Marseille; France's Harlem

Marseille is definitely NOT my favorite place so far. Before we left Troyes, Soeur Sopi warned us that Marseille wasn't going to be so great. In fact, it was she who told us that it's normally compared to New York's Harlem! At first I just laughed, but not to worry...Upon arriving and finding our hotel, I understood what she meant. It's just a hot, dirty, crowded city. Now, it had it's cool points; Le Vieux Port was cool with its hundreds of boats all lined up, the little merchant stalls lined up along the port were pretty sweet, and of course, L'île d'If was especially awesome.
This picture was taken from the famous Notre Dame de la Garde. It has a great view of the city because the church sits on the highest hill. You can see it from any spot in the city.




Although I didn't get any good shots of the chateau d'If itself, here are a couple of good ones to throw in the blog...
This is the shore the ferry brought us too; breathtaking, right? It was so hard not to just jump in!!
The chateau d'If was a former prison...The same famous prison that held the legendary Count of Monte Cristo! We got to wander around this little island and even go inside the chateau. It was so cool to go in and out of those cells and see where actual prisoners had to sit.




Awww....Someone threw me in a cell!!! Marnie!! I'm so sad, so she took a picture.

After wandering around and taking pictures, Marnie and I went to the little bar/café the island had and just sat and had a sandwich and an icecream. Ahhhhh....lovely. Don't worry, we asked for a sandwich with ham, and that's literally all we got; baguette and a piece of sliced ham. Nothing else. Really. I expected that, but it was just funny.

This is a picture from the ferry that took us to the island. As you can see there are just tons of people there! There were merchants selling everything from fish to hand made soap. Really cool.

Cayo fait une tête

One last picture. Here's our awesome after church picture. Cayo likes to make faces, but as long as me and Marnie look good, je m'en fîche!

Troyes

This is Troyes; the city of 10 churches. Literally. It's got 10 churches all clumped in one downtown radius. This is not including the Mormon church, however...Anyway, this picture is just a small taste of the cuteness of this ville. It's got so many cobblestoned and windy streets. There are cafés and shops everywhere too. Marnie and I had fun getting lost in the streets, but found our way out when we met our friend, Cayo, for a banana-pineapple smoothie at a café.
We went to FNAC (a music, book, electronic store) where I bought my first rap CDs. I bought them for school, so I hope my students will like it. I think it's pretty funny, but I'm not too worried if it's inappropriate (although I was assured by Cayo that they were good). My students probably wouldn't understand the lyrics anyway...



Today we went to church, and we ended up staying at the church ALL day...No joke. We were there for over 8 hours. I guess that's France for you! On every 4th Sunday of the month, the Troyes ward has a potluck and eats all together. Church got over at noon, then everyone went home to prepare the food, but for some reason we stayed and chilled at the church til people came back. Since the weather was nice, we ate outside. Of course, eating lunch took a couple of more hours, then we just stayed and talked forever!!
This is a picture of Akréé, Soeur Sopi's grandson. He is hilarious! He's 2 years old, and we're actually still hanging out with this guy. After the potluck, he came home with us, and he's just playing around til his mom comes to get him.





Although it's not a flattering picture, this is Soeur Sopi eating at the potluck. There was an okay turnout. The way it works here is that people bring their own food and then after serving themselves and their families, they share their 'leftovers' with whomever would like to taste their food. Today I ate some sort of Portuguese minestrone, rice, chicken, and some type of ratatouille (I'm not quite sure what was in it, but it was good!).






This is Cayo. He's Soeur Sopi's son, and he's 20 years old. He thought it would be funny to wear Marnie's sweater and hold her purse, so I thought it would be funny to take a picture of him. I wonder if he'll ever read this blog and find this picture of himself online!!















Another picture of Akréé. Marnie let him listen to her IPod, and he was dancing around in his underwear. It was too funny to pass up. So there you go.

