St. Quentin, France

We arrived in St. Quentin in the early evening of July 23rd. After 2 very long days of traveling, all we wanted to do was crash. Instead, we stopped by Bonjourno Pizza (Pascal's Pizzeria) and we got a few pizzas for dinner, a great way to start off our stay in St. Quentin. St. Quentin was the 4th city I served in. I was called to be a zone leader there and my first companion there happened to be Elder Hafen, who I had already been companions with in Mons. I feel like this is the place where I really grew on my mission. I learned so much here that I still think about on a regular basis. This city and the people in it have made a huge impact on my life, which is why I like to go back and visit them. This is my 4th trip to Europe since my mission and each time I have spent time in this little town. Over the past 10 years since serving there, I have kept in contact with the 4-5 core families in the ward. I talk to them on the phone occasionally, email them, follow them on facebook, etc... In particular, Pascal has become a very close friend of mine. He used to take care of not just me, but all the missionaries. He would cook us lunch several times a week, he would go to appointments with us, he would help investigators with whatever they needed. On Christmas day, he invited all the missionaries to his house and provided us with an 8 hour, 8 or more course meal that included caviar, salmon, ostrich steaks, escargot and so many other delicious items that I hope I wrote down in my journal. At times, we would break into his house and toilet paper it or recycle all of our pizza boxes in random places like his bed. Then, the next day we would go out to our car and find it covered with flour and water (which makes a nice sticky mess that didn't come off for months, even after washing it several times). On P-day we would spend time with him, eating pizza and talking and playing card games. When I first got to the city, Pascal would tell you that I had a stick up my butt, meaning that I was very strict to the rules and very reserved. When everyone else was hanging out, I would be in the kitchen doing all of the dishes. I don't know, it was more comfortable for me in there. It became his mission to change that in me. He would not allow me to do the dishes and he would make me hang out with him. Overtime, I guess I lightened up. I later got the nickname Mimi and it stuck with all of the missionaries and all of the ward members. Everyone in St. Quentin calls me Mimi, even after 10 years! I served in St. Quentin for 7 months and it felt like home to me. It still does. I feel so comfortable there. In the 7 months of serving there, I learned how to open up to people, how to love people, how to share that love both through actions and words, and how to let people love me and form life long friendships. I LOVE St. Quentin.

As soon as we got there, Sam immediately loved Pascal too. It may have been initially more about the big candy jar, but eventually Sam just loved Pascal. We stayed with him for the 4 days we were there and Sam would always ask, "Pascal, where are you, Pascal?" and "Pascal, what doin?"

We ate some delicious pizza and went straight to bed. Everything was going smoothly until 2:30am rolled around and Sam woke right up, happy as a clam, and wanted to be awake for the day. BRUTAL! I ended up watching Scooby Doo with him for the next 3 hours. We did this two nights in a row until he was able to adjust to the new time.

The first day we were there, Pascal took us miniature golfing down by the lake. We also went mini golfing with him in 2009 when Trisha and I came to visit him. Take a look at the amazing transformation that he has had in last 3 years. It is incredible!! He had gastric bypass about 18 months ago due to some esophageal and stomach problems he was having. What a difference! I am really proud of the changes that he has made. He is a new man and it was great to see him more healthy and happy. Just look at the difference in these two pictures, you'll see it too.

Me and Pascal 2009

Pascal in 2012

Sam loved mini golfing but he is so big that he wanted to try and hit my ball. We had to keep putting him on the next hole and let him go at it by himself.

A view of the cathedral from the minigolf course

Trisha and Pascal posing

After playing minigolf, we went to this neat ice cream truck and Pascal bought us ice cream. Sam especially loved his oversized otterpop

Later that evening while Pascal was working, we took a trip to centre ville to look around and have dinner. This is the beach that they set up in the middle of downtown every summer.

Sister hanging out in her baby carrier. She is still happy in this picture because it was only the first few days of our trip. She spent a lot of time in this thing and by the end she absolutely hated it. But for now, look how cute she is. She was a very good traveler, all things considered.

Trisha eating her crepe sandwhich at a little shop we found

Sam being as big as can be eating his fruit cup

Sam playing in the sand

Photoshoot with all of us

I went into Pascal's room to find him and Sam sitting on the bed. Pascal had out his tablet which was playing all sorts of french children's songs. Pascal was singing along to them and Sam was contently listening, laughing at times when pleased.

