Fly by.

This week has been flying by. Wednesday we had a wonderful visit from several friends. We met them for lunch in Paris and had a wonderful visit and even was able to show them around to several sites, the Eiffel Tower, the Arce de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. It was a really good visit, many thanks to our babysitter who watched the kids at home for us. After we got the kids to bed we worked on our semester end oral test. We did it this morning. It went well I think. We had to give a list of headlines like a news report and explain one of them in detail. After lunch I lead the music in Chapel, I had a wonderful time teaching the students a new song. This evening the weather was really nice so we let the kids play at the playground after school. We had several good conversations with other French parents. Angie took Lilia and Caleb for their end of semester meeting with the teacher. They both are doing well. They mentioned that Caleb needs to work as hard on the subjects that he dislikes as he does on the subjects that he likes. That is probably true for us all. Angie had a diner at the school this evening that a Swiss student prepared. (I will have to get her to describe it later) Me and boys had a good time at home with out pizza and "boy time" which includes of course, wrestling and tickles. Time got away from us and it was already 8:15 by the time the pizza was finished cooking. The kids are all to bed now and I will do a little paper work and homework and then off to bed. Goodnight and God bless, JASON

The parents have arrived.

Mom and Dad arrived yesterday. We had a good time yesterday showing them around town. We had Christmas for our family. At least it seemed like it with all the stuff that they had brought. They made it all day long and only dozed off for a small nap. They slept twelve hours last night. This morning we went into Paris and looked a the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Cœur, and Notre Dame. It was a good time, it has gotton cold but it did not rain on us. Looking forward to tomorrow when Dad and I are going to go on a hike into Paris. Be sure to check out my Dad's blog, link on the right of the page, to see his point of view on things. God bless, JASON

l'Ecole d'été

Summer School is drawing to a close. The three weeks have passed quickly. We have reviewed and learned several new things in the last few weeks. I have enjoyed what little time I have been able to spend with the other students. Having Angie and the kids at home keeps me from spending too much time at the language school. The Switzerland team won the award for most people present representing their country. USA and Great Britian following close behind. Other countries represented were Germany, Denmark, Norway, Canada and a couple of others. Each country represented presented their country during an evening. August is going to be a lonely month around here. Almost all of the students are will be gone and it will just be us. A lot of France closes down for the month of August for vacations. Most Doctor's offices and small shops. I hope to take the kids into Paris a couple of times to show them some sites. On our survey trip we saw a lot of the tourist sites in France. I have found that seeing touristy places gives you good insite into the culture of a country. Seeing the Eifel Tower you can get the sense of French Pride. Notre Dame gives you a sense of their Catholic Heritage that is now barely present. Attached is a castle on the top of a hill that we saw while on our trip. It seemed like every mountain top had one on it. God bless, JASON

Bon Week-end

We are having a good weekend. Saturday was busy, which is good. Caleb and I went to the store to try and exchange some shoes that were broken. I did not have a receipt, so I doubted that they would exchange them, and they didn't. But, the good news is that I was able to fix the shoes myself when we got home. We also stopped by McDonalds to get a snack for Caleb for being good at the Doctors office. He wanted a chocolate shake. I told the cashier (in french) that I wanted a small chocolate shake. She confirmed that it was a small and went to get it. I paid and on the way out looked and we had received a small coke. Language learning can be frustrating. Caleb was not discouraged, beacuse he always begs us to have a coke and so he enjoyed it just the same. We went to the grocery store after that and I tried to find some horse meat to buy, but could not. In the afternooon we arranged a babysitter and Angie and I along with Lilia went into Paris to see Debra and Carmen taylor (pictured). Debra's husband pastors my Aunt's church in Mississippi. They were here on a girl scout tour of Europe. We enjoyed supper with them and their group and afterwards went on the boat ride tour on the Seine river. It was nice. We were able to see the eiffel tower light up at 10:00. They brought us the biggest jar of peanut butter I have seen and several other good stuff, like ice tea bags. The only rough part was when we were going home everyone was trying to leave Paris it seemed. I have never seen a subway car that packed before. People were holding bags over the heads because it was so crowded. We waited 15 minutes and took the next one which was a lot less crowded. Today (Sunday) we had to cancel services because of parking issues. There is a big market on our street, kind of like a garage sale. Yvain and Virginie could not find and parking within walking distance, and the garage sale lasts all day. WE offered to go to there house but she said it was a mess because they are going to be moving in a couple of weeks. I sent them questions for the lesson and Angie has now gone shopping on the street. She will find several things for Andrew's 2nd birthday which is this week. Hope your services are not postponed for parking issues and even if they are, you have a blessed day. JASON

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is very interesting. The architecture is amazing to me. The Eiffel Tower is relatively lightweight, creating a force of only 4.5kg/cm2 on the foundation. If you were to have a cylinder of air that would be large enough to encircle the eiffel tower, the Air would weigh more than the tower. It also affords a real nice view of Paris. If you are familiar with the Landscape you will be able to see the Arc de Triomph, Sacre Cœur, Notre Dame, Domes Des Invalides, and the Louvre. It stands at just over 1000 ft, including the antenna on top. It was built over 2 years originally to be torn down after standing for 20 years. During the world war the elevator cables were cut to force Hitler to have to climb the stairs to the top. Parts to fix it were "unable" to be found. Although 40 minutes after the Nazis withdrew it was up and working. Hitler never climbed it and only viewed it from the ground. Thus a popular saying that Hitler conquered France, but he did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. JASON

Caleb sees France.

We took the kids to the Eiffel Tower yesterday. Caleb kept saying that he was finally going to be able to see France. It took a lot of explaining to get him to see that we are in France now. We left at about 8:20 to walk to the train station (RER). We purchased out tickets and then had to come back to the house for a restroom break. Paris has few public restrooms. We caught the train about 9:20, met Virginie and T.J. her son at 9:30 and arrived at the tower by about 9:50. The kids loved it. There was a pretty long line so Angie and I didn't want to wait, but Lilia really wanted to go up and so we got in line. Last time we were at the Tower, it had just rained and the line was not long at all. This time after standing there a few seconds, someone came and moved the last part of the line to a new elevator that had opened up. What a blessing! We made it to the elevator and waited a little bit, then someone announced that there was a problem with this elevator and to follow her. We ended up going to the front on the line that we had started in. We went to the second level and enjoyed the view. I held Micah and took him to the rail and said, "Micah isn't that pretty!" He shouted, "Look at that!" He was pointing to a heart that someone had drawn on the railing. We enjoyed the Tower for a while. Afterwards we were going to go to Sacre Cœur, but the kids were already tired, so we decided we would take them to McDonalds instead. I enjoyed McDonalds, it was the first time I had gone out to eat in two months, since arriving here in France. Big Mac value meal for 6 euros, about $9. Tasted good though. We made it back home about 3 pm. We had a good time and the kids really enjoyed it. I will attach some pictures. JASON

Are these the same birds?

The last time (18 months ago) we were at the Eiffel Tower I took a picture of this bird. We saw him at the base of the Tower, he had only one foot, and on that foot he only had two toes. Somehow that impressed this country boy from Texas, so I memorialized him in photography. This second picture I took on our trip yesterday. Pigeon, matching the same physical descriptions of the last suspect, only one leg and two toes, this time on the second level of the tower . . . could it be the same bird, stalking us, wanting more pictures taken. We will never know. JASON