So no new pictures this post, but I just wanted to write to say that Marnie and I made it to Troyes this evening. I started the morning out lugging heavy luggage through Caen to the gare in order to make it to the trains on time. We tried to take the bus, but we had trouble finding the correct stop for the replacement tram buses; since, of course, the buses didn't go to the train station!! AHHH!!! Sometimes France can be a real pain! We made it on the train, but the real fun came when we had to drag our luggage through Paris. Let's just say that I have a greater appreciation to all those Elders who served in our mission who had to drag all of their stuff through those hot, sticky, crowded metros!!! My arms are still tired! So we made it to the gare and made it safely to Troyes, but we still had to get the member's house. That wasn't so bad. We actually found the sister missionaries at the bus stop and asked them how to get to a certain place. What a blessing! They had been talking to this one woman, and then after exchanging numbers, they took off. I caught them before they got too far so that they could help us, but I'm convinced they were guided by the spirit to talk to that woman so that they could be there when we arrived...Funny thing, however, the family's son was actually waiting at the gare for us. Oops. Oh well; good thing he had a cell phone; because by the time we got the house, he was still waiting for us at the gare! We called him toute de suite, and he came home. We just finished our dinner with them; fried plantains, chicken, and baguette. Yummy african food. Very good and very greasy. Good thing we worked out all day carrying heavy luggage all around freakin' France!

I think this is probably one of the most funny pictures ever. That's it. I just wanted to put that out there...

We made it to Normandie yesterday. On the way, I got eyed by the train conductor because my feet were on the seat in front of me...I quickly took my feet off and brushed off the seat. Just so you know, I wasn't the only one with my feet up, I just got lucky. I think Marnie and I are going to make it a point to see how many times we can get yelled at while in France. Oh well, live and learn.
This picture was taken at Omaha Beach today. It sits right below the American Cemetery. We brought lunch and ate on the sand. It was pretty chouette!

Here's the American Cemetery. There were literally thousands of these markers with soldiers name etched on them. It was a very remarkable place. There was a very reverant spirit there as people walked around. Marnie got yelled at when she knelt down by a marker to take a photo. Apparently you can't kneel on a grave AND take a picture at the same time.

It was just the most beautiful day.The sun was out, but it wasn't too hot. There was even a slight breeze. It was just perfect....serene even.

Sideways shot at Bayeux; the small town trains stop in. We took a train from Caen to Bayeux in order to take the bus to the Normandy beaches. This little town was so cozy, so quaint, so charming. It was so French! It had tiny streets, cobblestone, and cafés. And of course, it had pretty flowers everywhere. Fortunately, no one got yelled at during our quick visit here....

Beautiful, no?

I visited Mamie Cia today with Fanny-Laure and Marnie. Mamie Cia is an older woman who lives alone, but she often receives the missionaries or members of the church. I was very happy that she actually remembered me when we walked in today! It was so fun to see her again. She is so generous and kind. She had her table already set up for us with a Far she cooked this morning. A Far is a classic Breton dish made with eggs and prunes. It sounds a little strange, I know, but it's actually not that bad. It takes something like a mix between a quiche and flan. Mamie Cia makes them all the time for her visiting friends, and always sends the leftovers home with whomever is there. We only succeeded in eating half the Far, so now Fanny-Laure has the rest of it sitting in her fridge for tomorrow!



On the way to Mamie Cia's house this afternoon, I walked right over one of my favorite signs in Brest...It's spray painted all over the city sidewalks, and it's a funny play-on words. 'Trottoir' means sidewalk, and 'Crotter' means to crap. So put them together, and the phrase becomes...'Sidewalk NOT Crapwalk". I guess it's q reminder to everyone to clean up after their pets as they walk them around town. Most people do, but some don't, so you always have to look out!!








Fanny-Laure made a fantastic quiche this afternoon, and I had to take a picture of it! Lunch actually was combined with breakfast this morning, as Marnie and I didn't get up til after 10h30!! By the time I got ready for the day, Fanny had already made lunch! Oh well--She just kept herself busy byherself this morning til we got up. Fanny is so cool!!






Of course I went shopping again today. I swear I feel like I'm on a crazy shopping spree, but not to worry...I actually have been wanting to purchase a pair of French frames for a while now. As I was walking down the street, I saw the eyeglass store, and I made Fanny and Marnie come in with me. It had been raining anyway, so it was good to get out of the rain. The reason why I've been wanting these frames is because you can't find this style in the states! I've tried looking online, but I couldn't find anything I liked or even looked like the kind of stuff I rememberd seeing here in France. Anyway, I tried a bunch on, and I settled on this pair. I just love the details on the sides! So cool!