The next day we were invited to eat lunch with the famille Bonamy. They moved to St. Quentin about the same time that I got called to serve there. Yves (the dad) works for the church building maintenance department. Now, he is the boss over all of the building maintenance in France. One night, Elder Hafen and I were invited to their house to eat dinner. Elder Hafen was in charge of the message and he chose to share something that we had been taught in a meeting that really touched him. The message was a little bit long and I could tell that they were not as into it as Elder Hafen was. They played along. After that night, they only invited us to their house under the stipulation that we would not share a message with them. We all laughed about it.

Sandra (the mom) put these clothes pins all over Sam and it kept him entertained for a while

Their backyard BBQ

Trisha hanging out with Kate

Pascal playing with Sam. This kid still loves to be thrown around

Here we are. Sam, Mike, Trisha, Kate, Sandra, Yves, Lucas, and Thomas

Since Pascal got a new body, he decided to get a new car. What a pimp! He let Trisha drive with him to McDonald's for breakfast. They were both too cool for school. The shiz, if you will.

The last day, Pascal shut down the pizzeria and he took us on a mini-trip about an hour away. The first stop was the Imperial Palace at Compiegne. I had been there once, but never visited the inside. We ate lunch at a small cafe on the adjacent street and then made our way to the palace. We were a little bit late to the tour but they let us in. It was a guided tour. The minute we got in the room, the tour guide was not that happy about us being there. Whether it was because we were American, or because we had kids, I have no idea, but it didn't get better. We proceeded through about 4 rooms in the palace and each time our kids said anything, she would shhh them. Now, yes our almost 2 year old was talking and yes our 5 month old was goo-ing a lot. However, they were not being overly loud and nobody seemed to be bothered by them except the shushing tour guide. We did our best to contain them. Finally after deciding it wasn't worth it, Pascal explained to the lady that we would like to be escorted out of the tour. He got into a small argument with her, but refused to get into it. As she got us an escort out of the tour, she was so happy and acting all pleasant. I said to her sarcastically, "Thank you for being so nice." She replied (obviously missing the sarcasm), "You're welcome." To which I said, "Actually you were not nice at all. You were very rude and our kids were not even being that loud. You clearly don't want children to be on this tour." At this she was very surprised that I could speak French and then she tried to backpeddle and say how much she loves children. I was so disgusted with her behavior that I wasn't having any of it. As we had to walk past her to get out, she said to me in passing, "I really do love children." and I said, "No you don't. It's very clear that you don't." and we left. Lucky for us, the nice lady that was escorting us out, after having heard what happened, decided to show us some of the rooms further on in the tour. She was very apologetic for her collegue. After a few minutes she said to us, "We better get out of here because if my collegue finds out that I am giving you this tour..." Well, there you go, apparently we are not the only ones that have such a high opinion of this lady.

This is a picture of the empress' room

The conversations that we had after leaving the tour were hilarious!! We laughed and laughed and laughed about the rude tour guide as we walked around in the gardens.

Me and Pascal posing in the gardens area

The facade of the imperial palace

Our next stop was the castle of Pierrefonds

A look at the castle

Another look

The front of the castle

A door that happens to be the perfect size for Trisha

Sam walking down the hill

After walking around in the heat at the castle, it was time for ice cream

Sam enjoying his popsicle

The last night we were there, we got to go over to Georgette's house. One of my favorite people. When Pascal wasn't taking care of us, Georgette and Andre would take over. I remember lots of delicious meals at Georgette's house. She always made the BEST soups, generally straight from the vegetables in Andre's beloved garden. You could always count on having soup, bread and cheese, a salad of sorts and then a delicious entree everytime you ate at their house. Over the years, I have played lots of card games at all hours of the night chez Georgette. I remember one time on my mission during transfers, I got to spend the whole day with Andre and Georgette after sending off one companion and waiting for the next to arrive. There is never a dull moment at their house. Sadly, Andre passed away a few years ago. I remember it was a friday afternoon in January and I was on my way to work at CVS in Massachusetts. Pascal called me to deliver the news and I pulled off into the parking lot of a nearby store to think about Andre and all the good times I had with him. I cried a little bit. I mostly remember how he used to get so upset while playing cards because Pascal would get mad at him for stupid plays. He also taught me the verb "rompre" which means to break the bread. He was a very great man. I was sad to learn that Georgette would be visiting the London temple while we were in St. Quentin. Lucky for us, she and the Famille Carpentier got back just in time to have a pizza party with us. It was a really fun night!

Sara, Mike, Christian, Sam, Lucette, Celia, Maeva, Nathan, Georgette, Trisha, Kate

Trisha, Kate, Georgette, Mike, Sam

A video of Sam talking to Pascal. Also exhibits Kate's ramblings.

And just as quickly as it came, it went. Our time in St. Quentin ended. It was really hard to leave but exciting to move on to our next destination!

A la prochaine fois St. Quentin! Merci pour la gentillesse!