So France - It's funny because I feel like, of all the countries I've been to in Europe, the French make an effort to make sure they stay "un-Americanized." But I think France felt more like the US than anywhere I've been yet.
I stayed with my friend Matthieu Courlet du Vregille (after weeks of practice, I still can't say his last name), and our friend Nia also came along. Matthieu's family lives in a tiny town in the French countryside, 2 hours south of Paris, called L'ile Bouchard. Life there is so simple and beautiful. His family is incredible. He is the oldest of 6 kids, ranging from 23 to 10. Along with his parents, they are all amazing people, so generous and loving. It was the first time I had been in a house, with a family and home cooked food, in 4 months, and I didn't realize how much I needed that.
We kept super busy throughout our 10 day break. Every day was basically centered around family meals. All the kids came home from school during lunch, and Matt's mom cooked a huge meal. Dinner usually began around 7 or 8, and could last up to 3 hours! It was such a huge event every day, which was really cool. Duck liver, rabbit, and fish eggs were all on the menu, along with more wines than I can count. It sounds nasty, but it was some of the best food I've ever had.
L'ile Bouchard is located in the "castle" region of France, so we got a chance to go around and see a bunch of the medieval castles. I. Love. Castles. I think they're the coolest things in the world. So I was in paradise. There are little towns scattered everywhere, and almost every single one has a castle perched above it!
We visited the castle where St. Joan of Arc went to announce to the King of France that God had sent her to save France. Super cool. It was situated above a little town nestled into a river, that looked like it was taken straight out of a movie.
Matthieu is really good friends with a family who actually lives in a castle, so we got to go visit them. The old grandmother greeted us as we came through the massive arched-gates, and she brought us in to her own massive living room (they have several) for tea. We got a tour of the place, which was just insane. The guest house was several times larger than my own house, containing a winery and a ballroom. Hard to believe people live like this. They were the nicest family, and it was great getting to know them.
We also visited the town where St. Martin of Tours lived, preached, and died in the year 397. We climbed a huge hill overlooking the town, which lies at the point where the two biggest rivers in France meet.
We were also able to visit Matt's college in Nantes, in the west of France. It's one of the bigger cities in France, and it was cool to see the contrast between this and the countryside.
But the coolest part for me lay not in one of these sweet castles or the bigger cities, but in L'ile Bouchard itself. In the tiny parish church there, Mary, the Mother of God, appeared in 1947 to 4 young girls. This was approved by the Vatican in 2001.
The primary visionary, Jacquline, is still alive, and Matthieu is good friends with her, so we got to have tea with her! She told us all about her experience, 63 years ago. During one of the visions (there were 10 in total, over a one week period), she was cured of a rare eye disease. During the last vision, the 2,000 people assembled in the church all witnessed a miraculous light which illuminated the place where the Virgin was allegedly appearing. There's alot more to the story, and if you're interesting in finding out more, check it out!
http://www.ilebouchard.com/archives/fiot/brochure-fiot.htm#fiot-eng
(click on the part by the American flag for English)
I was so interested, so I hammered Jacquline with questions. How often do you get to question a visionary?! She was happy to answer everything, and it gave me chills when she explained the color of Mary's eyes and the love contained within them. I met her a few other times throughout the week, and all had plenty more questions at hand.
The parish church has a little shrine where Mary appeared, and we were able to pray there each day. The beauty of it all was its simplicity. It's not a crazy place with thousands of people flocking around, but a quiet and pretty unknown site which is so peaceful.
I was really sad to leave France. On the last night, we had a huge dinner, with some music and dancing afterwards, and Matt's family even got us presents. As excited as I was to get back to Rome, I could have stayed here awhile...
We traveled by overnight train back home. It was the first time the 20 of us at the school have been separated at all since we've arrived here. We literally spend 24 hours with each other, so it was so weird to be apart. So I think we were all ready to get back. The reunion was really exciting, and we all swapped pictures and stories of our adventures.
Two short days after we returned, my parents came to visit! Such a blessing. After a 21 hour drive through a crazy blizzard, from Pittsburgh to Atlanta (long story), they caught their flight and made it to Rome. So good to see them again! It was amazing to be able to show them my life here -- where we live, what we do at the school, and especially all my friends here at the school.
Over the 5 days that they were here, we were able to get around to see a ton of the city. Actually, I probably saw as much in this short time as I've seen since arriving here! I saw the Coliseum for the first time, with them. Pathetic, I know. I had seen it the previous times I came to Rome, but not in the past 4 months since coming. There's just so much to see, it's impossible to get it all in!
We even got to go to the Pittsburgh Steeler's bar (yes, there's even one in Rome...) to watch part of one of the playoff games. It was like a little piece of America outside the states.
I'm so thankful that they came to visit, even if it was too short.
A lot has happened in the few weeks since they left, so I'll update on that another time, when I'm not about to fall asleep on my keyboard.
Until then, God bless!
Eric
