Ask The McMurray's: Short Version (by Thom)

I've been asked about 4 or 5 times now if we got to see the Tour de France. It actually came about 1 or 2 kilometers from our apartment, but we were away with friends and saw it in a very small village called Vert le Petit. We waited in the rain for about 3 hours, and then the riders went by. Since it only took less than 2 minutes from the first rider to the last, it was a little anti-climatic, but we did get to see Lance Armstrong, and he was at the front of the pack when they went by. It was a great experience! I've posted a picture of Lance leading the group on our picture page. The link is on the right side of this page.

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Where Has The Time Gone? (by Thom)

The question in the title is oh, so-appropriate. Amanda and I have been here near Paris for almost 6 months, trying to learn the French language so we can be useful missionaries in Mali. Time has a way of sneaking up on you, though. After almost 6 months we are left with less than 2 weeks here. As I write this, we fly home in 12 days. I have a lot of thoughts to share about our time here, but I'm also interested in any questions you might have. Drop us a note at: mcmali@gmail.com
I do want to talk about the things that helped us get through the more challenging times here. A few years ago, we bought a laptop for Amanda's job. It was fairly useful then, but is vital now. Our computer is our telephone (Skype is a wonderful program!), our post-office, our means of entertainment (just pop in a DVD), and connects us with the English-speaking world. I, for one, have found things like World Magazine and Breakpoint to be wonderful websites and help me everyday in my devotional thoughts. Also, before we left I recorded a lot of my CDs on my computer. This has given us many hours of listening to praise & worship, hymns, and other contemporary Christian music. Relaxing with my thoughts on Jesus is a good way to survive Paris!
Soon we'll be in Mali (and probably struggling with another language - Bambara :)) Again, if you have any questions regarding our time here, let us know. We hope to see you soon!

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A little vacation (by Thom)

Amanda and I have been on a break between our spring classes and summer courses, so we decided to get out of the Paris area and see more of France. We took the train to a city called Caen (see map below) and rented a car (my first time to drive a stick-shift, by the way). We drove up to the Normandy beaches, where the Americans, British, Canadians, and French invaded on D-Day. We started with Omaha beach, one of the American landing areas. Seeing the beaches in person was very moving. To imagine the sea running red with the blood of soldiers and the Germans holding the high ground on the cliffs that surround the beaches reinforced the importance of the whole battle to me. The first day we also visited the site of the American cemetery. The magnitude of the cross-marked graves cannot translate into pictures. One can't see from one end of the cemetery to the other, that the crosses there represent only a small percentage of the actual dead.
Our other two days away were a bit more frivolous. We drove along the coast as far west as St. Malo stopping at beaches to wade and picnic. We stopped at Le Mont St. Michel, a church and a town built on an island that you can drive to, but only at low tide. Construction on this amazing place began in the 8th century. That second night, we rented a room in a Bed & Breakfast that was directly on the beach. From our room, we had a beautiful view of the water. The third day, we headed back, again driving along the beach. We ended up staying in another Bed & Breakfast that was a converted farmhouse. The older parts of the building were about 400 years old.
It was an amazing vacation, and one that we'll always treasure. We took about 200 photos, and we have made a few available on our picture page:

Here

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