New Videos!!

Yup - a large part of my work as "intern" (notice I'm no longer a slave?) is making videos for the House. Here are the most recent two. The first is the newest, and actually gives a glimpse of what the Hospitality House ministry is all about. The second is a short, fun video from our trip to Colmar, France to see the Tour de France. Enjoy!

le Tour de France

Yesterday, for our weekend trip, we drove 3 1/2 hours across the border to Colmar, France to watch the beginning of stage 14 of the Tour de France. Our "advance party" (Gordon, Joe, and Jonathan) had left Friday to see the end of stage 13 and to scout out a good place to park and to stand amidst the crowds. They had to endure much rain, but we only had a few scattered showers on Saturday morning, and none during the race.

We managed to park and walk to the raceway and find a spot right on the curb. When the bikers rode past, I was almost afraid they'd knock my camera out of my hand, they were so close. They rode past us quickly, followed by a mile or so of chase-cars with bikes and tires and parts to help should a problem arise. And...then it was over. We took videos and pictures, and later that night Nellie and I went frame by frame until we found Lance Armstrong. :) Her picture is better than mine, cause mine was grabbed from my video camera. But still, that's him!! (it looks like a tabloid alien picture of questionable authenticity...)
After the few seconds of the rac we were able to see, we walked around and enjoyed a day in Colmar. We visited the Frederic Auguste Bartholdi museum - for those who don't know, he is the French sculptor from whom we received the Statue of Liberty. We even passed her on the way into Colmar, on a MUCH smaller scale. We also got coffee at a French cafe, and enjoyed traditional French cuisine like - gasp - escargo. We saw a mushroom store, and several delicious looking bakeries, and an Army/Navy store. One of the guys did go in and ask if they had any white flags. Her response? She handed him the rainbow flag. :) But the whole day was really great, full of good conversations and building of friendships.

La Ligne Maginot

or, The Maginot Line: a rather brilliant military installation designed by the French to prevent Germany from invading during World War II. It was basically a line of fortifications stretching from northern France all the way south to Nice along the German border, able to defend against any German onslaught. Unfortunately, Hitler decided to invade Belgium and enter France from the other side, rendering the whole ineffective, since the guns couldn't turn around the other way. Oops.

That's where we went yesterday. We went to Ouverage Simserhof, the fourth largest 'block' of the Maginot Line. Friday night we were sitting around discussing our options for Saturday's activity when Gordon suggested France, and a trip to the Maginot Line. Sounds interesting, only an hour and a half away - okay, let's go! So we did - and it was fascinating. I had never heard of it before, so it was a lot of fun to sit in between Brad and Gordon on the way there and learn all about it. We watched a movie about it in English, then took a tour on a train, with audio and video in alternating English and German. After that was over, we took a walking tour throughout the entire block with our German guide. (I got to be the translator - and I don't think I did too badly!) It was really very cool - much cooler than I thought it would be.

After the three hour tour, we drove another 10 kilometers to another block, one that hadn't been turned into a museum, where we could climb up top and see the raise-able (I know there's a better word in English, but it escapes me at the moment) gun towers. It was a lot of fun, and we had a full van. Poor Happy actually had to stay behind because there weren't enough seats. Debbie and Nellie were away on the PWOC retreat, so I was the only girl, which was pretty fun. :)

The rest of the week has been great, too. Wednesday night we had a record number of soldiers at the house, and Friday night was very large, as well. Mac had a four day weekend so he was here helping me clean and cook on Friday after Debbie left. Saturday was our French adventure and movie night, Sunday was church and a nice big lunch, followed by an afternoon of Catchphrase and other games. I played more chess this weekend than I have in the last 10 months, which was fun, even though I lost most of the games. And today, I laughed more with Mac and Nellie than I have laughed in a very, very long time, to the point where breathing was painful (or impossible) and smiling hurt. It was great.

And now I can say I've been to France!