Still on day 5 :(

I was thinking that I should hurry up this mini France trip as I've been back for two weeks now, and a lot of other things are happening right here. So, ok... on day 5, which was on a Sunday, Raphaël and I went to church in the morning. I mentioned before that I was understanding French better so I was able to understand the message quite ok. I don't remember the name of the church. I figured I was going to go to a quiet church, where you sat quietly, sang quiet songs and listened quietly. The preacher that morning was a pastor from another church. I don't know where he was from as he didn't look French to me, but he spoke with a clear deep voice, his eyes twinkled as he shared and everytime he asked people to sit down he would put his palms up, smile and bow his head. He shared about Jesus' resurrection. I know there were two points he wanted to share but I don't know if I understood completely. I think the first point was about how Jesus rose not for himself, as in, not to prove something, but he rose for us. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't know if I have this right... but it was something along these lines, and the second point was about how Scripture supports this...?... I hope he doesn't read this blog. :( I don't really remember well as I couldn't really understand everything, but I was very blessed to be there. This church was indeed a very quiet church, but it was very active as well, and they even clapped their hands when somebody stood up to thank the preacher for sharing with them. Somebody else also stood up and mentioned how it doesn't commonly happen that they clap their hands but that he was (touched?) by the message... It's funny because before going to church I was hoping deep inside that I would get a chance to clap my hands in church. Anyway, these people were just standing up and sharing prayer requests, commenting on the message, reminding each other of the weeks activities, and it was all good. I was happy to be there.
After church we had some lunch and then went to meet Raphaël's parents and his grandmother at the grandmother's country house. When we had dinner with her some days before she had invited me to see her country house. The house is 150 years old, and it has every good thing you would want to find in an old house. A fireplace, a well, old books, wooden beams, old trees and much more. Here are some pictures.

The entrance.

Front of the house.

Mrs. Pinson working in the garden.

A well!!! A well!!!...

The back of the garden. I thought the little flowers looked so pretty on the ground.

The garden has several fruit trees.

In the grandfather's studio I saw some very old books! This history book is from M.DCC.XLVIII. (1748) To think that this is already a history book.

Then I saw the cutest little house. This is the house where Raphaël, Delphine and their cousins used to play as children. It was actually a place to keep rabbits but they made it into a play house. It's been years since any children have actually played in it, but when I walked in and heard the stories I could just see it all before me.

You might have to close your eyes to picture this, but this little room used to be a restaurant. Yes, the chairs and table were used to seat and serve the costumers. You can see the kitchen in the back the menu on the counter. A busy waiter answering the telephone, making more reservations. But other times, this was a perfume factory, filled with flowers, liquids and little containers. I can see little hands smashing delicate petals to make yet another great French perfume. Of course not all perfumes could be just as good, so judges had to decide the winner! I can hear laughter, fights, songs, see tears, smiles, more yelling but most of all "fun" noises.

After the tour I helped Mrs. Pinson in the garden. She was telling me about birds and had me hear all the different sounds they make. It was funny because when I was busy planting I didn't hear anything, but as soon as she pointed it out, I could hear them all around us. The name "Pinson" is actually also the name of one of the birds they have there. I think the English name is Finch or maybe Sparrow, but I'm not sure as the bird doesn't really look like either to me. So, you would think it wasn't either either... right? That's the translation I get. Anyway, while I was working I was enjoying not only the sound of the birds, but there were worms in the ground as well. I was digging with my fingers and there were pink worms wiggling around. I had never experienced that before. I didn't take a picture because my hands were dirty, but then I took pictures of some mushrooms I found.

I had to press the grass down to be able to take these pictures. They look so cute hiding there.

When I was a child I only saw mushrooms in books, so I like to look at them.

When Delphine saw this picture she started to blow on the screen. You should try it.

That evening Raphaël was invited to go to a birthday party, so he invited me to go as well. I didn't take any pictures of the party but there are some things I do want to write about. See, I have been to France a few times and the scariest thing about the French to me was that they seemed to be so unpredictable. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something soooo very... strange. But well, now I know that there was nothing wrong really. I just didn't know much about them, and now I've concluded that they are just peculiar. Back to the party.

When going to a French Birthday party (at least in Paris) know this:


1. You will be kissed by everyone. People that know you, know your friends and people that have no idea who you are. You will be kissed, twice usually, thrice if they know you come from Holland, and four times if they really like you or your friends. By the fifth time, if you are still standing there, they have either lost count, or there is something else going on. Most of us would offer a hand, but here it can be seen as being rude. Yes, I've been rude in France. But please note that if it is a business meeting you should not kiss the people you are meeting. This is not correct.

2. When you enter the house and are greeted by the B-day girl/boy, do not, do not give them the Birthday present you brought for them! What? Yes, it's true, infact... hide it as best as possible. Under the coats, under the table, under the couch, in the oven if it's not being used, or sit on it. If you are thinking, "Oh, they like to play 'hide-and-seek the presents' games"... no. It's just so that giving the present right away is not fitting. So you sort of walk in with a present in your hand, you 'kiss' and wish the person a happy B-day, and then continue to walk in as if you never intended to give the present. So when do you give the present?

3. Nobody seems to know exactly when is the right time to give the presents, so just keep your eyes open for the "right" moment. When in Rome do as the Romans do, or the Parisians in this case. In this party they turned off the lights and came with the B-day cake all lit up and sang a Birthday song. Then when the candles were blown out, the lights came on, and you could see the first gift concealer going back to his hiding place and soon everybody else followed. Coats flying all over the place, paper bags opening, tables being turned over... ok, maybe not the last part.

{4}. I don' t know if this is normal, but there was no music at this party. All you could hear was people talking and laughing and that was pretty much it. Little groups were formed and some people kept walking form one group to the other. But really, no music. I put this one in brackets as I don't really think this is a norm.

5. This one is for sure. If you happen to be the French person getting the present, you do not kiss the person that just gave you the present. At least not until you have opened it first. Which in my opinion is not really good for two reasons. First, it shows that you don't kiss because you got a present, but because you liked it, which you always must appear to have, as you have to kiss the person anyway! Which brings me to the second reason. Isn't it easier to kiss a person before you know what they got you, rather than after you've opened the present and you don't really like it? Oh, the complications of our cultural social behaviors.

6. The part I really liked was that most people brought something to eat to the party. I liked this idea of sharing very much. However, I don't know if people were asked to bring something to share, or if people just bring things without being told to.

I found everybody at the party to be really friendly and even met a few people who also spoke Spanish. This was one of the longest days I had in my trip. I woke up early and went to bed quite late, but it was a day full of good experiences that I was thankful for.