit and vegetables lovingly displayed. Fresh hot bread from the boulangerie. Friday nights exploring new (French) restaurants. Weekend outings to Provence, Lyon, Adelboden, Paris, Camarque, Bern, or just exploring local museums. Watching Spring awaken new beauty in the Alps. The astonishing views driving to and from work every day. The wonderful hospitality of co-workers, acquaintances, new friends from church, etc. The growing recognition of French words on the radio or in written form. The morning ritual of shaking everyone’s hand or “air kissing” of cheeks and “Bon jour.” And, of course, French pastries!!!
I won’t miss some of the strange quirks of drivers here – if you have to ask – you have not been here. We won’t miss not seeing our grandchildren for long time periods , nor flying to the cabin for a weekend escape. We won’t miss the praise program at church on Sunday AM; nor the fellowship of long-time friends.
It is Thursday, April 08, 2010; and today is my last full day of work here in France. I will work till the afternoon tomorrow; then load the car and drive to Lyon St. Exupery airport hotel, turn in the rental car, and have one last dinner in France before boarding the plant to Paris early Saturday morning; then on to San Francisco.
The experience has been wonderful. History comes alive when one walks the street of Barcelona – as Nancy did or rides a tour bus for one brief afternoon – as we did together. The joy of hiking near Alpine villages in Switzerland is very difficult, if not impossible, to overstate.
There are a lot of things Nance and I will miss: Saturday mornings at the open-air market just a block from our apartment. FRESH fruit and vegetables lovingly displayed. Fresh hot bread from the boulangerie. Friday nights exploring new (French) restaurants. Weekend outings to Provence, Lyon, Adelboden, Paris, Camarque, Bern, or just exploring local museums. Watching Spring awaken new beauty in the Alps. The astonishing views driving to and from work every day. The wonderful hospitality of co-workers, acquaintances, new friends from church, etc. The growing recognition of French words on the radio or in written form. The morning ritual of shaking everyone’s hand or “air kissing” of cheeks and “Bon jour.” And, of course, French pastries!!!
I won’t miss some of the strange quirks of drivers here – if you have to ask – you have not been here. We won’t miss not seeing our grandchildren for long time periods , nor flying to the cabin for a weekend escape. We won’t miss the praise program at church on Sunday AM; nor the fellowship of long-time friends.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
17 days – and counting!
Our time here in Grenoble is rapidly coming to an end. We are scheduled to fly home on the 10th of April; and, I must admit, we are quite excited. It is not that we do not enjoy it here- we do, tremendously so. Nor is it that we are too cramped in our apartment – it is a bit cramped; but we wanted to be in town for our first stay here to get used to the area, provide Nancy with easy access to shopping and new friends, and easily engage in exploring the history of the area. It is just that we miss our grandkids and friends; and I miss flying. (Winter is not the best time to fly in the Alps, what with mountains, low clouds, ice, etc.)
We have had the experience of a lifetime; and I hope that business relationships have been established that will prove beneficial for a long time to come.
Nancy and I had a great trip to Barcelona last week. She was able to do a bit of walking touring, some of the best of which was the zoo. She has fabulous pictures of birds that are not in North America. We had time for a bus tour of the city before leaving on Friday, and toured Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is much more beautiful and overwhelmingly impressive in real life. Photos just do not do it justice. It has been over 100 years in building and has many more to go.
Along the way home we visited Carcassonne – a walled city whose ramparts still have Roman-built towers, and Beziers – a city where in 1209 all 20,000 occupants were slain for their resistance to the Pope’s legates demand that 12 Cathar (protestant) perfecti be turned over to him.
We spent the night at le Château Hospitalet near Narbonne – a winery, hotel, and fine restaurant in the countryside between the highway and the Mediterranean sea. AAAHHHH!!!
We are home this weekend; but our last weekend here we are invited to Switzerland for some sightseeing.
Detail from Sagrada Familia
Walled city of Carcassonne
Our time here in Grenoble is rapidly coming to an end. We are scheduled to fly home on the 10th of April; and, I must admit, we are quite excited. It is not that we do not enjoy it here- we do, tremendously so. Nor is it that we are too cramped in our apartment – it is a bit cramped; but we wanted to be in town for our first stay here to get used to the area, provide Nancy with easy access to shopping and new friends, and easily engage in exploring the history of the area. It is just that we miss our grandkids and friends; and I miss flying. (Winter is not the best time to fly in the Alps, what with mountains, low clouds, ice, etc.)
We have had the experience of a lifetime; and I hope that business relationships have been established that will prove beneficial for a long time to come.
Nancy and I had a great trip to Barcelona last week. She was able to do a bit of walking touring, some of the best of which was the zoo. She has fabulous pictures of birds that are not in North America. We had time for a bus tour of the city before leaving on Friday, and toured Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is much more beautiful and overwhelmingly impressive in real life. Photos just do not do it justice. It has been over 100 years in building and has many more to go.
Along the way home we visited Carcassonne – a walled city whose ramparts still have Roman-built towers, and Beziers – a city where in 1209 all 20,000 occupants were slain for their resistance to the Pope’s legates demand that 12 Cathar (protestant) perfecti be turned over to him.
