A French lesson in Germany

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What I had thought would just be another Wednesday with some cleaning to do at the school in the morning and a possible French lesson with Lydie in the afternoon, turned out to be a very interesting and blessed day (I'm not saying that every day isn't blessed but some days just seem more blessed than others).

After spending some great relaxed time with God in the morning (Laetitia took the kids into town and Cedric was at work so I got some peace) I cycled down to school to do Laetitia's turn at the cleaning. It was a beautiful day (as it has been for so long now - I feel so lucky and I love boasting to Mum and sister back in Wales about it).

When I arrived at school 30 mins later the ill-surfaced road was being re-surfaced (I later found out from Lydie that a road surfacing company had being driving around the area after doing a job and having too much tar and gravel left over, they were trying to find schools that needed any work done. And instead of charging for the materials, they would charge just for the man labour - so of course the school said yes! What's more is that there's an open day on Saturday so the timing couldn't have been more perfect - the once untidy and holey road is now pothole-free. And what's even more incredible is that on Tuesday night, at a prayer meeting someone prayed that local businesses would offer the school materials. Isn't God great!)

Before starting my cleaning stint I passed by the small office to collect the keys and to speak to Lydie. She asked if instead of doing our normal French lesson, would I like to go to Germany with her and her friend, Hugette? Of course! But she warned me that I'd have to write a small review of the day as part of my French work. Of course that didn't put me off. An unexpected trip to Germany was God's way of saying to me 'never wake up, thinking that it's just going to be another day - you never know what He's got in store for you.'

So I sped round La Maternelle doing my cleaning work in order to be finished within an hour rather than the usual hour and a half.

At 12:30 me and Lydie headed over to Macdonalds to get bite to eat but on seeing how crowded it was, we turned round and headed for the local bakery. I already had a picnic but I treated myself to a big slice of tart au flan and a can of coke - that same morning I had told myself I needed to start preparing myself emotionally and physically for the fast I intend to do in a few weeks and so had decided not to put any biscuits in my bag. But walking into a bakery like that, I could hardly not walk away without some kind of yummy cake,right? But as I pointed out to Lydie, I could always start again the next day.

As it was such a gorgeous sunny day, we sat ourselves in the pleasant setting of Parc Marseillaise and I thought again how lucky I am to be here.

When we got to Hugette's house we changed cars and then took the 45 minute drive across the border into Germany (I got to see the Rhin river!) I'd been worried that we'd be on motorway the whole way but we didn't touch it once and instead got to wind our way through little country villages and across miles and miles of dry empty fields - I thought of the green fields back in Wales covered with sheep and cows.

Our destination was a little German town called Breisach. It felt strange to suddenly no longer be in France and not hear the melodic French language being spoken all around me. Luckily Hugette speaks good German or me and Lydu might have been quite lost.

After parking up we headed for a wonder round the quaint German town, browsing in a few shops along the way. I felt so content and at peace in that situation and Lydie and Hugette are two such lovely ladies, much older than me perhaps but still young at heart.

The first shop we entered was full of lovely little trinkets and ornaments to put around the house. We had browsed around most of the shop when Lydie asked me what kind of candles liked. I pointed to a cone shaped, lilac one with a line of silver twisted around it. Hugette picked it up and said 'Bon,allee' before heading for the counter. I knew there was no point stopping her and once outside the shop she handed it to me, all beautifully gift-wrapped. It was such a lovely gesture and I felt even more blessed.

In the next shop Hugette went into 'Trinny and Susanna' mode, picking up clothes for Lydie to try on. It was a good laugh and Lydie's expressions as she came out of the dressing rooms, each time dressed in a different outfit, was priceless.

Before leaving, we headed over to a terraced-cafe for an ice cream. My thoughts turned again to the fast, as did Lydie's and we laughed a lot as a huge big ice cream got plonked in front of me. Shame we didn't have a camera - the caption for the photo would have been 'En preparation pour le jeune'.

On the journey back to France, my feeling of contentedness grew as I sat back and watched the French/German landscape passing me by and listening to the friendly banter of Hugette and Lydie. God really has blessed me and I'm truly grateful.

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