Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day in France, and it was a pretty wonderful day.

Marc let me sleep in, which meant we were seriously late to church. The French sacrament meeting was full to capacity, so we went to the American one (across the courtyard). The American meeting was SO full, they had the doors open and there were chairs set up in the courtyard. As they are not equipped with a microphone in that room, we had to strain to hear anything at all. (Lucas said he only found out a prayer had been offered when everyone said "amen".)

Fortunately, it was not raining, as it has been nearly every day! And actually, it was the only time we've been to church where I wasn't sweating to death, so I really didn't mind sitting outside. Eva could not wrap her mind around the concept that this was indeed church, so we let her wander around the very small courtyard. Max followed her around and helped her to be as quiet as possible. This was all well and good until someone in a car came roaring into the courtyard! My heart stopped for a minute. Luckily, Max was on top of the situation.


There came a point where wandering had lost its charm and Eva was only content to dig in the dirt. And when that was no longer enough, she took to burying her Skittles (the bribe I had brought) in the dirt...


Marc gave me tickets to a concert (for a Belgian artist we have enjoyed for years). I've never been to a concert in Paris, it should be a fun first!

After church, we conducted our own private little chocolate tasting. (Marc did this with his students today -- it's our LDS answer to wine tasting. Hey, this is France!) He got these fabulous boxes containing tiny little pieces of several varieties of dark chocolate from Michel Cluizel, one of the most renowned chocolatiers in France.

What's amazing is that each of these chocolates is made only with cocoa beans, sugar, and vanilla, yet they each taste so very different! The difference is all in the areas where the cocoa bean plantations are located and the variations in their soil. The box comes with a guide that tells you where the cocoa beans came from, what notes are in the chocolate (like perfume!), and why those flavors would be present in soil from that area of the world. The notes include things like: mango, green banana, red berries, green olives, honey spice cake, licorice, and even volcanic ash! The one with volcanic ash was not my favorite, but all of the rest were absolutely delicious.

It was the most luxurious experience, and I loved that even Max was into it! (Lucas doesn't like dark chocolate.) I never thought this would happen to me, but I have found myself not wanting to eat the other chocolate we have around the apartment right now (all good French chocolates in their own right) because I just know they will not compare. I never thought that would happen to me! (I wonder how long it will last...)

Marc made me lunch and I read for awhile and took a nap -- delicious. For dinner he served Chinese food he had bought the night before and this for dessert:

That's what I'm talking about!

Max made me a very sweet card and even expressed thanks for Mother's Day in his prayer before bed. I felt loved indeed.