2015 A New Adventure -- We set off for 6 months in Vienna

 

OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS IN FRANCE!

7 July 2015

Roger is taking a sabbatical leave from BYU to compile an index of German census records.

This has apparently never been done before because it is such a complex issue.  Each province made its own rules about when and how to do its census -- nothing is standardized.  He has spent months making initial contact with archives all over Germany to get as much information as he can via mail and e-mail to eliminate the need to travel to every area.  We decided to make Vienna our home  base and rent the BYU Study Abroad apartment for 6 months and make trips to Germany as needed.  There is a Study Abroad program in progress until mid-August so we have rented a vacation apartment until then. It comes with maid service!

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Here we are in Aix en Provence.  Aix is pronounced "X".

 

We started our adventure by flying into Marseille, France. Our former American neighbors,

the Francoms, have moved with their 4 children to a small village about an hour from there.

Meredith picked us and our 200 + pounds of luggage at the airport and drove us to their home.

They have rented a nice house with a pool in the village of Greoux les Bains.

The Francoms and Minerts in the Provence lavender fields.

 

We stopped at a local honey producing market to buy honey made by bees who feed on lavender. They had many other types depending on where the hives are placed.  Honey = Miel in French.

Meredith and daughter Sophie with Roger in Greoux les Bains on the main street.

Their pool was a life-saver in the very hot weather.

They took us to a beautiful lake...

                                                  and to a museum in Aix en Provence.

Then there was the unfortunate incident of the bee.  We were on our way back to our car from our visit to Aix when I felt something crawling under my clothing.  I sneaked into a stairway to look and couldn't see anything.  But I kept feeling the crawling feeling so I pounded on my chest to smash whatever it was.  I felt a terrible pain and smashed some more.  I still could see nothing so thought I must be imagining things.  It wasn't until an hour later when we were home and changing into our swimsuits that I discovered that I certainly hadn't imagined anything.  I found this bee with its stinger still in me!  The bee was dead, fortunately, so I pulled out the stinger.  I have been suffering the terrible itching after-effect ever since.  Thankfully I brought along some essential oils.  Lavender and peppermint are very helpful for reducing the pain and itching of a bee sting!