Friday, October 20, 2017

A Perfectly Parisian Birthday

I woke up on Thursday morning a year older. I do not mind getting older except for the creaking body parts. I still love celebrating my birthday and enjoy hearing from people all the world over thanks to the wonder of social media. I even received posted cards on the day! Always a treat to get real mail.
The day began with Doug presenting me with a big box filled with goodies to enjoy throughout the day.  Red roses, fois gras, jams, cheeses, sausage, yogurts (French yogurt is other-worldly), wine, the most heavenly cookies ever baked and a cake from a place we’ve walked by but had not to date taken time to taste. It was perfect. We had planned on a picnic supper that night because the weather has been amazing and we had friends coming in from Sweden so he had assembled it all so that it would be ready that evening. We had a modest breakfast, well, mine included a chocolate chip cookie, and off we went to enjoy this fantastic city. 
First stop was at one of my favorite places in the entire city: Sainte Chapelle. This wonder of gothic architecture and stained glass sits in the very center of Paris and radiates beauty. We had been before but it has been many years so we decided to soak in the beauty. It is dazzling. The windows represent such beautiful imagery from scripture and the architecture of it all is just so delicately gorgeous. The sun was shining enough to get the brightness that comes through stained glass when the light hits it just right and we enjoyed the beauty of our first stop.
From there we headed to the Conciergerie, the former palace and prison that figured largely in the French Revolution. We had never been here, only admiring the impressive fortress from the outside. Nothing like guillotines and revolutions to make you grateful for another year of life! For a French history buff, this is a must see exhibit. Carefully presented with a lot to read, it was enlightening for those of us whose main source of the French Revolution is the musical Les Miserables. I said to Doug as we entered the exhibit that we should just start belting out tunes from the musical to add flavor to our visit.Tempting as it was to break into song, we held back. French history is pretty complex and it was great to get a deeper look into those complexities. 
From there, hunger was gnawing at us so we were off to our next stop: Lunch. I had done some research on the Steak/Frites culture in Paris and had really wanted to try a classic French steak restaurant. One had been recommended by friends who live here but it was too far away. I had remembered the name of a place that was much closer so off we went. We were not disappointed. Relais de l’entrecote fit the bill perfectly. No menu. They offer one meal. Salad and steak/frites.  We said ok, let’s do this. It was delicious. By far the VERY BEST FRIES I’ve had in Paris. Just as we were savoring the last tasty morsels on our plate, the waitress returned to ask if we were ready for the second portion. WHAAAT? Another round?! A new, piping hot plate of steak and fries appeared on our plates and we could not be more delighted. I slipped in that these were the best fries and that I was celebrating my birthday! She heaped on another pile! We were in our glory. Serving it up in two portions is brilliant because everything was piping hot the second time a round as well instead of it sitting on the plate to get cold. It was such a great lunch. We skipped desert knowing that we had goodies at home.
The last thing that I wanted to do during the day was to go on a boat ride. One company, Vedettes de Paris, offers up a free ride with a glass of champagne on your birthday! You just have to show ID and voilá, free ticket, free glass! It was such a beautiful afternoon that it was a perfect post-lunch activity. We were both so sleepy from the delicious lunch and sunshine and walking around so it was nice to relax on the boat watching this gorgeous city go by.
After a nice afternoon nap, our dear friends Hannah and Sven, arrived from Stockholm. We assembled the picnic supper but stayed inside to indulge. It was so delicious! The perfect way to sample so many wonderful things. We popped the cork on one of our precious bottles of Champagne from Champagne and all were happy. 
We took a walk to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up and returned home to indulge in this beautiful cake. It’s hard to explain exactly what this is but there is meringue and cream and shaved chocolate on the outside. Not too heavy, not overly sweet, it was just right. 
What a day. Perfect. Memorable. Delightful. I’m grateful for my husband’s creativity and game spirit in making the day so special for me. 
The birthday celebrations continued on to Friday night with a birthday dinner that Hannah and Sven treated us to near the Latin Quarter. They even sang in Swedish, quietly, one more time!    Le Bistrot d’Henri was a wonderful spot to eat some French delights such as snails, kidney, scallops, and beef bourguignon.  The evening ended with ice cream from Amorino, my very favorite gelato place in all of Paris, maybe even in the whole world!  
I am so thankful for the voices of many around the world who took time to wish me well. Mine is a life well-lived, surrounded by friends and loved ones and I am deeply grateful. 

