Journey 7: France

I’ve just spent 12, very long, but very enjoyable days in France, visiting Toulouse, Carcassonne, Marseille, and Paris (in that order). So much happened, but I haven’t decided how much is worth actually writing down. This will either be a really long or relatively short post. I haven’t decided yet, so bear with me.

We had an early start Thursday (28 March) morning, leaving the house around 4 a.m. Stepping off the plane in Toulouse was like coming back to Houston. The air was humid with fresh rain and it was actually warm! (Relatively speaking, anyway. It was probably in the 50s.) Of the four cities we visited, Toulouse was probably my favourite. We had one absolutely gorgeous day where we all went to a park and one group played ultimate Frisbee while another hung out on the playground (there was a really cool ropes course). We had bought stuff for a picnic lunch, the weather was perfect, and it was just a wonderful day with almost the whole group together, enjoying each other’s company. Lots of fun and bonding happened that day.

The courtyard area where I sat

On Good Friday, we visited Les Jacobins, where Thomas Aquinas is buried. I (and I think most of us) had a spiritual experience there, sitting in the sun for the first time in weeks listening to some of our group doing a four-part harmony to "It is Well with My Soul", their voices reverberating in the stone room. The acoustics were incredible, and the lyrics were so appropriate for the day:

"My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!"

What better refrain to sing to our God on the day marking his death? I could have stayed like that forever. I think those sentiments were just about unanimously shared.

The Black Madonna, Mary with baby Jesus

Afterwards, we also went to Notre-Dame de la Daurade and saw the Black Madonna there.

Our next stop was Carcassonne, an old walled city. However, the lower city was actually the oldest part. The area inside the walls had been destroyed and rebuilt, dating after the medieval period. We had some bad weather there, but Easter Sunday held sunny for us. We attended an Easter mass that morning at the church inside the walls. With the little French I know, I was able to follow along somewhat.

Staying inside a walled city was neat. Some of the shops were pretty touristy, but there were also some markets selling handmade stuff. Those were fun to wander through and talk with the sellers.

Beach of Marseille

On Tuesday (2 April), we went to our last city as a group: Marseille. The best thing about Marseille was the weather. We took a boat to one of the islands and spent the whole day wandering the island on our own or in small groups. (We were supposed to go to Chateau d’If, where the jail from Count of Monte Cristo is, but it was closed due to tides.) Everyone got so sunburned because there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky and lots of people took naps on the beach, finally able to enjoy being outside. The unanimous decision was that it was worth it. We also met with a local church in Marseille and had dinner with them. During a short worship time, we sang songs that everyone knew. There’s nothing like hearing people worshipping the same God, but in different languages. It readjusts your perspective on God.

Thursday, we took a day trip to Avignon, where the Papal Palace is. There was, at one time, more than one Pope, if you didn’t know. There was the one in Rome, but then for a few years there was also one in Avignon. Fun little trivia fact for you.

Front of the Papal Palace

Friday/Saturday was when most people parted ways. Being in French class, the six of us got a free trip to Paris. I have already been to Paris (granted it was 10 years ago), so at first I wasn’t too excited. But once I got there, I saw the city through a completely new set of eyes. I have to admit, as far as big cities go, Paris is a nice one. I didn’t go up Notre Dame (which was celebrating its 850 anniversary while we were there), but I did attend a Vespers concert there. I did go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (a first for me), and the view up there was great. Sunday (7 April) was the perfect day to be in Paris because, as it was the first Sunday of the month, just about every museum had free entrance. I went to the Musée d’Orsay (to see the Impressionist paintings), the L’Orangerie (home of Monet’s lilies, the wall-sized paintings), and the Cluny museum (now called Musée national du Moyen Âge, where the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are). I skipped out on the Louvre since I’ve already seen the major works there and I had a limited time frame.

Obligatory picture of the Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe from the top

The Lady and the Unicorn: Taste

I went to Shakespeare and Co., the oldest English bookshop in Paris (or it might be France, I’m not sure…). I bought a Tintin comic (Red Rackham’s Treasure) in preparation for the second movie and hopefully to help out my French some. I also went to a jazz club called Caveau de la Huchette, which was a lot of fun. My friend Clayton was gracious enough to dance with me a couple of times since he knew I’ve been wanting to go dancing this whole semester. He had no idea how to swing dance, but he gets major points for trying and being willing to get out there all the same. On the plus side, he’s hopefully going to join Swing Cats next semester! My best meal in France also came from Paris, at a place called L’As du Fallafel. I had the best falafel sandwich and homemade lemonade there. The company was wonderful as well.

Best falafel ever!

Needless to say, my memories of France are now very fond ones. So much has changed in my life. I’m a lot different than I was ten years ago, as it should be. If I were still the same person as I was at nine or ten years old, we’d all be in trouble… But as I’ve mentioned before, and will probably continue to mention, I’ve grown a lot in these past three months. I think France contributed a lot to it. These 12 days were spent relaxing and de-stressing as a group, getting to hang out with other people on this trip that maybe we still haven’t really gotten to know. I also felt really useful when people would ask me how to say things in French and I knew the answer. This was an extremely condensed recount, and it was still fairly long, so thanks for your patience!

The semester is winding down (which means I’ll only be posting a few more times), so again I’d just like to say thank you for taking this journey with me. I’m not done yet, though, and I can’t wait to share these last few weeks as they come. I’m expecting a whirlwind, so prepare yourself!