Mes Juliennes..

Today was my last day living with the Julienne’s…what a sad sad thought. For dinner, Madame made my favorite things; tarte au poivron et tomate, salade des endives, and mousse au chocolat…mmm.. and then she gave me a little present called “fraises tagadas,” a strawberry candy that I’d always heard of but never actually tried. Then we took family pictures, and she took us for a ride around Paris at night! It was gorgeous…To see it all lit up was amazing! When I got home, Lidwine had put a little note in my bed that said “gros bisous et tu me manqueras, a bientôt,” (big kisses & I’ll miss you, see you soon.” The sweet thing is that she left it with one of her chocolate Easter eggs that I know she loves…I’m really going to miss these sweet Juliennes, I’m glad I get one more week with them when I come back. Night…

Conference Weekend..

General Conference was absolutely incredible; especially the last session. Definitely worth staying up until midnight for! The French saints are so thrilled that Elder Causée will be the first French member of the quorum of the 70. I originally thought Charles Didier was, but in fact, he was Belgian. Elder Causée is in my ward here at Versailles and such a good man. He’s originally from Bordeaux and has been working very hard to further progress on the temple here in Paris. I had to giggle because Charles Didier’s wife is secretly hoping they’ll be called to be the temple presidents so that she can shop her heart out! My religion teacher here translated for part of conference. This week is insanely busy! Today we had play recitations and a test review since we’re panicking about Brother Welch’s final tomorrow. A plus…

An unlikely trio..

As I went into the little shop under the train tracks in Croissy to get lunch, I sat down and began to talk with the Tunisian woman working named Chédia and the only other customer, a man from Cameroon named Dominique. Chédia took her lunch break and sat down with us to eat. We laughed as we realized that we were quite an unlikely trio: A Muslim Tunisian, a Catholic Cameroonian, and a Mormon American; eating and joking together. Three very different accents, backgrounds, and situations, I think we all enjoyed the perspective. Neither of them had ever heard of a Mormon, much less met one. Chédia told us of the struggle it is to be a practicing Muslim, which she technically isn’t fully or she’d not be allowed to work and would be veiled. She lives with her uncle and is not allowed to date or wear make up, and she said she’s told she’s lucky: most Muslim girls our age go straight from their parents’ home into their spouse’s home without ever having a say in the matter or any life experiences first. Dominique was set up in an arranged marriage with a second cousin, but neither loved the other, so they are married in writing, but live separately as friends. For all three of us French is our second language. Arabic, a tribal dialect, and English being respectively our first. Experiences like this open my eyes wider each time to how diverse the human race is.

Sights, Smells and Tastes

These past few days have been very eventful: Sunday, there was said to be “an act of aggression” on the metro so there were absolutely no trains going into Paris in the early afternoon. Of course I was in Versailles trying to get from church to a conference in the heart of Paris. Unfortunately, I missed it-the Nobel Peace Prize winner of ’06, Mohammad Yunus was speaking. I’m jumping ahead of myself: Last weekend we visited the chateau Vaux le Vicomte – where Fouquet lived and hosted the party of the century! Moliere performed a play before dinner, there were fireworks, the take-home gift was a diamond tiara for the women and a stallion for the men – anyone who was anyone was invited. Well, King Louis 14th attended and became do insanely jealous that he decided he must outdo Fouquet, so he built Versailles as we know it today. Vaux le Vicomte was beautiful; we toured it golf-cart style. Saturday I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a play at L’académie Française. Le Misanthrope was the piece we saw since we just finished reading it, and unfortunately it was the most tragic of Moliere’s works, but the acting was the best I have ever witnessed. That is to be expected at L’Académie Française of course, but I was still quite stunned. Grimaces, pleas, and expressions of love were so intense; I for one felt a little emotionally spent after the three hour performance. The theater was historically and beautifully decorated in red velvet, dark wood, and old lights. Yesterday I ventured over to the Madeleine, which is deceivingly ornate. The outside looks so austere, but the inside is full of frescos, gold leaf décor and a statue of Mary’s ascension. Today, I coughed up the 6 euros to try Paris’ famous Angelina’s hot chocolate, and now can be a witness that it is the best out there. I also bought a copy of Notre Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame). I am looking so forward to reading it! Well, tomorrow is a day entirely crammed with things to do, so I’d better get some shut eye…