We spent the night at le Château Hospitalet near Narbonne – a winery, hotel, and fine restaurant in the countryside between the highway and the Mediterranean sea. AAAHHHH!!!
We are home this weekend; but our last weekend here we are invited to Switzerland for some sightseeing.
Detail from Sagrada Familia
Walled city of CarcassonneFriday, February 26, 2010
Some life-saving advice - just for fun.
Excuses for social gaffes in France.
Recently, Nance and I were preparing for the visit of a cousin and spouse from the USA. Jim is a great friend and hunting companion; and Nancy had even shared that our visit with them one weekend was one of the things that convinced her that I just might be the right guy to share the rest of her life. Anyway, Jim and I like to kid each other a lot; so in preparation for their visit I suggested to him that he should practice saying “Garçon!” and snapping his fingers to impress the waiters when we went out to dinner. He suggested that if he did that that some big Frenchman just might come out and beat him up – to which I laughed and responded that I had just the phrase to protect him. So, out of that grows a list of phrases/excuses for you to use in France if your companion embarrasses you with a social gaffe that you may find humorous. (It is all in fun folks; so don’t take it serious or get your feelings hurt.)
Lead-ins: To determine whether to use ma or mon, just remember that Ma is feminine; and mon (masculine) is the sound your dad makes when you tell him about the scratch/dent/ total you have done to the car.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin américain stupide. (Yep, it means what it sounds like.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin idiot. (Please ignore my crazy cousin.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon marie idiot. (Please ignore my crazy husband.)
Excusez s'il vous plaît ma femme bête. (Please excuse my silly wife.)
Or substitute fil (son) or fille (daughter) as required.
Now here are the excuses:
Elle est vraiment un blond. ( She is really a blond.)
Sa mère l'a laissé tomber quand il était un bébé. (His mother dropped him as a baby)
Il était un fusilier marin et un flic. (He is an ex marine and a cop.)
Il a perdu la raison depuis. (He has lost his mind ever since.)
(By the way; please do not ever say “Garçon!” and snap your fingers at someone unless it is a little boy whose attention you are trying to get.) :-)
Recently, Nance and I were preparing for the visit of a cousin and spouse from the USA. Jim is a great friend and hunting companion; and Nancy had even shared that our visit with them one weekend was one of the things that convinced her that I just might be the right guy to share the rest of her life. Anyway, Jim and I like to kid each other a lot; so in preparation for their visit I suggested to him that he should practice saying “Garçon!” and snapping his fingers to impress the waiters when we went out to dinner. He suggested that if he did that that some big Frenchman just might come out and beat him up – to which I laughed and responded that I had just the phrase to protect him. So, out of that grows a list of phrases/excuses for you to use in France if your companion embarrasses you with a social gaffe that you may find humorous. (It is all in fun folks; so don’t take it serious or get your feelings hurt.)
Lead-ins: To determine whether to use ma or mon, just remember that Ma is feminine; and mon (masculine) is the sound your dad makes when you tell him about the scratch/dent/ total you have done to the car.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin américain stupide. (Yep, it means what it sounds like.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon cousin idiot. (Please ignore my crazy cousin.)
Ignorez s'il vous plaît mon marie idiot. (Please ignore my crazy husband.)
Excusez s'il vous plaît ma femme bête. (Please excuse my silly wife.)
Or substitute fil (son) or fille (daughter) as required.
Now here are the excuses:
Elle est vraiment un blond. ( She is really a blond.)
Sa mère l'a laissé tomber quand il était un bébé. (His mother dropped him as a baby)
Il était un fusilier marin et un flic. (He is an ex marine and a cop.)
Il a perdu la raison depuis. (He has lost his mind ever since.)
(By the way; please do not ever say “Garçon!” and snap your fingers at someone unless it is a little boy whose attention you are trying to get.) :-)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Bern and beyond
It is Friday morning here; and I am in bed with my laptop in my lap - of course - wherre else would it be? I have a bronchitis that I am sure my daughter gave me over the phone from California - I just don't know quite how she did that; but I sound pretty much like she did when I talked to her on Wednesday.
I took Nancy with me on a drive to Port, Switzerland yesterday for a business meeting. She walked around, watched birds, and read "Emma" while I conferred with a soon-to-be client (I hope). Then we drove the rest of the way around to Bern, had lunch, and enjoyed this beautiful Swiss city that is the federal capital. The city burnd to the ground in 1405 and was rebuilt with a local greeninsh sandstone. As a result, it has over 6 miles of shopping arcades at the base of the old buildings. I showed her the lobby and restaurant of the Hotel Bellvue - THE hotel where the national delegates stay when their congress is in session. There was an outdoor skating rink active in the square. Nancy puts it a close second to Paris in charm. Natually, the Swiss made the rebuilt city very organized and elegant at the same time. (No cattywampus streets - large streets, etc.)
