Lyndi-lou and Eddie too...

Lyndi-lou and Eddie too...

Sunday, September 27, 2015

A Class Act

Sunday, September 27, 2015

This was a special week in Charleville-Mézières.  After all this week was the International Marionnette Festival which is held every two years.  Everyone only had one thing on their minds - puppets.  They were headed to free puppet shows.  They were headed to paid shows.  They were headed to the downtown streets to see sidewalk puppet shows.  They were headed by the thousands to the main square to see demonstrations with puppets or to buy puppets.  And to feed all these people there were food stands from all over, from Africa to Romania.   

Cute!  Couldn't resist this.  Someone hung it on one of the doors.
The sweet friendly dinosaurs were charging around the square (on the feet of those inside) with full sound effects,    Totally incredible.  
Thousands and thousands of people were in town to see puppets.  And, we were among them.  We certainly increased our visibility in town.  We had a great opportunity to talk to people from all over the world.  We talked to people from Scotland, England, Senegal, South Africa, Quebec and from all over France.    


We have never seen such talent as we have seen here this week.  There were puppets of every description in town.  We saw puppets playing instruments, painting pictures, singing, doing magic, miming, dancing, fighting and having fun  as only puppets can do.


They have about 12 of these "rooms" with creatures  who live in each one forming a large circle in the square.  Unique and awesome.
However, we did not just take in the puppet shows all week.  We did head into Paris for a zone conference where we were spiritually fed by the Assistants to the President, by the Soeur Babin, by the zone leaders, the Sister Training leaders and by President Babin.  We covered a variety of topics including repentance, focus, looking like missionaries and teaching.  We were spiritually fed and loved it.

Lynn and Soeur Weckesser from Medicine Hat
While we were in  Paris we also went in to get our paperwork done for our second year in France.  This was quite a process when we tried to do this in Charleville but in Paris it went very slickly.  We also submitted papers to exchange our Drivers License for a French one.  This went well but the wait time was horrendous.  The new license will not be ready for 6 - 9 months.  


We were also able to get some winter tires for our car while we were at the Mission Home.  We had a wonderful visit with President Babin and his wife.  We got some great tires in new condition, complete with rims.  All we have to do is put them on.  This will be a big help for all of our apartment checks.  In Luxembourg and Belgium it is the law to have winter tires during the winter months.

We also continued with our teaching schedule.  We did teach with the Elders this week a number of times.  Things are going well with our teaching pool and with the progression of our Friends of the Church.  We do enjoy this part of our assignment.
"Headspace" The guy who came with this was from Holland.  When you looked inside there was an electrical scene inside with a moving doll etc. 
These old crows were dancing.  Funny thing is it was just one person with a puppet attached.  Swirling around they went to music down the street with ease and grace.  So cool.
This type of puppet was so incredible.  Just fascinating.
We called the title of our post this week "A Class Act" not only because the Marionnette Festival was indeed a class act but also because school kids were involved.  Can you imagine teaching in Charleville this week?  What a cultural opportunity for students.  And teachers took advantage of this gift.  Everywhere we saw teachers being followed by a class of kids from kindergarten to secondary.  They were loving it and learning as they participated.  I can only imagine the school work that preceded and that will follow this week - making puppets, reading fairy tales, writing and drawing about what they saw.  What a great opportunity.

The story to music these two told through their technique was spell bounding.  They even had the old guy roller skating gracefully and the little boy playing with the old mans walker.  Quite a moving story they told.  So awesome.
This guy is actually sitting on a chair inside the backpack and manipulating his puppet while playing his instrument masterfully.
These puppeteers are absolute Masters.  This little puppy moved as excitedly as a new real puppy.  And the kids thought he was real.  He had them mesmerised.
This was incredible.  This puppeteer had her puppet painting portraits of children as they posed patiently.
As always, we have been blessed being here.  This week was no exception as we took in the culture of our temporary home and as we met with members and potential members.  We love it.  That's all for now.

But....before we go we are going to add some extra pictures our friend Isabelle Biver took of the Festival des Marionettes as well.  

Au revoir de la France.
Lyndi-lou and Eddie, too.

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