Two Different Experiences

Waiting for the race.

Jack heard that the 'real' Tour de France bicycle race would begin its premiere stages here in the north, so he looked on the map to see if it would be coming through anywhere near our area. We'd been traveling to Calais to work on the apartment there, and he saw that a side trip from the freeway would take us to a little town called SAINGHIN-EN-WEPPES, where the race was scheduled to pass through at 10:30 a.m. We decided that catching a glimpse of the race would be a fun 'memory souvenir' for us; so on July 3rd, on our way to Calais, we veered off for the 20 minute ride to the village. We got there 10 minutes early, only to find out that it wouldn't come through until after the noon hour! Rats....those best laid plans, foiled again! Jack said that we should wait because this was a onetime event for us, our chance to see a real French tradition in person, so we did. Finally, at almost 12:30, the pre-race HOO-HAA began to arrive: support cars and advertising sponsors hawking their products through loud speakers, came zooming wildly through this little intersection, throwing things at us from their tricked-out vans and trucks. They targeted a little 9 year old girl and her energetic mother a few yards in front of us, so Jack was able to catch a bag of Madeleine cookies, and another one of crunchy snacks, that were tossed into the air. Finally, at 1:32, a break-away group of 4 riders rushed by us surrounded by cars so close to them it was scary. These barely 2-lane skinny French roads are a trial for cars, let alone break-neck speed bicyclists trying to jockey each other for position. Three minutes later the main body (the peloton) of riders came by us....ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM, with their bright colored costumes and head gear; more support cars with their extra bikes and wheels on top; and camera crews, all before you could even blink an eye! That was it, the whole she-bang over and done with...sure glad we didn't have to pay admission for that 3 minute show, but it was interesting to say the least and Jack did have conversations with several people there, so that was good too.

The Breakaway Group heads through first.

Here comes the Peloton!

Support cars trail with extra bikes.

We love working with and getting to know the missionaries here in Lille, and we've had many experiences with them, mostly about the work, but sometimes things take a different turn; like the time we got a frantic phone call from the Elders when their apartment key broke off inside their door lock, and they were all stuck out in their hall. They asked the neighbor lady if she'd get a hold of the owner for them, and she just laughed at the ridiculousness of such a request. Apparently no one had even seen such a person for 25 years at least! So one of the Elders called Jack and asked if he could come over with his tool box to help them out maybe?

Four homeless waifs.

Almost two hours later, on a cold rainy night, I answered the intercom - it was Jack, and he said, "I'm back, and I have 4 homeless waifs with me!" They'd tried everything they could think of to loosen that key, but no luck, so he brought them home with him to do the best we could. Luckily, we had just bought 2 blow-up mattresses for some Young Adults to be able to stay with us for their weekend conference, plus, one shorter Elder might fit on our half-sized couch; but we had no blankets or sheets or toothbrushes (and no Walmart nearby). None of them had eaten since lunchtime, so I started pulling out left-overs from the conference out of the fridge to warm up for them. The one thing there was plenty of was the chicken spaghetti, and they were so grateful for some good hot food it was funny. I also had a pan of brownies made for the next day's Institute dinner, so they got a good dessert too. We figured out the problem of no toothbrushes by handing out floss and baking soda. We could only come up with 2 extra pillows, but two heavy BYU sweatshirts, each rolled up into a ball worked OK. The poor guys just had the suits they'd been wearing all day, and we only had one blanket on our bed; but we passed out Jack's robe, the pretty little lap quilt that Heather gave me at the airport, and coats from our closet to use the best they could. We turned up the heat in the living room til it was nice and warm in there, and since I knew they were awkward about being around a female, I told them I was shutting the door to my room and that was the LAST they'd see of me that night!

Le petit-déjeuner au Café Metcalfe

Those good Elders' alarm 'watch' went off at 6:30 a.m., so we were soon off and running. We were almost out of milk, but I had some newly discovered Lait Fermente (looks and smells like buttermilk to me!) for pancakes, and plenty of eggs, so I scrambled some while they all took turns showering, and we had a nice breakfast with orange slices and yogurt to boot! While Jack had a captive audience, he taught them the ins and outs of genealogy, but Elder Maynes slipped away to the kitchen to help with the dishes. He loves history and was able to be a part of a flag folding ceremony at the U.S. Soldiers Monument at Normandy a while back. He talked to some of the old ex-servicemen who were there and was touched by their stories. One man in his 80's was in France for the 'last time', hoping to locate the very SPOT where he was wounded on a day so long ago. It meant so much to him to be a survivor when all around him other men had been killed or were dying. This was his third try, but everything seemed so different now that he just couldn't find it.

Soon it was time to leave, someone had the idea that maybe super glue might work to meld the two key ends together...Hmmmm. Their best bet had to be Plan A - find a locksmith, and they actually got one willing to come and help them out. The locksmith came with a special tool so as not to ruin the wooden door and was able to finally install a new better quality lock system with much heavier keys. We paid $265 cash for it and were reimbursed later. They all hung together and we had an interesting experience and love each other all the more for overcoming the little trials of life.