A Belated Week 8 & 9

Well I apologize for letting the blog go the last month or so.

Do forgive me! 

I have been writing out the blogs on my computer but not posting them, 

so starting today I'm going to be releasing some backlog! 

So get ready! 

This was written on August 11th, 

the day I left Nice, France,

and I'm chronicling my last two weeks in Nice. 

The last few weeks have FLOWN BY! 

Let’s see what’s been happening. 

The last week of July we had our exchange conference. 

It was AWESOME! I wasn’t sure what to expect, 

and to be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to it. 

The interns were in charge of the children’s program.

 So we were looking at spending approximately 3 to 5 hours every night 

with an unknown amount of 3 to 8 year olds. 

But it went well and was so much fun! 

Our first night we only had one kid with us, 

but the numbers just grew each day. 

We were a little overwhelmed trying to figure out how to entertain so many kids, 

especially not knowing how many there would be or how old they were.

 But The Lord was ever faithful and guided us well! 

We had such a good time! 

The kids were great!  

There were several kids who had never stayed in the nursery without one of their parents, 

but were able to stay an entire night, 

several even stayed multiple nights! 

And by the end of the week, each one could say John 8:12 from memory! 

(Props to Antonio Orozco for the killer hand motions!) 

It was my favorite thing we did this summer! 

Since we had the conference during the evenings we got to have a bit calmer mornings and afternoons. 

So most of those were spent preparing for the conference or at the beach. 

My last week was nice! 

We didn’t have any planned ministry events so we were able to sort of make our own ministry plans, 

like having lunch with all the ladies on the team, 

helping organize the budget for kids club into a nice and orderly spreadsheet, 

or a lovely coffee date were all on the agenda. 

Wednesday was our day off, 

so Joanna and I went into Nice to go to the market and do a bit of shopping. 

Then she and I went to the Renoir museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer. 

Oh it was absolutely lovely! 

I highly recommend visiting if you’re ever in the area! 

It is the home where Renoir spent the latter part of his life.

 It’s just a stunning atmosphere.

 You’re surrounded by these beautiful gardens and olive groves. 

You can’t hear the noise of the roads nearby or the airplanes overhead.

 It’s like being in a different time. 

Joanna and I from Renoir's balcony!

The view from Renoir's balcony overlooking the Mediterranean!

Saturday, August 9th, was quite the day. 

Since my birthday was on a busy and inconvenient day, 

we weren’t able to celebrate much. 

So Saturday was my birthday…continued. 

Saturday morning I opened an envelope with 3 options for the day,

 Option 1.) a visit the the Renoir museum, a cookout and fireworks, 

Option 2.) a trip to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, with a visit to the Rothschild Villa, a Venetian festival, and fireworks, Option 3.) a trip to a sandy beach with my own plush chair, a delicious beachside meal and of course, fireworks. 

After much deliberation I decided on Option 2, 

and boy was that a good decision! 

The villa was absolutely stunning…for a winter home. 

JK it was AMAZING…and completely ridiculous.

 Everything was absolutely immaculate…including a room completely decorated in monkeys, 

numerous pieces of furniture once owned by Marie Antoinette,

 and a multiple rugs that once belonged to the king of France. 

The gardens were even more amazing! 

They were designed to look like the deck of a cruise ship…and they really do! 

 

We had a lovely dinner in Cap Ferrat, 

followed by the strangest festival I've ever been to. 

It was a Venetian festival complete with a parade and fireworks. 

The parade was. . .interesting to say the least. 

But the fireworks were INCREDIBLE! 

The perfect end to my birthday. 

The port at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. 

 These were some of the members of the Venetian parade...it also included a band that marched (NOT a marching band), flag throwers, traditional Venetian costumes, and whatever the heck these people were!