Vaux le Vicomte

July 6, 2008

Oh, how we love the missionaries here in France. They are the cream of the crop, working so diligently to spread the gospel to all the beautiful people in France.

They sang a beautiful song in Sacrament meeting and so I asked for one favor (they received Chocolate Chip Cookies in return) if they would sing it one more time so I could record them. They acted as if they didn't want to, but I think they loved it!! Thanks Elders, I LOVED your song!

Jesse & Sophie on our last Sunday.

The very special primary of Melun, France. I was so lucky to be a primary teacher during our stay here, even in French I learned things from these children and I think this last month they actually learned something from me.

So many special friends- it was hard to leave today knowing I may never see some of these people again. I learned so much from these faithful members who make great effort to get to church each week and get through some of their weekly struggles but have such great faith.

After church we took a drive through some old villages with wonderful architecture
and neat buildings. We found this very old church and inside all the seats were hand carved with different scenes from the Bible.
We made our way to the Chateau Veaux de Vicomte (again). This time we went inside and toured the grounds. It's such an amazing place with great history.

Vaux was the tragic setting for the downfall of Fouquet, a faithful minister who paid the price of life imprisonment, because of an embezzlement he did not commit, because of the jealousy of others and also because he went a little too far in bestowing lavish hospitality.

Louis XIV had heard of the lavish chateau and wanted to see for himself so Fouquet held a "Féte in honor of the king coming to visit- well the kind wasn't pleased Fouquet was living in a more beautiful "home" than he was so he decided he would be sent to jail, a story was contrived and off he went to prison. Louis XIV hid under lock and key the information that could have proved him innocent and then increased his sentence to life in prison. Many authors have linked the fate of Fouquet with that of the man in the iron mask.

The Chateau has costumes to rent for the children, so we decided to let them see what it would feel like to be a princess, or a Brave, and very handsome Musketeer roaming the grounds of this 17th century Chateau. (If you plan to visit this chateau and would like your children to wear the costumes, be sure to go on the weekend, the costumes are not available during the week.)

We often talked and wondered what the children were doing during all these fancy fétes, we think they played lots of hide and seek, with such fantastic places to hide they could have stayed busy all night.

I can't get enough of these libraries-the rolling ladders to retrieve the out of reach treasures, the lavish desks and rugs to adorn the room. I try to imagine what it would have been like to sit and study in a room such as this.

Now that is a sink. If your mom told you she had "a sink full of dishes" for you to wash you would be up all night. I think it's awesome.

Once again the display of copper pots is also one of my favorites.

I was explaining to the kids why this particular household appliance is sometimes referred to as "the throne".

They had a beautiful display of old carriages and buggies, we would have loved to climb in one and gone for a little spin. You would either feel very Royal or very carsick.

A little "GQ" from the Dal.
A royal adventure was had by all on this beautiful Sunday in July at Vaux le Vicomte.

Jousting in Provins

July 5, 2008

When we asked the boys what they would like to do today they voted to go back to Provins and watch the jousting show, and of course Sophie did not want to be left out of the mix so we spent the day with the guys. Mark was the good dad and took them even though it was pouring rain.

I think this is such a great view of Provins.

The bird show was a hit, but this is what the boys have wanted to see for the last 6 months. A Real live jousting show.

Sophie thought the princess was amazing, she told me the entire story when they got home.

They were real troopers and toughed out the rain.


Meanwhile, Jesse was at the Family Fun Park with her friends from school having a terrific time.

She went for Marie's birthday and three other friends got to come along as well, it was a fun way to spend one of her last days.

I always wish I could be a mouse in her pocket on these outings. Not one of these girls speaks and English and so I know there was a lot of French being spoken, even by Jesse.

We are lucky she made such great friends and made fun memories with all of them.

4eme de Juillet-4th of July

July 4, 2008

The church in Bourron Marlotte.

We started our day with a visit to our local chateau. We had a beautiful chateau right in our village but had not had the opportunity to visit it. We were worried that we would have to leave without even being able to see it. It is a private castle and so they do not have tours, but we read that in the summer months you can visit for a small fee. We went and rang the bell and were escorted onto the beautiful grounds.
The "American" outfits had nothing to do with me-the kids did it all on their own. I had to laugh because most people probably had no idea it was a holiday in the US, they must have figured that we were just crazy American tourists.

We were the only ones on the grounds so they told us to take as long as we needed and then to call on our cell phone to the office and they would open the gate to let us out.

Jesse has always wondered what it would feel like to be a giant.

The princess and her castle.

We had to make one last stop at the marche in Fontainebleau, we didn't need anything in particular-it's just so much fun!

This was the center of a round about we drove through - The kids loved it and made us drive around it several times to make sure we got a good photo of it.

Our second stop was Vaux le Vicomte. This is a very famous chateau and used in many movies. It is near our home and was now open for the summer. (Check out the website for an overview of the grounds-pretty amazing www.vaux-le-vicomte.com)

Dallas was attempting to be as tall as Mark, he was for a minute, then Mark stepped up.

Once we entered the chateau we discovered we could not do some of the things we wanted to until the weekend, and so after some American negotiating we got our money back and plan to return on the weekend.

We didn't want the day to go without a great adventure so we quickly drove to Provins, a medieval town with jousting and bird shows with actors in costuming from the period.

Provins from on top of the city wall.
Waiting for the bird show to start, the kids of course took on the role of bird and bird trainer, the tree was the perfect perch.
The kids on the way up to the city wall.
Waiting for the bird show to begin. We were happy that they sill put the show on since there were only 12 people in the stands and we made up 7 of the 12.

They wowed us with lots of live animals, including this camel.
We got up close and personal with some of the animals. The trainer let each of the kids hold one of the birds on their arm-they were a little frightened at first, but each one didn't want to pass up the chance to hold the big bird.

Mark had no choice where he wanted to hold it-the trained plopped it right on his head. As you can see from the kids faces they thought it was pretty great!

We had owls, eagles, hawks, and vultures come swooping right over our heads.
The kids loved the show! If you are ever in Provins I would highly recommend the bird show-it was really worth the trip.
Another great door to add to the collection. The best part is I saw a little old man come out of this door with his bike and go on his merry way. People really do live behind all these cool doors.
The day came to an end as we celebrated with our American friends the Randall's and the Gregerson's at their home. Hal and Suzi have been living in France for a little over a year and will be here for for about 10 years. Hal is a professor at Insead.

They have a really neat home and have been through not only the nightmare of remodeling but the nightmare of remodeling in France. They have got some great stories. They have done a beautiful job and it will be an amazing home when it is complete.

The kids loved getting lost in the back yard.

Suzi did a nice job making it seem like a real 4th of July-she even made homemade potato salad.

As much as we have loved France and Europe, we are still proud to be Americans and were happy we could celebrate our freedom, even though we were far from home.
It was a great way to end our day-thanks Suzi and Hal!