Toussaints and Chrysanthemums

Yesterday was a holiday in France.  It is a church holiday celebrated all over the globe, differently between Catholics and protestants, of course.  Toussaint (All Saint’s) is seen in its celebration here by the many florist shops selling chrysanthemums, potted, ready to be placed on the family’s grave.  The graves are visited, cleaned, and decorated, as a celebration of the saints who have passed on.

It was a lovely day yesterday, so we took a brief walk to the cemetery closest to our apartment, about five minutes away, behind a Catholic church.  There were several people there, and it was very interesting to look at the dates and the families that have all been buried together.  I got a few photos, but didn’t want to disrespect people visiting, so I wasn’t able to get any of specific tombstones.  This cemetery is not very old, by European standards – the earliest burial we saw was from 1857, but a few were buried there this year.

The moon, the Alps, the church…

Tribute to those who served in the World Wars – the gardener was just leaving as we arrived, so you know those flowers are FRESH!

Graves decorated with chrysanthemums for Toussaint

Tomorrow we return to classes – the kids are very excited to go back to school and I am excited to be back into a family routine again.  Matthew is especially excited to be one break closer to returning to Congo (and we all would agree).