Thanksgiving in France

I have come to really cherish American traditions. Here in Cambrai, the people, well, they aren't very open-minded. It's as if they are in a little French bubble; any influence from a foreign culture might just pop that bubble, and then how would they survive?! They often tell Rusty and I to speak French because we are in France, and do they care to hear about any American traditions? Absolutely not! This French-focused attitude made it hard to get really excited for Thanksgiving. But, the show must go on and Rusty and I are not the type to let a Thanksgiving pass without feasting on the usual foods, so we invited teammates, friends, and the American missionaries from our ward over for a Thanksgiving lunch.

Unfortunately, after searching high and low for a whole turkey, we came up empty handed. So we ate turkey breast, and stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and crepes- an addition from Rusty's teammate and his fiance who are also our neighbors! The pumpkin cake was compliments of Kirsten again this year, since she is nice enough to fulfill our canned pumpkin and chocolate chip requests whenever she comes to visit!

Of course the narrow-minded French description is a generalization. We have met some really great people here who have gone out of their way to help us. They have become great friends of ours and we feel lucky to have them in our lives.

The holidays just always make me miss home. Although it would be nice to be with our family, I am grateful to have these experiences. Getting to explain Thanksgiving multiple times (whether people really care to hear it or not lol) is like a constant reminder of how grateful I am for my family, Rusty, our traditions, America...and everything else I have been blessed with. And, I am so happy we have been able provide so many people with their first Thanksgiving! 

Canal de l'Escaut

Rusty and I spent our first day here in Cambrai walking the pathway along the canal. I am so happy we live close to it. Sure, it's no beach, but when you want somewhere a little more peaceful, it definitely beats the streets of the city. Plus the passerby's are a little more friendly...my smile is returned about 60 percent of the time instead of the normal 30. I even got a yelled "Bonjour!" from an elderly man passing by on his bike. 

September 15th (Our first day here)

Pictures I took on my jog a few weeks later...

Fall Time! (November 21st)

Musee de Cambrai

We have been trying to take advantage of Rusty's free time by exploring our little city. There is so much to do here, it's great! Thirty historical monuments, 3 massive cathedrals, a river walk (along the canal), gardens, forests, a museum...the list goes on. Have I convinced anyone to come visit? ;)

We recently spent a rainy Friday night at the Musee de Cambrai. The museum was much bigger than expected. We perused the four levels up until closing time. We had only come in about an hour and a half before it closed, so we asked if we could come back in the morning and to my surprise (I always brace myself for the "It's not possible" response that is said way too often out here), they said yes! There were no signs in English, so they gave us a book to borrow. We spent so much time flipping through the hundred pages to find whatever we were looking at, that our visit took longer than expected. We went back the next morning, got our book again, and set out to read all we could- things definitely aren't as interesting when you have no idea where they are from.

WWI Cambrai Memorial

Cambrai is just bursting with history. One of the battles of WWI was fought right here- on the streets we walk on every day. After regularly passing by an old, cobblestone tower, I finally decided to read the sign on it- turns out it's a tower archers used as a lookout. So crazy! Northern France and Southern Belgium are chock full of WWI sites, perfect for day trips, which are perfect for us since Russ doesn’t get much time off. We decided to go visit a nearby site- the Cambrai Monument, in a tiny village- Louverval, France.  There was a memorial for soldiers from the UK and South Africa who were never found; engraved in the marble walls of the monument are over 7,000 names.  We followed stairs down to a small, peaceful cemetery with a pretty backdrop of rolling green fields. It’s hard to even fathom the destruction that came from WWI. I am, well what’s the opposite of a history buff?...anyways, I don’t know much about history, but living in Cambrai is good motivation to learn more.

The little village we were in was so quiet, the only noise came from the traffic passing through it. On our drive home, I saw a house engulfed in bright red leaves and immediately made Rusty pull over. I had never seen a house this covered in leafy ivory and I am so glad I got to witness it in the Fall! 

Rusty's teammate was nice enough to let us borrow his car, love this Twingo!