Chateau de Brissac… a stately country home

Chateau de Brissac… a stately country home

The road between Châtellerault and Angers takes you through portions of three French departments (la Vienne, l’Indre et Loire, la Maine et Loire) passing by wide swaths of agricultural land and, as you approach Angers, field after field of vineyards. For the past seven months I’ve been making the 130km weekly, with the exception of school holidays, in order to teach English at a business school there.

Each trip makes me a bit more familiar with the general surrounding and from time to time my schedule allows me to explore points of interest along the way. Regular readers will recall that I first stopped in Brissac back in January, but was unable to visit the castle as it was closed for the season.  Last week was different… last week I had a guided tour.

Continue reading

Sharing the Book of Revelation

Sharing the Book of Revelation

Today we are on our way to Bordeaux for a special youth-themed weekend where the local church is hosting national youth president Samuel Sheikadam. It’s been a long time since our kids have been able to be with other Christian youth so we’re hitting the highway for some youth fellowship.

I’ll fill you in on that next week, but for now, let’s talk about the week that was…

Continue reading

Medieval Dinner & 5 Things I Learned

Medieval Dinner & 5 Things I Learned

I’d been planning this for about a month now and the day came for me to begin putting together a medieval feast. It was originally supposed to be a Valentine’s Day affair, but scheduling meant it had to be pushed off until Thursday (the 15th) in stead.

I banished everyone from the kitchen – this was to be my gift to them. After weeks of running and seemingly scarcely being home, it was my way to tell them I love them.

Let me tell you about our small feast and what I learned from it.

Continue reading

God provides Oil for the Tight Squeeze…

God provides Oil for the Tight Squeeze…

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have already seen today’s feature pic. It’s one I took Wednesday morning when I dropped Timo off at school. Although the days are getting longer, it’s still pretty dark first thing in the morning, but somehow that adds to the charm of walking through these pretty little streets of the city that we call –(at least for now)– “home”.

Continue reading

Can I Ask You Something?

Can I Ask You Something?

Good morning from France!

It’s an “Over and Above Blessing” weekend for me so, with the exception of church tomorrow, I’ll be enjoying the disconnect of being on a little French Hobby Farm.

If you’re curious about today’s post title and the big blue “Why?”… I’ll get to that toward the end of the post. First though, I want to tell you about the special visitors we got to see last weekend.

Continue reading

A Walk through Brissac-Quincé

A Walk through Brissac-Quincé

It was a grey, winter afternoon and my teaching day in Angers was an unusually short one and since I had some time to kill, I swung off of the D748 at Brissac.

Time and again, I’d driven by and seen the large highway sign highlighting the tallest castle in France – with its seven stories no less – but not had the time to stop. Today was different.

Continue reading