Centre Mennonite de Paris, Directors' Apartment in Transition

[Evan writes:]

Since Neal and Janie will be retiring in a few years, they have been preparing for the time of transition.  They are now moving into their new condo in Créteil but will retain their offices/studies in the Centre's former attic for another year while Matthew and Toni move in, work on their French, and adjust to life in France.  

In preparation for Matthew and Toni's arrival, Tom and Bonnie, volunteers from Ohio are joining Yves from France for several weeks of painting in the apartment.  I will possibly help when I can (I'm frankly not handy, we painted our place once and I swore 'never again'), and otherwise help by looking after the grocery shopping (which I enjoy doing in the markets and wine shops) and help get meals for the happy crew. 

Now I will take you through the former apartment on the second floor, which served as Neal and Janie's home for thirty years.  First we have the dining room, with at least three layers of wall paper to be removed.  Neal and Janie's grandchildren had great fun tearing off much of the first layer.  This room faces south, overlooks the garden, gets lots of light and some lovely breezes.  We enjoyed terrific meals here over the years with Janie's cooking, Yves, various missionaries coming through from French-speaking Africa, and a variety of other good friends.

The kitchen is very narrow, but truly great meals came from it.  Traditionally, the men did the dishes at unbelievable speed while chatting away just as fast.  The small stove is gas.  The photo makes it look like it is newly painted, but I assure you that is not the case.

Next is the living room, where the apartment's only remaining fireplace can still be seen.  I doubt that it is a working fireplace.  Every room once had one as its sole source of heat in the 1800s, but some decades ago, a former director removed all the other fireplaces, to my dismay.  I still wish they were there, even if not working. The lovely marble flooring under the former fireplaces remains.

You would have thought that two doors sufficed for the living room, but there were originally three, the last is now covered over.

The master bedroom faces north onto the street which can get quite busy during the times people drive to work or take children to and from school. 

You can see where the fireplace used to be in the master bedroom.

The narrow bathroom, which can be accessed via the master bedroom and hallway. It was originally constructed from two closets.

Most recently, I knew this as Mark's bedroom.  It is in good shape and faces north.

Yves organized the tools that will be needed for the repairs and painting.  His tools at home are even more organized than are these.

All of the rooms radiate off a small room/hallway which also opens to the winding stairway.  This clever floor plan permits easy access and does not take up much space.

I love the winding stairway which connects all four levels of the Centre. 

By the time this is read by North Americans, Tom and Bonnie will have arrived to help with the repainting.  The periodical room has been transformed into a guest bedroom for them and for other guests/volunteers later in the summer.  If anyone has trouble falling asleep, they can simply grab any French church periodical (or any issue of the Mennonite Quarterly Review back to the beginning) they desire and sleep will be on its way, promise.  This room is on the main floor and will not be redone.

Now we are back on the top floor, a former attic which various directors have closed in and remodeled in stages.  It now houses several offices/studies, a bathroom with a very small shower (and I do mean small), and a bed.  The ladder enables brave souls to climb out onto the sloping tile roof for maintenance and repairs.

Work is underway, as are meals and getting caught up on news.  Janice is hoping to do some more cataloguing of books as well, once the library's database is given more space on the server.  I have a year's worth of library cards to sort (books borrowed) and returned books to refile.  People can now access the Centre's library catalogue online, so Neal and Janie take books to and from the seminary as students request them.  The library's main strengths include peace studies, the radical reformation (Anabaptists), worship and music in worship, the Amish (who originated in France), etc.  It is a good research resource.

Time to help Yves steam off some more wall paper.

Evan