the local Saturday market

This morning, we checked out the open-air market that covered several street blocks (and one building) on the other end of town. It was a bustling place! The main wares being sold there were clothes, food, animals and plants. Here are a few photos of the market...

There were many varieties of meats and cheeses available:

They sold many varieties of flowering plants, herbs and vegetable plants:

There were numerous varieties of ducks, chickens and other birds for sale:

They even sold guinea pigs! I wanted to buy one, but we decided that wasn't the best choice:

We bought a couple things at the market: a little bit of goat cheese, and two small basil plants to put out on our balcony.

the walk to our French language school

This morning we found our way to IFALPES, the school where we'll be studying French. It's a short walk from our house: less than fifteen minutes! Along the way, there are some beautiful sights, such as these roses (there are beautiful rose bushes and climbing roses all around the city).

The school is housed in a historic building called Chateau de Boigne. Here, Adam and John pause in the shade in front of the Chateau.

There is a nice walking/biking trail that goes past our apartment building. Here is the view just a couple minutes' walk down the path.

our new home in Chambéry

The first day of settling in to our new place has gone well...much of the setting up was already done for us by those who lived here before us! Below is a photo of Adam working through contracts and bills (in French, of course!) in the kitchen area of our apartment.

The next photo shows our living room; the couch folds out into a bed, which will be great if we ever get a lot of visitors at once.

Yesterday, our first day, we met Patrick and Mary and their two sweet girls, Deborah and Rebekah. Patrick was the one who picked us up from the airport, and today he helped us figure out issues with our bank account. We enjoyed having their family with us for lunch today.

We had to go out this afternoon to pay rent and run a couple of errands. We felt a little nervous since we do not speak much French at all, but the people we interacted with were so kind and helpful, accomodating our lack of language ability!

travelling to France

On May 25 (Timo's birthday!), Mom and Dad H. drove us to the airport in Charlotte, NC. We made a brief stop at Uncle Pat and Aunt Sandy's for lunch, then headed to the airport. Everything went smoothly, although we didn't really sleep on the flight (John, the exception, slept for a couple of hours). It seemed so strange to see the sunrise through the plane windows at what, for us, was a usual bedtime.

We had a layover in Munich, and God worked it out that our good friends Brian and Tabita, along with their little boy Tsuriel had a layover (travelling the opposite direction!) at the same time as us. After the long night of flying, it was refreshing to spend our layover with them!

Here's a video of John and Tsuriel getting to know each other...



We did arrive to France quite tired, but Patrick, a Dutch missionary also studying French here, picked us up from the Lyon airport, drove us to our new place, and helped us work through some details that would be VERY challenging with our extremely limited French ability--that was a huge help! We are happy to be in our new apartment in Chambéry! The couple who lived here before us left so many helpful things for us that we already feel pretty well settled in, other than a few suitcases we have to unpack.

John's 6-month birthday (and other happenings)

Today has already been quite a Saturday.



In preparation for life in Europe, Adam got a new haircut...

...and John donned his "beret nouveau."

Then Great-Aunt Lois came for a visit!

She taught the astute learner how to wink...

...and let him chew on his hands...

...and on his feet...

...and then she tickled his feet to make him laugh! What a great day to be six months old.

napping contentedly in North Carolina

As we weigh suitcases and figure out other details for the big move we'll make on Monday, John naps without a care in the world.

travelling from MN to NC

Here are a few photos from the final leg of our 5,000+ mile "roadtrip," which took us from MN to NC. The next leg of our journey will be via plane to France, next Monday!

Minnesota goodbyes...

John's many travelling faces...