I'm Back!

Well, Britt and I had a VERY busy, eventful and fun few days together. Poor girl. I think I sent her back to the school more tired than she was upon arrival, if that's possible! But we did get to see and do some great things!

On the night of her arrival, we went to bed about one in the morning.
Thursday morning, it was up at 7 am to get started on my workday. She, bravely and loyally :), got up at the same time to see my life and to help out. She was a great help too! Elliott took to her like a fish to water and I was able to get a lot done without having to constantly worry what he was getting into. :) And she found Capucine absolutely ADORABLE (which, I admit, she is ;)). Thursday afternoon, during a couple of hours I had free, we walked around St. Germain-en-Laye, touring the church and admiring the château. We unintentionally stumbled across the tomb of James II of England (who was also James VII of Scotland) while we were at it! :)

Friday, we set out about mid-morning for Paris. And proceeded to tour three churches in a matter of hours. NOT recommendable!! :D By the end, we were exceedingly "detailed out" and could not absorb one more bit of artwork! Which was a pity because we finished in the Sainte Chapelle (having started with Rue du Bac and gone on to Notre Dame) which is GORGEOUS. But we simply couldn't take in any more. So we took pity on ourselves :) and just wandered along the Seine for awhile, ate our goûter in the beautiful outdoors, took a peek inside BHV (a huge department store in Paris) where I got Rose a little something for her birthday, got ourselves a couple of cappucinos, did some shoe shopping (the sales were excellent, but to no avail :( ), and headed back. Since the Arc de Triomphe is directly on the route back, I couldn't resist stopping for a few minutes to see it at night and snap a few photos. :) Britt was a good sport (even about having to follow me at top speed into the middle of the Champs-Elysées, lol!) and it was fun! Finally, we did make it back to the house.

Saturday, we arrived back in Paris (remember, it's about a 90-minute commute... one way; it can be quite wearing) about 10:45 am. She had never been to St. Nicolas du Chardonnet before, so I led her on a brief tour of the place and we said some prayers. We headed next door for the 30th Anniversary celebration that was being held there, starting at 11:30 am. There was a nice banquet... and lots of speeches. Tired as we were, we didn't stay 'tuned in' to the French for all of them but did catch some of them (there being about 12 total)! :) One of the speakers was a priest of the Society who had been an adult baptism at St. Nicolas, nine years before his Ordination! WOW!! An hour-and-a-half video/documentary followed. We had to be out of the rented hall by 5 pm, so everyone scrambled to leave at 4:58. :) Britt couldn't believe I actually did this, but after kissing Bishop Fellay's ring, I asked him if we could have a picture with him. Of course he said yes. So we got one!! I'm so glad I did have the "guts" (bravery... foolishness... whatever you'd like to call it ;)) to ask him. (It's not like he bites. LOL!)
We met up briefly with a fellow American and then attended Benediction at St. Nicolas. We decided not to tax ourselves further and headed straight back to the house.

On Sunday, we hitched a ride into Paris with the family (since it only takes 30 minutes by car). They were going to the 9 am Mass and we were aiming for the 10:30, so we did have to kill some time and wandered around in the area just a bit. But I was worried about getting seats (since it was to be a Pontifical High Mass), so we went into the church about halfway through the 9 am Mass. Just after Communion, we walked up the aisle and basically staked our claims - lol! - nor were we the only ones doing that!! Even for all our efforts, we didn't get seats together. Still, we were fortunate to get seats fairly near the front. Needless to say, the Mass was absolutely beautiful and His Excellency's sermon excellent.
After Mass, we met up with several other Americans and Sister Mary Ambrose! We talked with them for awhile, before we finally had to leave if we wanted any time in the Louvre at all. Yep, after that, we went to the Louvre. We had to rush right through the place, but we saw our main 'priorities' within three-and-a-half hours. We were shooed out when the place closed. Once again, we took it a little bit easy and just went back to the house for dinner.

Monday morning, I saw her to the train station and we said our farewells.

....
Tuesday morning, I left with the family for their grandparents' place near Anjou, France. We were there until yesterday. That is why you have not received this update sooner! :)

More another time! Ciao.