Here are some highlights and reflections:
The beginning of February was marked by a visit from my parents! After a mess of getting them to Montpellier (they flew into Amsterdam to find that there were zero flights going between Amsterdam and Paris!), we had an amazing time! They got to see Montpellier, the Mediterranean, and then we took off with Erin to go visit Italy!
Here we are in Sête, a city just south of Montpellier, right on the Mediterranean.
Our first stop in Italy was Cremona, the home of Stradivarius and also of the man who made my violin! We visited him, which was one of the top highlights of my year here so far!
City #2 was Pisa, where we of course did the most tourist thing possible:
That night we caught an incredible sunset on the Mediterranean, just a block away from our hotel.
City #3 was Florence, which was simply stunning! That's where we shopped! :-)
After Italy, my parents and I visited Paris, where we saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, St. Chapelle, and my friend Andrew! The whole way we ate amazing food (in both Italy and France!) and really really enjoyed just being able to be together. I was very thankful to be able to see them part-way through my year. It helped my longings to get home dissipate quite a bit.
Eiffel Tower:
A visit to Notre-Dame, including mass! This is where I sang (and almost fainted) in
high school, the last time I was in France.
The highlight for me this time at the Louvre was seeing Napolean's Apartments! Wow!
And the thread throughout our whole vacation was to take pictures with my home church's newsletter! Here is my Dad with one of his Italian friends! (Bibiana)
And thus my trip with my parents was ended. I jumped back into ministry for a week in Montpellier, and then took a little weekend vacation to visit a really good friend who is also on this side of the pond!
Before getting there, I overnighted in Köln, Germany to see my favorite orchestra, the good old MO. The orchestra was in great form, performing Adams, Nielsen, and Barber with J. Bell. Josh sounded incredible, as did my favorite oboist on his solo in the second movement. :-) I also had the pleasure of spending time with Roger, talking one last time with Jorja Fleezanis (and being invited backstage into her warm-up room to finish our conversation!), and surprising a former collegue of mine by showing up to a concert in Germany!
Jorja warming up with the orchestra:
A view of the incredible hall from backstage:
Josh Bell warming up with the orchestra (heck yeah I got to go to the rehearsal):
After a very uncomfortable overnight train through Germany to Switzerland, catching a bus at 5am in Basel, Switzerland to get to my flight that left just across the border in France, I arrived and met my friend Scott, to go visit our mutual friend Jon.
Myself with Jon and Scott:
The three of us had an incredible time together - we spent a ton of time just hanging out and having great conversations. A stop worth mentioning was to a Turkish Cafe, where we enjoyed a traditional Turkish custom called the Nargile, as well as drinking a lot of çay (chai tea). Mmmm...I brought some back to France with me because I loved it so much.
The other significant highlight of the trip there was visiting a mosque. Jon lives in a highly Muslim area, and so I learned a ton about what the Muslim world is like and what Muslim culture looks like.
Visiting the mosque was one of the most impactful things I have done in a long time. I was absolutely struck with a feeling of deep sorrow, mixed with some anger at the emptiness I saw and experienced learning about their lives. Unlike the hope found in Christ, there is no real hope in Islam - just the 5 pillars which qualify you for consideration into heaven. There is no guarantee. There is no forgiveness, no grace. It broke my heart to see people following empty rituals because that is all they have been taught. I've never really had a heart for Muslim people before, but after this experience, my heart yearns to help them find true joy.
After what seemed like almost no time, Scott and I were on a plane back to France. We spent a layover between our flight and our train in Mulhouse, which is in the part of France that looks like Bavaria! I ate some super stinky cheese, and we had great tea, and enjoyed an incredible dinner conversation. :-)
Getting home: first sleeping car experience for both of us! Yeah sleeper cars!
Scott stayed with us in Montpellier for the next few days, and I took him with me on campus, as well as visiting some of my favorite sites! Again, it was an amazingly fun time spent with good friends!
Fitzy's. Our favorite pub ever. Home of English Club every week (and our team hangout times as much as we can afford the time and expensive drinks!)
THE best crépes ever. Even better than in Nantes, which is actually where they are from. So...take that.
Sigh...I love this café. Best hot chocolate in the world.
You may be wondering whether or not I did any ministry in February. The answer is yes! I just don't have sweet pictures from that part. :-) My team is also putting in a really full month this March, so more details on that to come. In fact, as we speak, we have another vision trip arriving today! The campus is totally on strike, and two campuses are actually blocked, so we're praying that the Lord gives us guidance for how to best use this week with the vision trip here!
Thank you all for keeping abreast and for your prayers. I miss you. Think of me when it snows - I'm getting a tan already. ;-)