Bretagne is an amazing place. The Bretons are a very proud people. They are a Celtic culture with a fascinating language. Sadly, not many people speak Breton anymore. I remember on the mission meeting an old woman at the park who remembered a few phrases from when she was a child. She taught me how to say something like 'I'm a tall, beautiful woman'. I wrote it in my planner, but I can't remember it now...The only Breton thing I remember is 'Kenavo' which means 'au revoir'.

Tomorrow we're off to Caen in Normandie. I hope to be able to go to the beaches there and the war memorials. Hopefully the weather won't be too bad! I seriously can't wait to go down south and start soaking in the sun!!!

Last night in Paris

Okay. So the pictures are in backwards order, but that's alright I guess...

Last night I went on a 'Bateau Mouche' (a fly boat or tourist boat). The boat left the dock at around 22h30, so it was almost completely nighttime as the boat floated along on the River Seine. There was no official tour guide, but rather a recording of a person who described the sights as the boat went past. It not only spoke in French, but also in English, Spanish, German, and Chinese! It was a continuous thing throughout the entire hour and ten minute ride. I tried to pay attention to it at first, but by the end, I just ignored the repetitiveness.

Unfortunately mid-ride, my camera batteries died, so I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. At first I was a little upset, but then I thought it would be cool just to sit back and enjoy the ride without worrying about the camera and taking blurry nighttime shots. The ride was so much better that way! I paid more attention to my surroundings. Funny story--I saw a tour group sitting ahead of us with some guy wearing a neon orange vest (I assume he was their leader). He was going around to his group pouring glasses of wine during the tour! It was so bizarre, but hilarious at the same time! Anyway, my favorite part of the ride was, of course, seeing La Tour Eiffel. It was all lit up, and then it started to twinkle and sparkle. At night, every hour on the hour, the lights sparkle and twinkle for 10 minutes. If you're close enough to the tower itself, you can hear the people shouting and cheering for excitement when the lights change. The twinkling lights remind me of powdered sugar. Absolutely gorgeous!! I couldn't keep my eyes off the tower. La Tour Eiffel is Paris to me. It's everything beautiful, magical, wonderful, and cliché...*sigh* It's so unreal, but it's the one thing that really reminds me I'm in the City of Light for real. So I guess by keeping my eyes on it, I was keeping myself in Paris. How lucky I was to have been a missionary here. I still can't believe it. How lucky am I now to come back!

Before the Bateau Mouche, we strolled a little more on some side streets off the Champs Elysées. We found some really chic stores that had some curious fashions. I wonder how long it'll take the US to get this stuff! I wasn't really sure what to think of it, but I took some pictures anyway. The store was closed, but I was able to get some shots through the window. Everything in the store was either black, white, or red. It all seemed futuristic.

Here's a picture I've always wanted to take. This is at La Defense--the business district of Paris. La Defense is actually an enormous building in the shape of an arch. It's HUGE, and then off to the side, there's this random thumb sculpture, and I was fascinated by it. I've seen picture of other people in a similar pose, and I just wanted to be a part of it too. I'm not sure why or who or what the deal is, but hey, Pourquoi Pas? (Why Not?)

We left Paris early this morning. Our train left the Montparnasse station at 9h05. It was a 4 hour train ride to Brest. For the next 2 nights we'll be staying with Fanny-Laure and Loic Le Saux. Fanny-Laure was a missionary with me, and we served together in this very city! Fanny-Laure is now recently married and was very happy to receive us! Tomorrow we're going to do some sight seeing and we'll even get to visit an old friend, Mamie Cia!!

Bretagne (the region of France that I am now in), is notorious for rain. Hopefully it won't be too bad tomorrow. I only have sandals to wear, and my feet will be soaked!!

Reunion in Evry

Went to Evry to attend church, and Isabelle was there!! It was so great to see her again. She was baptized right before I left the area, so you can only imagine at my joy to see her so active in the ward. It was fun to see all the members too; most of them thought I was still a missionary! The Cadin family had us over to eat afterwards, so of course, that was fabulous as well.
Yesterday Marnie and I went to the Eiffel Tower. It was pouring rain. We got drenched. Man it was so crowded. I have never seen it so many people!

Pizza Kebabs are a fantastic invention; however extremely unhealthy. Most people have to share with someone. Yum!

Me playing a tourist in the Chateau Versailles. Also extremely crowded, but beautiful.

