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We’ve returned to our Devon home after five weeks in France. The grass has grown, but nothing else has changed. Our departure from the church went well; our journey from Versailles to the Channel was enjoyable and straightforward. We visited Monet’s garden at Giverny again – different seeing it at the beginning of autumn (our previous visit had been in mid-summer two years ago) but still enjoyable and visually stimulating. After spending the night in a small hotel beside the Seine, we drove through rural Normandie to the Abbey of Le Bec-Hellouin, a Benedictine abbey from which St Anselm had come. There are still strong links to the Anglican Communion. The village in which it is set is delightful, but we both felt the abbey itself was a bit ‘empty’. Perhaps there are too many visitors.

Then we drove up to Caen, to see the Memorial, a museum devoted to the events leading up the Second World War, the Battle of Normandy which followed D-Day, and the continuing tensions of the Cold War. We have been there before, but not or a few years, and there are new displays and emphases. And so to the overnight ferry and back to Devon.

So we look back over our time at St Mark’s – with a real sense of thankfulness. We labelled this blog our ‘French Sojourn’. But one of the privileges of locum ministry is that one quickly becomes more than a sojourner, rather a member of the worshipping community, in a way that a normal visitor seldom experiences. We visited people, listened to their hopes and fears, and led them in worship and prayer. Our final service was a slight risk, as we were combining various elements: an adult baptism, Holy Communion, a Covenant Renewal and the ‘sending out’ of a couple of students leaving for university in the UK. It could have become too long and unwieldy, but in the end (we feel) it all came together. It certainly made a lovely farewell service for us, as we took our leave. As always, one comes away with a variety of memories and new Christian friends to pray for. The church has had a bit of a battering over the past 18 months, and some hard decisions have to be made about the future. And amongst other things, the post-Brexit world raises uncertainties about future growth. (Though to be fair, St Mark’s came into existence, because of the presence of the British army of occupation after the Battle of Waterloo – not the most auspicious basis for good relationship with the wider French community!)

We mentioned previously the oddness of Paris during the holiday season of July and August. The arrival of September marks a sudden re-awakening, as traffic doubles, shops and restaurants re-open, the new school term year, and much else, begins. La Rentrée is very much the start of a New Year, and not like anything we’ve experienced in the UK. It’s much more than ‘Back to School’, more of a mini-renaissance, a ‘spring’ reawakening. It encompasses the world of culture; the bookshops proclaim the literary rentrée, with the publishers’ new lists on display. At this time, many communes hold public events for all voluntary groups – associations – a sort of ‘Freshers’ Fair’, for all and sundry. And though there are exceptions, in Versailles as many other places, the Anglican church has a stand alongside others, with the opportunity of advertising its activities, and inviting newcomers. France may value its laicité, but it also practises an égalité of opportunity.

We’ve probably concluded our peregrinations for this year, and have no idea where, if anywhere, the Lord will lead us next year. For now, we’re content to have time to catch up – with ourselves, as we’ve been quite busy; with our family and friends; and with varous domestic matters - like Voltaire’s hero Candide, ‘we must take care of our garden.’ I will certainly value the opportunity to do some reading; as always, most of the books I took have  come back unread.

Give thanks with us for a good and safe time in France.

Pray that we may now use our slower pace of time fruitfully.

Pray for the people of St Mark’s as they discuss, and make decisions about, their future.

Pray with us for those we prayed with and for in Versailles.