Thursday, October 12, 2017

A Pilgrimage, A Walk, A Pledge

Soon it’s time for me to embark on my latest challenge. A group of women from the American Church in Paris have decided to take a walk to Chartres Cathedral as part of a spiritual pilgrimage that follows the Way of St. James. Perhaps you are familiar with the Camino De Santiago in Spain. if you’ve seen the film, The Way, this is what we’re talking about. The Chemin of Sainte Jacques in France allows folks to go on a pilgrimage to the magnificent Chartres Cathedral from Paris. Walking the Camino de Santiago has been something that Doug and I have been interested in since a good friend did it a few years back and our colleague here at ACP also just did it over the summer. That requires a bit of planning and significant training as it is about 800 kilometers walked over about a month! This walk from Paris to Chartres is about 100 kilometers and we will journey across 5 days to achieve our goal. I was asked to join the group as a fellowship traveler but also to provide a pastoral presence on the journey.
I am excited and a bit a nervous too. I am nervous because of the significant physical challenges I’ve encountered of late with my hip. But trips to various doctors, new custom built shoe inserts, and regular appointments with a physical therapist have bolstered my confidence in my ability to be more physically ready for this challenge. Of course, I have no idea what awaits me as I embark on this new and inviting challenge with 8 other women. I’m confident that I will encounter God along the chemin (way in French) and I am also confident that things unknown to me today will challenge and encourage me.
As I considered this walk, I was drawn to the link between my ability to do this walk and the significant work that ACP is doing right now to install a lift and lavatory that will make ACP wheelchair accessible. This is an important step for the church to take but as many of you know, often doing something like this, while the right thing, is also an expensive thing. ACP has decided to move forward with the project no matter the costs and so I got to thinking about how I could perhaps raise a little money to benefit this project. Sort of like my walk for those whose walking ability is limited or not possible at all. 
This is near and dear to my heart in part because of people that I love who live life from a chair. My niece is one such person and she lives life with more courage and zeal than many others. So in that spirit, I’m asking people to sponsor me, either by one time gift or per kilometer giving, on my walk to Chartres which will take place October 31-November 4. 
I am wanting to keep this simple so am not setting up a funding page or anything like that. I simply ask that you private message me with your intention to give and I can give you fuller details then. If you know someone who doesn’t know me but would like to get on board with a gift, simply be the go between for us. There are a few ways that you can give. If you are in the US or prefer dealing in US dollars and checks, then you will be able to write a tax-deductible check to the American and Foreign Christian Union, which is linked to the ministry of ACP and through which funding from the US for various projects is funneled. If you are in Europe, I can set you up with bank transfer information. 
The last really big physical challenge I worked toward was the half marathon in Nice, France back in 2015. While this will certainly represent a physical challenge of an entirely different thing, it will also be a mental and spiritual challenge as well. I look forward to all that will unfold on this journey. It adds meaning for me to be able to walk on behalf of a project for our church that I know embraces the Kingdom of God value that ALL are welcome here. It’s easy to say and it’s hard to put into practice sometimes. So I am grateful for the money, sweat and tears (ever try to get permits and constructions done in France? It causes tears!) that the church is committed to giving. If you are moved to give toward this project through sponsoring my journey/pilgrimage, I would be forever grateful. A woman who will meet us in Chartres states this in a book she’s written about pilgrimage to Chartres: “Each pilgrimage is unique, each pilgrim travels differently.” This prayer is meaningful as I embark on my own, unique pilgrimage: “On the way, God, may the gratitude that rises from the spring of love flow ever more strongly, and thus widely. May it be more so.” 


Thank you for your interest and support. If money isn’t something you can give, please pray for me and my on-going preparations and for ACP, to be the place of open, wide doors it longs to be.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Into the Void at Chamonix