Dancing in the Paris rain

After getting up yesterday at 10h30 in the morning (yes I slept for like 13 hours), we got up and got ready for our day. We needed to fix some train ticket stuff, so we headed for the train station to ask some questions. Don't even worry, we went into the wrong office at first. We sat there waiting for our turn for almost 20 minutes before we realized we were in the wrong place! After finding the correct ticket office, we stood in line and again waited our turn. Luckily we got helped by a really cute French guy. AND he was patient with us. AND he helped us get the correct reservations. AND he laughed with us as were trying to figure this all out. It's funny that Marnie and I are noticing that there are actually some good looking young French men out here. As missionaries, we never noticed, nor did we care. But now, as real people, I'm noticing that they really exist! Funny how that works...

After that, we headed to Père Lachaise cemetary...Final resting place to such personages as Jim Morrison; Edith Piaf, Molière, and Oscar Wilde. Unfortunately, we didn't want to spend 10 euros on a map of the place, and because of that, we could only find Oscar Wilde's tomb. It was hilarious to see all the kisses that covered his tomb, and all the tourists that gathered round it. I wish we could have found Molière's or Edith Piaf's. The place was so huge! It was like a labyrinth. Maybe we'll have time again later to check it out some more...

Later we hung out with some Frenchies....Thomas, Cédric, and Liddi. We bought some Subway sandwiches and hung out in front of the famous museum Centre Georges Pompidou. It was so cool because it's just a bunch of random people literally from all over the world. People were performing for money, others were just chillin' with their guitars, others were strolling by, and others even slept on the ground! Too cool.

We strolled on the Champs Elysées after dinner and bought ourselves some ice cream as we window shopped. How cliché...

We made it back to downtown Paris just as it started to storm. The rain just poured and poured! It was FANTASTIQUE! Marnie and I just ran in the rain and loved every minute of it. Ahhh...dacing in the Parisian rain.

The Hotel

Bon soir everyone. Marnie and I made it to Paris! You must forgive my typing while out of the country as the keyboards are completely different! So if there are any mistakes, blame France.

I also need to figure out how to upload photos on this thing. I have a pic of our hotel room I wanted to show you. It's pretty tiny, but we're in the Latin quarter, and it's clean!

So after arriving in Paris at 7 am, Marnie and I trekked through dirty metros into the city. It's so amazing!! It feels like I never left. Riding on the RER train was so beautiful. Funny thing, though, it was pretty dirty. I guess as a missionary I never really noticed it. I mean, I wore the same skirt almost everyday and sat on those seats!! I never felt the need to use so much hand sanitizer either. I guess the Lord truly blesses and protects His missionaries in all capactities--including dirty metros. I love people watching. I saw a woman on the metro today that was wearing a pair of earrings that I recognized. They came from the store Yves Rocher. They were a free gift with purchase around Christmastime...How do I know this? Because I too have that pair of earrings! It was just funny to me.

As soon as we got to the hotel, I showered, Marnie napped, then we went to a matinée showing of Harry Potter. We totally watched it in French. It was pretty cool. I was proud of myself because I actually understood a lot more than I thought I would. The theater seats were pretty nicely padded--really comfy. It was filled up too. I guess today was opening day...

After the show I napped while Marnie showered, then we decided to go someplace familiar--downtown Paris to St. Merri. This is were the church is. We actually ran into a set of Elders--the assistants to the President actually--and we knew them!! They told us they were in the middle of a zone conference. They invited us to stay, but we didn't want to be awkward...only because we knew we didn't know any other missionaries there.
I am happy to report to all the Paris France missionaries, that the Expo will be reopening tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! The APs just told us today. Yay!!!

Well, guess that's it for now. Marnie and I are just dead tired from travelling and shopping all day today. I will definitely continue to report on our mad adventures as they occur.

à plus,
Jessica

The eve of departure

Monday, 13 July

So today I'm in Provo, and I spent the day with Marnie. We finished our packing because we're leaving early early tomorrow morning! Our plane flies out of Salt Lake City at 7 something in the morning, so that means we have to be at the airport at 5 something in the morning. But don't even worry...We've got a long day ahead of us. Arriving in Paris at 7 in the morning on Wednesday France time means that to our bodies, it'll be 11 at night! I think Marnie said something about our hotel in Paris--something like we can't even check in til noon. So I was thinking of maybe going to St. Merri and breaking into the church to put our luggage in there until it's time to check in. Marnie and I were laughing about missionaries; What if we run into some while breaking into the church? Ha. I think I still remember the codes...On verra