The week before I left I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with a French family from the church I have been going to. The man and his wife had been missionaries for two years in Africa, because of that they understood that it was hard to be in a different culture and were eager take me in and explain several cultural things to me. It was an eye opening time to both French culture and to the French Believers worldview.
Last week I had my very own “tour de France” as I went to Paris, Loire Valley, Bordeaux, and Nice with the other girls in the program. The time was filled with a whirlwind of museums, old churches, and tours- though on the last stop we were able to catch our breath a bit on the beache
Just a few highlights from all of our stops:
-Paris we hit all the major monuments; my favorite museums there were the Louvre, the WWI/WWII museum (it was so interesting to see it presented from a French point of view!!!), and a small museum called the Marmottan Monet Museum that had lots of wonderful Monet pieces. It was also a treat to get to spend some time with a frined of mine from the states who is a Beliver serving in Paris for the summer.
-Loire Valley we saw a couple of châteaux’s and admired a lot of the medieval architecture in Tours, and I loved the Leonardo da Vinci museum that was in the house where he spent the last few years of his life
-During our one day in Bordeaux we all loved the atmosphere of the town and enjoyed lots of fun things like an area that you could play in where it looked like you were walking on water.
- By the time we got to Nice, we were all pooped. It was a treat to lay on the beach and relax, but it was also a treat to visit the Picasso museum our second day there. We finished our very own “tour de France” by getting to see the actual Tour de France go through Nice.
Please feel free to ask me more questions about places or specifics about the trip… I just didn’t want to type a thorough ten page report, and didn’t think people would enjoy reading one
I love going on walks, and wonderful for me our trip involved a lot of walking. The combination of walking and getting to admire old architecture provided lots of time to let my mind rest and also to chew. This provided a great place of looking forward to things when I get home and enjoying where I am at. The things I am looking forward to are a blend of silly and serious, entailing things like missing having a cup of coffee with flavored creamer while sitting in a home, to worshiping, conversing and studying the Word with those who speak the same language as I do. But I am also very thankful that the Lord, who is the giver of all good things, has allowed my heart to fall in love with the town of Grenoble and with the French culture here. My heart is at a wonderfully complex state of a healthy longing and content enjoyment. For this I am thankful, and pray that in a similar way I will have a consistent holy longing for my heavenly home yet still striving to serve the Lord with my vapor of a time here.
I was excited about getting to spend a lot of time within close proximity with the girls and praying that I would be able to serve and love them as we spent almost every moment together. A verse that I read the other day seemed to describe the time well, as well as now being my prayer for the people I interact with: “But thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in the triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” 2 Corinthians 2:14-15. Your prayers were felt as, by His grace, I was able to live in my identity as the aroma of Christ and still praying that the Lord will draw those in my group to himself.
Thank you for all your prayers and support, would love to hear updates from each of you! Pictures of the trip to come soon!
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