Saturday we planned to meet Thierry and his wife Vânia. I have been writing to Thierry for many years, and had not seen a picture of him, so it was nice to finally meet him. In the morning we bought our tickets from the Vincennes métro station. I took some photos of the Chateau de Vincennes. We took the 325 bus to Charenton-Le-Pont, where they live. I had his address and wanted to give him a surprise to arrive at his house. Unfortunately I didn't know where his street was. I decided to ask a man if he knew where the street was located. I had asked a market store holder, so he told me he had no idea where it was. I ended up just calling his phone number. He had called me briefly the day before. So here he came, and so I saw him for the first time ever. It is a definitely an interesting feeling seeing someone you have know for a few years He took us to his house, where we met Vânia. I was fortunate that I could meet them. I had lost his Charenton address, so luckily I found the address a few weeks before I left for France. They took us to their local restaurant. Vânia is Brazilian, so this was a small local Brazilian restaurant. She explained to me that it just started out as a small home kitchen, which now is a small restaurant with a few tables. Vânia told me that it is popular, so soon the owners will move into larger premises. We met the owners, friends of Vânia and Thierry. They made us caprioskas. I joked that I wanted another one, to show that I really liked the drink, so he made me another. Yum. I really like Thierry and Vânia. Vânia and I were joking around and she kept laughing at me, so I did also. I had a very enjoyable time with them. After lunch it was time to go catch the train to Amiens. Thierry took us to Gare du Nord where we finally parted. He stayed with us until the train departed the station. So here ended our very short trip to Paris.

After one hour on the train, we arrived in Amiens. There on the platform we finally met our new Picard friends, the Greff family. So Lucie is the 15 year old girl who I was introduced to a couple of years ago by chance. As part of her history school group, Soldats Voyageurs, she researched our relative, Charles Edward Fitzhenry, who died in the region during the First World War. She posted a request to the blog entry regarding Charles Fitzhenry. The blog is run by Jo FitzHenry, which discusses the family history all about any family throughout the world with the name Fitzhenry or related names. Lucie was asking if there were any of his relatives in Australia. As fate would have it, I was able to reply to her request. And due to this fortunate turn of events, a major purpose for this trip had been formed.

We met Lucie's parents and siblings on the platform. Cyril and Valerie with their other three children Yseuline, Pierre-Louis and Manon. They took us firstly to our hotel to drop off our bags. Then they took us finally to their house. When we got there, it was one of the most beautiful places I had seen. They live in Bertangles, and their road backs onto a field of wheat. They took us to their backyard. It must have been the time of day that made this place feel really special. And that was really before we got to know them. Here we gave our most of the gifts we had bought to France. I bought some soft toys for the two girls, a koala for Manon and a kangaroo for Yseuline. I got some boy type things for Pierre-Louis, such as a boxing kangaroo pen than Erin had found. Dad had bought an opal necklace for Lucie. They all enjoyed their gifts very much. Then we had dinner. Over the next few days, they would introduce us to so many different wines and cheeses. My favourite cheese was Saint-nectaire and my favourite wine was Gigondas. That night we stayed at Hotel ANZAC. Definitely a place I would recommend if you were to stay in Amiens.