BACK FROM PARIS

We're back in Bordeaux and finished the job at the French Protestant Archives. We gained a great appreciation of the sacrifices the early Protestants gave for their religious convictions and the persecutions they faced. Anyone with Huguenot heritage should have an easier time finding their ancestors once this work is published.

We are back at McDonald's in Bordeaux. When we got back to Bordeaux, our electricity had been turned off, so we are spending our time at McDonald's doing indexing, where it is warm and there are lights and power for the computers (and lights in the bathrooms). They don't think they will get it turned on until the first of the week. We are really doing okay - we have extra warm blankets and enough food that we don't need to cook to last. We bought some candles today, so we should be all set. It's funny because in Paris, at the home where we were staying, they had this conservation thing with the power company - they don't have heat in their house except from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. on certain days, and for three days last week the heater was broken at the Archives - so we got used to the cold. The only real problem is not being able to take a hot shower. We are sponge bathing with cold water - not wonderful, but not too bad either.