Yesterday was so social I'll be quite happy to not see a soul for a few days (alas, I have to go grocery shopping but such is life). In the morning, we greeted Steph's sister and family who live in Reims and were on their way home from spending the week with Steph's parents in Troyes. It was only the third time we've had guests in our new place since we moved in so Steph played tour guide while I brewed coffee and hot chocolate and tea. After spending an hour chatting over the ginormous and delicious pastries from our local boulangerie we sent them on their way and prepared for an outing of our own.
Just after lunch we got in the car and traveled to the rain-soaked département of Haute-Marne, to a village called Manois, to see a performance of our friend Marc's choir who was celebrating its 30th anniversary. Marc was getting over the flu so he joined us, Doc and their two kids in the crowded church to hear them sing. The present director and three former directors lead the choir through thirty songs in celebration of their milestone anniversary. It sounds long but in fact the time went pretty fast. Some surprises on the list included the traditional version of "La Bamba," the original French "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" ("Le lion est mort"), "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" in French and "Amazing Grace" in English (and their English was among the best sung English I've heard in France, I must say!).
During the intermission, Doc and I chased her nearly-two-year-old son through the church yard and had a good chat while her month-old daughter slept peacefully through the whole thing. And I must say, I felt very funny in my tummy as Steph played and talked with little Matthieu at the end of the intermission.
Anyway, it was a great, if not long, afternoon, as we arrived back home at 8:30 and fell on the couch for an hour or two before falling into bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment