The Paris Beaches

Paris is crisscrossed with many streets and avenues of course, as any large city would be. If you were driving along the Seine there are streets above the river, some under ground bypasses and also some roads along the Seine itself. In the month of August, the vacation month, the city “fathers” provide a beach along the Seine for the Parisians who can not go away on holiday.

In two places along the banks of the Seine they close off traffic on the street and create a beach there. They bring in tons of sand, potted palm trees and literally change the road into a beach with a walkway to stroll. There are swimming pools, beachside café’s, a concert stage, beach games, lounge chairs and, of course, sand to lie upon. With 3 kilometers in the main centrally located one, a lot of people can enjoy this area.

The other Seine beach is considered a bit more intellectual with free newspapers, wifi connections and art classes. There are boats anchored along the shore that offer musical shows at night, along with community dancing.

The third beach, located in a wide spot of a canal in Paris, offers more water sports with the beach. There are boats to row, kayaks to paddle, and pedal boats to use. There are even boules courts (a sort of outdoor bowling game) to try out.

As of yet we haven’t spent time on the beach, but I did take a few pictures to give you an idea of the layout. Where ever you are this summer, we hope that you are enjoying your “beach”, relaxing, and having a good time!!!!

Yet Another Independence Day - Liberia

Yet another Independence Day. The 26th of July is the date of this special holiday for Liberia, which celebrated the 162nd year of its Declaration of Independence this year. One of the fascinating things about living in Paris for a while is the opportunity to mix with folks of a multitude of cultures. Because of my position as one of the pastors of The American Church in Paris, I have the opportunity to be right in the middle of this mixture, and it often includes Nancy.
Nancy and were invited to attend an all night party sponsored by the Liberian Association of Paris on Saturday evening, 25 July. No, we did not stay all night as I was scheduled for preaching at 3 services on Sunday.
It was very interesting. I was actually invited to the event so that I could give the opening prayer for the program. The man from the Liberian Embassy (and a member of the American Church) who invited us said that he hoped that I could offer a “powerful prayer” on behalf of his people and his nation. Well, I tried my best. Even so, it was much shorter than the following speeches.
The actual program was late in starting (not unusual in France and certainly not unusual for Africans). By the time that the program started an hour late, about 10 p.m., the large room where the celebration was held was full, mostly with people from Liberia. We were about the only “white” folks there. The Ambassador was the main speaker, and he did a good job of speaking to the history of his country, including what he called the senseless civil war of recent years. His main emphasis was on the courage needed for his people to overcome the problems and challenges that face their country. He reminded his listeners that Africans have as much ability to organize and manage their affairs as any other people on earth. I would agree with that. Of course, having the ability and actually doing it can be two different things!
Later in the evening the Ambassador came over and talked with me for several minutes. One thing I learned is that he was an architect for many years, and he lived and worked in Oklahoma City, OK for a long time. I was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, not far from Oklahoma City, so this common experience of geography broke the ice for our conversation. The most interesting thing is that he went through my prayer almost line for line. He talked of the fact that Liberia, initially settled by former slaves from the U.S., was based on Christian teachings and principles. The national anthem, which was later sung, has several references to God including “Long live Liberia, happy land, a home of glorious liberty by God’s command” and “In union strong success is sure. We cannot fail with God above….”
We were served an authentic (as possible in Paris) Liberian dinner with roasted chicken, fried fish heads, three rice dishes of varying “heats”, salads, and honey cakes for dessert. There were several sauces to add to the dishes starting with hot and ending with “smoke comes out your ears”. I finally met my match after trying the last one!!!
We joined the parade of dancers for a while as the music from Liberia overcame most of our ability to converse. About 1:30 a.m., one of the ambassador’s personal drivers gave us a ride home. I set two alarm clocks to make sure that I got up for my first preaching opportunity at 9 a.m. Actually, I awoke before the alarm clocks went off.
[Pictures: Liberian Ambassador to France: (1) talking with Don (2) with Liberian flag]

Wallace Fountains & John Adam's Home

Several times as we have been walking around in neighborhoods, we have seen these very interesting, dark green statue like objects with water trickling down the center. After doing some research we discovered that they are officially Wallace Fountains. After the Franco-Prussian War which ended in 1871 there was almost no clean drinking water for the people of Paris. A wealthy British philanthropist financed the installation of 50 of these fountains in each section of Paris so that people could have pure drinking water.

