French Croissants and Coffee

I'm a huge fan of croissants and coffee. When I saw these signs in Russell 2 years ago I had to take a photo just to remember the beautiful sunny summer's day. They are advertising the little coffee house at Pompallier House, where the first printery in the country was back in the 1800s. It was also a tannery and home to the missionary belonging to Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier.

Halloween came and went for us, we had one trick or treater and my daughter R gave the little girl all the lollies we had so the look of awe and surprise was worth it. We have moved into the new house and are just focussing on unpacking, the dust from the boxes has given me a sinus infection but hopefully I will be back at work tomorrow.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs. 

Pompallier Mission House

We were over in Russell last week on B's day off hoping to do a tour of the Pompallier Mission House but alas we were a bit late for the tour. History about this place is:  Built in 1842 it housed a printery where church texts were translated from Latin to te reo Māori, then printed and bound.  The property is just five minutes’ walk from the wharf at Russell, formerly known as Kororareka and infamous as the ‘hell-hole of the Pacific’ for its drunken and raucous behaviour. It was against this colourful backdrop that a group of French Marist Brothers – including Jean Baptiste Pompallier, after whom the property is named – arrived to set up a Catholic Mission in the settlement.

Unfortunately we were a bit late by the time we got there and B had an appointment that afternoon so it will have to wait until another time.

It looks very different to how it looks today (top photo) compared to this one taken in 1967. Edited to add: After searching for more information on the property I've found that the outside decking and rails seems to be removed because of structural issues the house has had over the years. 

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Tuesday Travel, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.