Vitrolles

Vitrolles. A little suburb of Aix en Provence near the Mediterranean coast.

We stayed with the Lavie family. Nicest people ever. So kind of them to let us stay. The first thing I noticed in their living room was a framed picture of Tanner and his companion from 3ish years ago. Such a sweet thing to see the impact and friendship he had made in this little family's lives.

Not even 5 minutes after we arrived, did Madame Lavie and Lorick start making a plan to throw a dinner party and invite the ward members over to see Tanner again.
And so I got a little taste of the French life.
I made the mistake of asking what time this dinner started; apparently French people go by it starts whenever everyone shows up. The first people to show up arrived around 6ish and we started dinner around 9 (if that gives you an idea). The (oh so awkward) Elders serving in this area were also invited over.

Tanner & Katy (& creepy missionary in the background).

One of the first things she said to me, as she pulled out a little notebook, "when is your birthday, I want to remember it." That has got to be the sweetest gesture from someone I just met. 

Plus she spoke a little English so it was nice to sit by her during dinner.

Tanner & Christopher.

(our dinner group)

This is us with Sonia & Christophe.

Later that night Nat & Laetitia joined us for a round of the French version of Uno.

I'll be honest despite everyone being so incredibly kind, I found it to be extremely difficult due to the language barrier. Some of them could speak a teensy bit of English but not enough to carry a conversation. Tanner did his best to translate but with such a large group it was impossible to keep up. So stressful to be in a room with that many people and all I could do was smile and nod. I so badly wanted to connect with these people that had such an influence in Tanner's own life..and yet I physically couldn't.

Later that night as we got ready for bed we talked about this and how similar it was to him being on a mission. For at least the first half of his mission he felt what I did that night. Gave me a greater appreciation for all those missionaries out there (or anyone out there learning a new language). I'm so grateful to have experienced this but man was it hard in that moment.

p.s. This is Snoopy, he didn't know I didn't speak French so we became good friends. 

This is how he woke us up the next morning.