The first fountains were nicknamed the “Brewery of the Four Women” because it had four women in a circle holding up the top of the fountain. These women were draped in scanty tunics which showed a knee. Between the women was a shelf like connection which had a frogs mouth with a cup attached. You were almost invited to take the cup and catch a drink of the water flowing down from the top of the fountain (and behind the women).

These fountains were so popular and necessary that more than 100 more copies have been built and almost all of them are still in use. Most are located in a small park or city square. While I would hesitate to drink from the fountain, our three grandchildren had a great time on a warm day splashing the water and rebaptising each other.

Near the fountain in northwest Paris that we last visited, we also saw the residence of John Adams and John Quincy Adams when they lived here in Paris as diplomats. John Adams first came to Paris in 1778 to negotiate the Treaty of Paris which was signed in September of 1783. This officially ended the Revolutionary War. Young John Quincy had been only 10 when he came with his father to France, but he had been enrolled in a French school. He learned French very well and he used it quite often when he was older as it was the official language of diplomacy at that time. The residence is now doctor’s offices.

If August Is the Month...........

If August is the month for vacation in Paris, then July must be the month for moving!! As we travel to different parts of the city, we keep seeing indications that people are moving “lock, stock and barrel”. Now, I know that there are people who have only small amounts of things to move and they will call a friend who has a vehicle, or rent a small van for a day. But, what we have seen a lot is something unique to Europe.

In the inter city of Paris most of the more expensive apartments buildings will have an elevator. However, it seems that it is easier to remove a window, put up a conveyer type ladder and then haul everything down to a waiting truck. The conveyer/ladder contraption is interesting as it arrives all neatly folded within itself on a small truck. Slowly it just unfolds and grows until it can reach up at least 7 floors. On this ladder is a metal box about a meter square with sides that can fold down to make a flat platform that glides up and down the ladder. Sometimes the box is left formed as a box to transport things, but more often boxes are carefully balanced on the flat platform to descend to be taken off and packed into the moving truck. At least two, but usually three men work at this job with one loading the platform at the top, one hydraulically moving the platform and removing the boxes at the bottom and one person packing the truck.

The French seem to pay no attention to all this, while we tourists stop and gaze at the scene. So far, I haven’t seen nary a box fall off the platform midways down.

Jesse Jackson at American Church in Paris

Sunday, August 9, 2009 From Paris
Dear Family and Friends,
There was excitement here at The American Church in Paris this morning as we welcomed Rev. Jesse Jackson as a guest preacher for our 11:00 a.m. service. The church was packed as we shared in a great worship experience that included an adult baptism as well as the special sermon. Rev. Jackson preached on the topic of Peace-Making. It was a powerful sermon in content and was delivered in a powerful way as well. He talked of the dream for peace, the difficulty of actually working for peace. To paraphrase: We so often give in to strategies of war and violence rather than peace-making, though war does not ever lead to really winning peace. He spoke of Jesus’ words regarding peace-makers in the Beatitudes. He drew applause as he repeated again and again “We must work for peace every day.” He gave examples of places where peace is so desperately needed now. The 20 minute sermon was challenging and certainly relevant.
Following the service he shook hands with many people, did an interview for a Paris TV station, then went to the senior pastor’s apartment for a light lunch. Nancy and I, along with other pastoral staff and a few others joined in for the lunch. He left in order to get some rest before departing tomorrow for Africa. He will be involved there in some peace negotiations. We are not clear about the details.
His schedule this morning was interesting. His plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 9:00 a.m. from his flight from the U.S. He was met by a news crew and interviewed for 15 minutes at the airport. Then he was driven as quickly as possible to The American Church, arriving at 10:55 a.m. He was ushered in to the senior pastor’s office, where we greeted him, had a picture taken, helped him into his robe, wired him with a cordless mike. The senior pastor gave him a worship bulletin pointed out the sermon, and asked if he would like to give the benediction. We entered the sanctuary at exactly 11:00 a.m. with the organ prelude in progress.
Even though we had a very full service, we recessed out of the sanctuary at just about 12:05 p.m. with a whole host of folks who hoped to be able to shake Rev. Jackson’s hand.
It was a great day!!!!! Our 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. services continued as scheduled, and I conducted a memorial service in the church library for about 35 people at 2:00 p.m. I was ready for a nap – and took it.

