Pentecost Sunday
was very warm here. We were a little thin on the ground for the morning service - it's a bank holiday weekend.
In the afternoon we were invited for lunch to some friends - along with some other families from the church. It was a big family gathering - 49 people in the grounds of this 19th century house out in the Entre-deux Mers. It seemed very pleasant and very French to us - apéros of crudités with dips, endives filled with salad. Then a massive paëlla. Then cakes and ice-creams. One of the family is a winemaker and he brought along the wine. Another brought some bottles of champagne. We sat at big tables set on decking under huge spreading trees. It was lovely to see a little gang of cousins bringing ice-creams out to the table for the children, hurrying along, laughing and talking all the way. Soon they'll be stood outside a church in nice dresses laughing a joking as a little gang of bridesmaids.
I met a family who live near some friends who are in pastoral ministry in the North of France. The family are looking for a church. So I'll put them in contact with each other and who knows.
The evening service was lower in numbers, too, so we sat in a circle and were more informal.
I put the air-conditioning on. People put their cardigans on.
Sometimes the hymn-books drive us nuts ! The simplest hymn has different harmonies (that's to be expected, I suppose), different words (not so good) or big changes in the melody. Aaarrrggghhhh !
In the afternoon we were invited for lunch to some friends - along with some other families from the church. It was a big family gathering - 49 people in the grounds of this 19th century house out in the Entre-deux Mers. It seemed very pleasant and very French to us - apéros of crudités with dips, endives filled with salad. Then a massive paëlla. Then cakes and ice-creams. One of the family is a winemaker and he brought along the wine. Another brought some bottles of champagne. We sat at big tables set on decking under huge spreading trees. It was lovely to see a little gang of cousins bringing ice-creams out to the table for the children, hurrying along, laughing and talking all the way. Soon they'll be stood outside a church in nice dresses laughing a joking as a little gang of bridesmaids.
I met a family who live near some friends who are in pastoral ministry in the North of France. The family are looking for a church. So I'll put them in contact with each other and who knows.
The evening service was lower in numbers, too, so we sat in a circle and were more informal.
I put the air-conditioning on. People put their cardigans on.
Sometimes the hymn-books drive us nuts ! The simplest hymn has different harmonies (that's to be expected, I suppose), different words (not so good) or big changes in the melody. Aaarrrggghhhh !
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