Looking towards Africa

Each night when mom and I go to the Corniche this is what we see.  I never get tired of this.  If you look on the horizon to the right/middle you will see a light house for the boats coming in from Corsica, Tunisia and Algeria. 

Another P Day, Another ville

Mom and I went up to the ville of,  L'ilse sur la Sorgue.  It is known as the second best place in france to buy Antiques other than Paris.  People from all around the world come here for the special types of antiques they sell.  We didn't spend a lot of time here because my knees were hurting :(, but we will be back.  The only problem(S) is the Price, the amount of things Jeannine wants, Shipping it home and where to put it once we get it home.  Other than that no problem.  Jeannine did find something for Mel though. We know how she like elephants.   It is a little large and made of cast iron.  It is already in a crate and ready for shipment.  Mel all you need to do is pay the shipping fee.

Our Center in Marseille, France

We have made many improvements on the center over the summer.  Institute begins in two weeks.  Very excited about that.  Tomorrow we meet with the Stake Presidency to see if we get more money for real couches. 

At this center we have 16 different languages in the Book of Mormon available. 

Our B of M reading Chart

We have a goal for all the JA and L'eveque to read the B of M before our one year of being here, Feb 4th.  

Coralie Abbate at English class.  She comes every week to the center to learn English.  She has already had eight years of English in school but wants the practice to gain more confidence in her speaking.  Her dream is to live in the U. S. someday.

For any guy in the U.S. this is one of the purest, sweetest girls I have met.  And that includes the in the U. S.

One Busy Day

So our day started out with Scripture study on the Corniche.  The Corniche is a walk way along the ocean the runs for about 3 kilometers in Marseille.  We started about 8:00 AM and were there for about an hour.  It is starting to get cold and the bench is cement and I have no butt meat.  After that, the rest of the day was free due to it being Saturday and no one comes to the Center on Saturday.  So we took an adventure to Toulon and Saint Tropez.

Scripture Study on the Corniche, Marseille

Distraction from Scripture Study on the Corniche, Marseille.  Actually we did some of our better study here.  It was very quiet and calm and gave time for much reflection and meditation.  Alma Chapters 37 - 42.  Heavy stuff.

The Corniche with Chateaux D'if to the far left, center.  This is our study area.  Sometimes one forgets where one is and takes for granted his surroundings. 

Jeannine at study time. 

After study time was over we took a drive over to Toulon.  Toulon is another ville on the French Riviera.  I was not very impressed.  It is very clean, and the Marché was one of the better I have seen, but it lacks the old ambiance of France.  I guess that is because it was bombed so heavily during World War ll.  Not much of the old city was left.  The Ville was a German port for supplies going to Africa from France.  So the Americans bombed the heck out of it.  There is a plaque in centre ville telling about it. There is still much to see though. 

So as you can tell my knees have finally given up working, so I am on crutches.   It still does not stop me from exploring and doing my calling.  There is still so much to see and do here.  I will say though the European Crutches are awesome.

Jeannine does love her Olives.

This is a clothing store.  I didn't see much of a California style going on in the store, But if you tell someone you are from California you have an immediate friend.  

So we finished with Toulon and made our way to Saint Tropez.

Saint Tropez is a nice ville with very expensive stores and restaurants.  The yachts are amazing and BIG.  For me it was a bit crowded and I don't do well in crowds so it was  not my kind of ville.  Being on crutches made it doubly hard.  There are a lot of private beaches, so we didn't get to see anything really spectacular.   If you have a lot of money I am sure there is more to see.  But if I wanted a crowded ville to explore, give me Marseille anytime.  There is much more to see and do.

Jeannine at Saint Tropez

Typical colors of the region

I thought Rich and Michele might be looking for a new boat and this one was for sale so we thought of them.  I am sure there would be room for a horse.

Saint Tropez Bay

Mom Teaching in French

Jeannine taught a family night lesson all in French.  She did an Awesome Job.   You should be very proud of your Mom, Sister and or Daughter.  They all loved her visual aids.  Two of them took photos of her visual aids on the board.  Now France has been introduced to Jeannine's Visual aids.  For those who have been through a Seminary class with Jeannine they will understand.   To hear her you may need to turn your volume up on full.  I took the film with my ipad and it does not pic up sound from a distance very well in this type of setting.  The kids said how much the visual aids helped them understand the principal.  She is sooooo awesome.  I am so lucky to have her. 

Lunch with the Missionaries

We had the missionaries to lunch at our home yesterday.  It was Soeur Vanhulst last day so we had a special Belge lunch with Gaufres.  She is returning to Charleroi, Belgium.  We have a great set of Missionaries and are getting one more on this transfer..  So we are back to having three sets of missionaries in Marseille.  Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!.  The Missionaries are always sooooooo appreciative of a good lunch.  By their reaction you would have thought we had made their Calling and Election Sure.  These are four sincere and dedicated Missionaries. We love them.  I was so glad to here that Elders Hasting and Workman were staying.

This is Soeur Vanhulst from Charleroi, Belgium.  She goes home on Monday so we made Belge Gaufres in her honor.  She had to teach all the other Missionaries how to fix a gaufre.  (Belgium Waffle)

From left to right, Elder Hastings, Elder Workman, Soeur Gunnel and Soeur Vanhulst.

Arles, France

Went to Arles today for P day.  Nothing real special.  The Roman Arena is so tightly arranged around the ville that you can't get a good photo of it.  Arles is a ville with all very skinny streets.  This month they are having the last of the bull fights.  It is like the Play Offs for the bull fighters here in France.  Sort of gruesome but it still intrigues me.  Was a rainy day and I got a water drop on my lens :(. 

This would be a good advertisement for Adidas shoes.  Look close.

Beware Rutman Grandchildren.  Grandma is getting ideas.

la marche musulman