I put some pictures up on Facebook yesterday of our stunning day in the French Alps above Chamonix as was too tired to think about doing much more.  But I wanted to take a moment and write a bit about our day because it was truly one of the most amazing days we’ve ever experienced. We were so lucky with the weather. No clouds, mild temperatures in the valley, bright sunshine and glistening blue sky. Being here in neither the summer nor winter seasons also means fewer people, but unfortunately it also means that not all attractions are open because this is when the big maintenance takes place to prepare for the upcoming winter season. Even so, the autumn color and a lack of crowds made it all very worthwhile. 
We had intended to take the cable car to the top, look around up there, take the car back down one stop and then hike across the valley to Montenvers where the giant Mer de Glace glacier is and take the cog train back into Chamonix. Alas, when buying our tickets we found out that the train was closed. Big disappointment because then it meant that if we chose to hike across the valley, about 2 hours, the only way we could get down would be to hike down, another 2-2.5 hours. We pondered doing it but with my recent tendinitis and neither of us being in the best shape, and not really knowing what the difficulty level of the hikes would be, we really wondered if it would be the best idea. We then realized that you could hike back to Chamonix from the stop of the cable care so we decided to do that. Unbeknownst to us at the time, that hike is one of the most difficult terrains of the entire region and the longer, more scenic hike might’ve been easier. We’ll never know because we are not going to go back up and try again today!
So, once on top after a quite dramatic cable car ride where the car swings in quite a lively manner high above the valley and scales the mountain in an almost vertical climb, there is a lot to explore. On the back side, views of Mont Blanc come into view and you really can see for miles and miles. The French Alps are quite different than the Swiss Alps and while Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Europe, it’s rounded top makes it look much less dramatic.  Still, the glaciers and fields of blinding white snow were impressive. And your breath was literally taken away. The air is very thin on top and you have climb stairs to get to all of the best viewpoints. It was a bit dizzying for me and I felt light-headed for much of the time we were up there.
The top of Aiguille du Midi is pretty great. Several people commented on one of the photos I put on Facebook yesterday as it shows us standing in a glass enclosure that juts out from the mountainside. It’s called Into the Void and you literally walk on a glass walkway and then step into this void where it does feel like a void. You have to slip into these giant felt slippers that go over your shoes in order to protect the surface of the glass. It was indeed freaky to step out over this glass floor with the sheer drop off below you. But once in, you are mainly mugging for your camera and not thinking about how weird it all feels. 
You can also walk into the glacier and some mountain climbers were just coming off the mountain into the opening as we were standing there. TOUGH CLIMB. From the platform at the very top, the wind was whipping and it was freezing cold. Oddly enough, just a bit lower and at a slightly different angle, it warmed up and wasn’t windy at all. The views were magnificent and you really do feel the grandeur of something so much bigger than you surrounding you. Your brain is released from all the stress and noise of every day life and it’s a glorious experience.
We finally made the decision to get on our way, still thinking that we might try the 5 hour hike. Then we realized that you could get to Chamonix so decided that was a better idea. After about 45 minutes a beautiful little restaurant greets you with inviting food and drink so we paused to enjoy a drink in what may be the prettiest place I’ve ever had a glass of wine. By this level, the sun was heating things up and so it was delightful to watch the cable cars, marvel at the para-gliders, and soak in the grandeur of this mountain range. The Red Mountain range that was across from us, reminded us of the cliffs of Utah with their color scheme. 
And the craggy tops of many of the peaks were a bit of a surprise as well.
Now it was time to get serious about getting down off the mountain and we started what would prove to be a very challenging afternoon. Steep, rocky, difficult footing, narrow, tree roots, slippery...it had it all. The views were amazing as we paused to look back and up, with the autumn color spreading out in all its glory. After a full hour I needed more fuel so we stopped to finish off the picnic lunch we had packed. I was also very aware of drinking enough water plus I figured the more I drank, I less I’d have to carry! I can honestly say that the next hour was pretty rough. We were both starting to have some significant pain, Doug in his knees, and me in my calves and the big toe of my left foot. My new shoes were awesome however and I’m sure were the reason that my tendinitis didn’t flare up. The sun was hot. I was down to a tee shirt and was working up a pretty good sweat. We were having to stop and rest at pretty regularl intervals and the path ahead just seemed endless. The town still looked super far away and we remained at a fairly good height meaning more and more downhill. We kept hoping that it wouldn’t be so steep but then again, we were walking down a mountain side! That last hour was indeed really hard. Doug’s legs were super shaky and he felt unstable much of the time. My big toe was killing me and my calves were yelling at me. We employed variations in our stepping techniques, trying to go a bit side ways, attempting to somehow take pressure off of the parts of our bodies that had endured the most stress. Finally, we saw the path that would lead us home! We were never so glad to be off a mountain trail as we were right then and 
The walk back into town on a level surface actually felt good. I was able to stretch my calves a bit more and Doug was able to find some stability in his knees. Finally we were home. We both collapsed for a couple of hours.A hot shower and finding a good restaurant were essential tasks for the evening. We both felt better than we had expected to and the restaurant we found was an excellent value with just the food we wanted: Fondue! The Savoyarde cuisine, the cuisine of this region, is stuff we both love. The salad of the region was an excellent starter, the fondue was plentiful and delicious and a light dessert capped it all off. The lovely bottle of red wine was the perfect accompaniment to a delightful evening. We were even able to sit outside even though by the end it was a bit chilly. 
Perhaps it’s a bit obvious to state that we fell into bed and slept really well. This morning there is a bit of a soreness in my legs but overall I feel better than I expected. It was a very memorable day only marred slightly by the hour I was concerned about whether or not we’d get off that mountain in one piece!
I do know that going down a steep hill is harder on the body than going up but we couldn’t bear the thought of just riding the cable cars up and back without at least hiking a little. I had to laugh when looking at our guidebook later. It said, “Don’t hike down to Chamonix from plan de Aiguille. It’s a very steep path.” Oh well. We made it and now I’m glad I did!