[Note on pictures - (1) I helped lead worship, so included a picture. (2) Jesse Jackson during his sermon (3) Picture before the service. On the right is our senior pastor, Scott Herr, the Rev. Jackson, then me, then our associate pastor, Laurie Wheeler] - photos by Nancy & Fred Gramann

Peace! Don and Nancy

Bastille Day - 14 July

July 14, 2009 was Bastille Day here in France. This is the French Independence Day and celebrated a bit like our Fourth of July in that the people have the day off to see the parades, view the fireworks and do whatever else they want.

Our apartment is just about 3 blocks and across the river from the parade. But, with so many thousands wanting to see the parade you either have to take a ladder to stand on (which many do!!), or go very early to find a place where you can be close enough to see.

Once we learned that we could have almost a “front row seat” in front of the television, we opted for that option. However, we did go and stand by the river to watch the flyover that happens at the beginning of the parade. The first formation of nine planes had colored smoke exhaust with three blue, three white and three red….the colors of the French flag. Then, they must have flown several of every plane that the French air force has in different formations.

In the parade we saw many regular army, navy, etc marching/riding personnel (mostly men and a few women) but those units with long traditions dress in their traditional uniforms. There were lots of sabers and distinctive hats. Some of the more interesting that we recognized were the French Foreign Legion and some that had served in India. There were also invited Indian units this year. There were of course the traditional instruments in the bands, but there were also a few weird looking and sounding things.

The Indian military unit had their transport bus parked close to the church so we were able to get a good look at them. They posed and let people try on their hats.

But the real thrill of the day was the fireworks. Each year they are done close to the Eiffel Tower, but this year probably half of them were shot from the tower. The estimate was that over a million people sat on the grass of the park at the tower to watch the fireworks….and we did that in 2006. However, this year we had a great view as we splurged and bought a boat cruise that ended right at the tower.

It was a delight to see different fireworks going off up and down, right and left from the Eiffel Tower. At one point the lights didn’t explode outwards but just looked like big flames on different levels of the tower. I guess this seemed very realistic to one of our grandsons who is visiting. He asked me the next morning if the tower had burned the night before. Since we can see the tower from our windows, I showed him that the tower was still there and the elevators were still going up and down and it was certainly all right.

After walking home through the crowd, we were almost too sound and light shocked to sleep, but it had been a great day.

Early days back in the City of Lights - glamorous Paris

We are, indeed, back. It really feels good to be here even though we also miss our beloved Red Lodge. We have been enjoying walking from our apartment down to Rue Cler, a very traditional French street with small shops and loads of locals shopping (plus, of course, some tourists as well). We have ridden our bus #63 that stops right in front of the church. We can ride it all the way to one of our favorite grocery stores. We have also been to a couple of Carre Fours, the French version of Wal Mart type stores. Nancy has traveled around to at least one street market - the first of many, we are sure, and has made it to look around at some other big stores as well.

Sunday I helped in a minor way to lead worship. I read scripture and did the benediction. I have sort of gained the rep that I can give a good send off. Well, I enjoy doing that.

Our senior pastor, Scott Herr, and his family are going on vacation later this week, so I will be doing more in worship for the next few weeks, including preaching on July 26th. Yesterday, Nancy recorded some of the finest pipe organ music that you can imagine. It was exciting to hear, and the recording turned out well!

Here are a few pictures.......

--crazy picture taken in an elevator --power washing sidewalks, a regular activity to keep Paris clean --famous, and beautiful, Seine River bridge near our church -- Outdoor eating in Paris --an outdoor market not far from the church.....

Peace!

Don and Nancy

6 July 2009