We ran in to our biggest traffic snarl yet on the way home last night just as we arrived in Grenoble. There is one section which can, on bad days, have a speed of 100 meters per minute for about one kilometer. After that, it is usually just ordinary traffic speeds the rest of the way home. Last night, it was about 25 meters per minute in that section, and slow/blocked much of the rest of the way. It didn't help that I was coming down with this whatever I have- so I crashed shortly after we got back to the apartment. (The weather in Switzerland and most of our ride in France was beautiful; but we arrived back in Grenoble just near the end of a sudden drop of 2.5 to 3 inches of snow - accidents, no road clearing, end of rush hour, etc.)
I took Nancy with me on a drive to Port, Switzerland yesterday for a business meeting. She walked around, watched birds, and read "Emma" while I conferred with a soon-to-be client (I hope). Then we drove the rest of the way around to Bern, had lunch, and enjoyed this beautiful Swiss city that is the federal capital. The city burnd to the ground in 1405 and was rebuilt with a local greeninsh sandstone. As a result, it has over 6 miles of shopping arcades at the base of the old buildings. I showed her the lobby and restaurant of the Hotel Bellvue - THE hotel where the national delegates stay when their congress is in session. There was an outdoor skating rink active in the square. Nancy puts it a close second to Paris in charm. Natually, the Swiss made the rebuilt city very organized and elegant at the same time. (No cattywampus streets - large streets, etc.)
We ran in to our biggest traffic snarl yet on the way home last night just as we arrived in Grenoble. There is one section which can, on bad days, have a speed of 100 meters per minute for about one kilometer. After that, it is usually just ordinary traffic speeds the rest of the way home. Last night, it was about 25 meters per minute in that section, and slow/blocked much of the rest of the way. It didn't help that I was coming down with this whatever I have- so I crashed shortly after we got back to the apartment. (The weather in Switzerland and most of our ride in France was beautiful; but we arrived back in Grenoble just near the end of a sudden drop of 2.5 to 3 inches of snow - accidents, no road clearing, end of rush hour, etc.)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Paris!
Ahhh, Paris!
It was not my first time in Paris – I have been there several times before; though usually not for as long nor in such a romantic setting. The occasion was to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. The travel was by TGV (fast train) from Grenoble to Paris. We stayed in the Hotel Gare Lyon Bastille; had French buffet breakfast each morning at the hotel; and then went out for adventures.
Friday evening was a walk around the neighborhood to the Bastille memorial, along the Seine Quai Rapee, by a boat harbor linked to the Seine by a lock followed by a dinner at a Bistro/café just a couple of doors from our hotel.
Saturday we walked though a modern art outdoor sculpture museé on our way to Notre Dame and the archeological crypt underneath. After lunch, we made our first trip to the Louvre, and viewed sculptures, middle eastern artifacts, Egyptian artifacts, and the apartments of Napolean III, etc before surrendering to tired legs and backs for a return to our hotel. (I don’t even remember what we had for dinner Saturday night!)
Sunday, we took the Metro to Monmartre and attended services at Sacré-Coeur. (The directions for the metro politely and fully provided by our hotel clerk were immediately abandoned since the line we needed to take was closed as of that morning for maintenance.) After a bit of study; I began to figure out the system for myself and we made our trip uneventfully. After the service, we walked to another nice café for lunch; and then headed off to the catacombs. (Big hint: Don’t go to the catacombs or one of the public museums on the first Sunday of the month. Admission is free – so they are very crowded. The line was so long that security informed us that we would not be admitted before it closed. So, I surprised Nancy by getting us off the Metro at the Eiffel Tower. She had initially not expressed much interest in seeing it; but as we approached and she grasped the size of the thing, she was most impressed.
We were very bad for dinner – we went to a creperie and had a crepe with banana, chocolate, and served flabé. Oh la la!
Monday, we went back to the Louvre, and toured Greco-Roman statues and most of the paintings before heading back to the Gare de Lyon for our train back to Grenoble.
Nancy tells me this was the best combination of Valentine’s Day and Anniversary she could have asked for. :-)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Late winter/pre-spring
Rain is falling - more or less continuously as we prepare to depart on the TGV for Paris. It is supposed to lightly rain tomorrow and then be cloudy for Sunday and Monday. I guess it does not matter much what the weather is in the Louvre or in Musee D'Orsay. We will hold off of Monmartre till Sunday or Monday AM.
We have been incredibly healthy since we got back to France; and hope to stay so for the remainder of our time here.
I have been trying to get enough exercise while here; and managed to climb the 66 steps of our apartment building 15 times in a row the other day. (It is a little boring; but is a lot warmer than the 32 F outside temperature.)
We are really looking forward to this weekend - celebrating our first two years of marital bliss.
God is good - all of the time; even when he is taking us through the fire.
We have been incredibly healthy since we got back to France; and hope to stay so for the remainder of our time here.
I have been trying to get enough exercise while here; and managed to climb the 66 steps of our apartment building 15 times in a row the other day. (It is a little boring; but is a lot warmer than the 32 F outside temperature.)
We are really looking forward to this weekend - celebrating our first two years of marital bliss.
God is good - all of the time; even when he is taking us through the fire.
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