Spring Tease; Talk of the town; talk of the Church; Tarascon-sur-Ariège

Our Church Week—Why talk of the Church? One of the highlights of our week is always talking to Nadya who is on her Mission on Tuesday afternoons.  Since Nadya is a Missionary, the rules are that she has 2 hours on Tuesdays (her Preparation Day) to write emails and communicate with family and friends and write a letter to her Mission President. With Marina we are not restricted from communicating with her on any day, any time.  As Senior Missionaries, we don’t have the same restrictions as the Young Missionaries.  We’ve been using Google Hangouts with Nadya….that is until this week. 

The new church-wide Mission rule is that we can now Skype our younger Missionaries in the field!  Our own Missionaries here in Tarbes were just beside themselves; giddy with excitement.  Our return Missionary from our Branch here in Tarbes was over the top for her friends still in the field in her mission.  And of course we were over the moon to see Nadya and talk and see her vs having to type every thought and wait for the response.  We covered so much ground!  We have to say it was challenging setting up her housing and draft school schedule these past few weeks via text. SO nice to talk and watch her expressions!!! 

This was a Zone Conference week in Toulouse (2hr).  Since the weather has been gorgeous it was a beautiful drive.  We love seeing the Pyrenees Mountain Range off to our East as we drive North.  We follow it most of the trip. The mountain peaks are snow-covered yet it’s warm and balmier in our area.  Last year, with the constant rain we almost didn’t know the whole Mountain range was there.  What a difference. 

It’s nice to assemble and feel all the energy of the Young Missionaries as they see old friends they haven’t seen, sometimes in months and some in more than a year.  The Mission President and wife are energetic themselves and always have good instruction and uplifting messages to share.  Sister Giraud-Carrier is a great cook…and she’s French….so we have gourmet-like meals with home-made sweet breads and this time, ravioli.  Yes, not French; but it was delicious.  The Elders especially love a home-made meal with some familiar dishes.

We shopped for more toys for our new Nursery and found several wooden trains, wooden puzzles, blocks, soft books and board books, along really colorful zig-zag ball runner.  With the exception of last week, we have boys only so far and our newest member, Felix is our next one to enter Nursery when he is old enough.  So still more boys. 

Marc and the Elders were asked to visit Mary Claudine today after Church.  It’s her turn for the flu.  Minus a few people, the flu seems to have made its rounds.  Fortunately the two who have serious health concerns have not fallen ill and we hope that maintains. Mary Claudine has a very active son and is feeling low on energy.  She went to the doctor but can’t keep the medicine down that she was given.  She called the Elders to ask them and Marc for a blessing of health to weather out the flu and be a good Mom while she is recuperating.  A Priesthood blessing is given by the Elders of the Church and along with the faith of that person can helps us with comfort, healing and often times, miracles.   

We’ll soon begin apartment inspections.  We’ve been given some new areas which stretch across the entire south of France going from the Atlantic Coast to the Mediterranean Sea.  That’s over 300 miles—beautiful French miles we remind youJ  We try to vary the routes and take some back roads when we have time.  We were asked to inspect apartments every 3 months but not have been asked to inspect them every 2 months. The Mission just lost several thousand dollars on some apartments that had mildly noticeable water damage on the outside, but huge ramifications on the insides of walls.  Young Missionaries, not being home owners, don’t always recognize some of the tell-tale signs like tub caulking separating from a wall can mean significant damage if left over time.  When the shampoo bottle hides the break in the caulking….

Talk of the town? San Diego weather!!  In France!!  Not a cloud in the sky. AND for 2 weeks running, entering our 3rd week straight!  The report says it will hold through Thursday, and we hear from locals that this has not happened in 40 years. Last Thursday it was warm and light jacket weather and got up to the 70s.  It’s beautiful and spirits are running high.  Children are at parks with their parents and outdoor enthusiasts are biking, hiking and skiing at higher altitudes and packing out their skis on their backs when they hit spring conditions. 

As we mentioned above, last year it rained or was overcast for months in a row.  That’s not an exaggeration; it was the wettest winter/spring on record for all of Europe. In April last year, everyone was still wearing hats, gloves and scarfs.  Even the locals were talking about how atypical that was.  Add in Tarbes’s micro-climate and we had our fill of rain in every possible form.  We hear how each one reminds the other: it’s not spring yet; March is blustery with its fair share of rain.  So we are trying to prepare ourselves for the rest of winter sure to come.  Many mountain passes don’t open until June, so there’s a significant indicator for high altitudes.

We are in an agricultural area.  Local growers, especially of apples, will be very hard-hit if their apple trees push forth their flowers, then get hit at the critical moment when the blossoms are forming too early and thinking spring weather is too follow.  Apples are a hardy fruit tree able to weather cold and snowy temperatures.  But if the cold or frost freezes the blossom, it will fall off and no fruit will form.  That will be difficult for the markets and the vendors. 

Last week we were atop the snowy mountains at Pic du Midi, 33 miles away from Tarbes; this week we walked 3 blocks to Jardin Massey and enjoyed early spring flowers everywhere. The Camilla trees are blooming in season for this time of year and can survive a cold snap, which will inevitably be around the corner.  The daffodils and hyacinths are popping through the ground (with several in bloom) very confused at what seems to be an early spring.  The early delicate spring flowers will suffer if there’s a light snow or frost.  And they will freeze and turn brown rather than their radiant yellows, pinks and purples. 

Town of the week— Tarascon-sur-Ariège.  We stayed in TArascon at the end of September and we passed through the town just yesterday.  We show some picture of each visit. This is a beautiful town located along the Ariège river with mountains all around.  Just south of the town are the Caves of Niaux.  Here is how its web site describes the site: 

"One of the most famous decorated prehistoric caves in Europe still open to the public. Though its vast opening (55 metres high) which opens at an altitude of 678 metres, the Niaux cave extends for more than 2 kilometres. The guided tour of the Salon Noir, 800 metres from the entrance, will reveal to you more than 70 exceptional prehistoric paintings."

We could not take pictures in the cave but there were many reproductions just outside the entrance.  It was an incredible experience.

A la prochaine!

Zone Conference

 Marc and Soeur Cutrell

 Toys for the nursery  

 Spring time in Jardin Massey

Hyacinths pushing through ground, should be in April

Camellias, on time in February

 Mountains along the auto route to Zone conference in Toulouse

Our Tarascon hotel room, with view below from Sept

Corner room, not a bad view from each window

Pre-historic cavern paintings

International signage thru Europe

Tourist poster of the region in our hotel 

Market day, clothes section; traveling vendors benefit peddler and small towns

There were these moths everywhere

Lots of miles on those bags

More moths, just everywhere

Sheep round-up; if you were in the market for buying sheep, this was the place
Sheep's milk (cheese and yogurt) is a big industry in France

Breeders come from all over the region; Spanish border just over the mountain

Leaving the area for September; return trip in February pictures below

Beautiful and unique window laces