les Davey de France

A couple of things have helped.  Catrin came round and clowned around with music. A future bride came round to eat, and to plan her wedding in three weeks' time. I listened to Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on a theme of Tallis.* I took a nap. I needed it, too, after a short and disturbed night. My preparation for tomorrow morning and for Sunday. * one bright spot in the covid experience has been the artists finding new ways to reach the public with their music: the pianist Igor Levit's micro-concerts, Voces8 and Apollo5 and so on with their chamber choir stuff, orchestras performing from unusual halls, the Wigmore Hall broadcasting wonderful singers. I can't always spare an evening or the cost of a ticket for a concert in Bordeaux but here world-class music has come to our homes, and I'm very thankful.

I feel it's a bit of a cheek to talk about "coping with the crisis". After all, we live in a nice flat in a nice city where there is food and good medical care, we can work from home and we are not ill. What is there to cope with? On the other hand we are confined to our flat except for sorties for food and medical care, and for one hour of exercise to be taken within one kilometre of our flat. We are confined. Add to that the fact that when we go out we must be careful not to touch our faces, to keep our distance from people and to wash our hands thoroughly on our return. Yesterday I washed my hands, my face and the door handles. In addition we see the mounting death toll and the numbers sick both here and in the UK, and also the rising threat in other countries of the world where many of our friends and colleagues work. How do we cope? 1) We limit our exposure to the news. We catch up first thing in the morning, and that's enough. I look at the official Fren...

So much of what I do is not really bloggable. For example this morning I have to catch up on reading and also search for suitable photos for our new website that someone is working on and which we hope to release in September.

asks the BBC. Listen here .

Having spent a quiet two days in trains, plus a good old grilling at the Commission des Ministères - warm and friendly but all the hot potatoes came up - they voted to accept me as a Pasteur Associé. I told the chairman that they're madder than I thought they were. I tell you what, Nîmes is a rum old place ! J-P drove me from his family home to the high-tech UNEPREF head offices - the nerve center - through a neighbouring ZUP. I have never seen so many huge blocks of flats in one place - ever. Astonishing ! Now it's the first nutty weekend of Christmas. Here's the schedule : Now - headcount for Bordeaux Church Meal and Message Then - order of service type-up for service tomorrow morning Then shopping for Bordeaux Church Christmas Meal and Message. Then lunch. Then rehearsal for the Bordeaux Trombone Christmas Extravaganza. Then dash to pick up family at tram stop yet to be decided. Then dash to Anglican Church Camel Service. "Away in a Manger" an...

10h Pastoral meet-up in Bordeaux 12h Tracting somewhere (I hope to make this) 15h Church council meeting 20h Café Philo In between I need to get to a railway station to get my train ticket for tomorrow, write and send several emails and also phone my JW friend to tell him not to come round this week again.

I had a list of things to do as long as my arm, and I think that as the day draws peacefully to close, I am on schedule to sort all out by lunchtime tomorrow when the Student Mission team hits town and lists of things to do become things of the past... This included a nice two hour Skype call with a brother working in the esat of France. A blest day really. Oh, and Pat has become Parent Representative on the Conseil de Classe for Catrin's class. Thanks for praying.

Yesterday began with the great world of Davey High Finance - finding the 6€ (that's FIVE POUNDS) that it costs for a school meal in Catrin's school. Then off to the Apple Store to see about fixing my cracking iPhone. The genius - that's what they're called, you go to the Genius Bar - said, "we could fix it for €200 euros, but you're right, you could just glue it". She then told me all about the wonderful things that happen at the Apple Store. There was a little wide-eyed wonder about it all, but I kept remembering that it's a sect really and you mustn't be drawn in. In fact it all reminds me of the Mormon temple that I visited once in Preston. We were doing surveys at Victoire at 11:15, so I found myself outside Andy's pad and dropped in to use the loo and to talk about how things are going. On the tram to Victoire a very vocal man got on telling everyone loudly what time it was and getting it wrong. Two women were trying to find our positi...

MPEF Skype Extraordinary Annual General Meeting this morning. (I think that's about increasing the subscription so the secretary has a little money to work with.) Pessac Guys at lunchtime. Preachers discussion afterwards. English Class this evening - swiftly followed (if it's OK with Phil) by Conseil at the Music School).