[The following blog post was written in France, but it was hiding on Rach's iPad until now :) I still have lots of stories to come!]
Well we can hardly believe it's Tuesday already, as we leave from Sundara and Davids tomorrow and begin the next stage of our journey. I must say, we are extremely excited!! I must back up a bit and explain the lovely weekend events.
Saturday evening we joined our hosts for a music concert at a breathtaking old abbey. The minute we stepped out of the car in the parking lot, we knew we were somewhere special. The abbey was built around the 13th century but was only a bunch of rubble a out 100 yrs ago. Apparently an American was going to buy the stones for some unknown purpose,but somehow he was prevented - and thankfully so! The restored buildings have much of the original stones and structure, so it was very easy to get lost in our imaginations! David said that during the summer there are a couple concerts a week, but it's considered a privilege to perform here. He actually had the opportunity to sing there with a children's choir a while back!
Anyways, if you can imagine an abbey out of Sound of Music, combined with the castle grounds from Beauty and the Beast, you'll just about have the image right! There are beautiful gardens all around, and the whole place is secluded by a large grove of trees and colorful flowers.
The metzo soprano was so fun - she had a gorgeous voice, great stage personality, and a huge mane of red, crimpy hair. The pianist was probably even more entertaining to watch, tho...quite the performance. They got three encores even! I was often whisked away to my happy place during the performance...which would be an intimate pond at the base of a soft waterfall, surrounded by inviting grasses and wild flowers, hidden by the height of leafy trees, and inhabited by a pair of swans :) Needless to say, we were quite content. The cherry on top was walking out of the concert and being greeted by the astonishing clear sky, stars sparkling as bright as they would at the cabin in Meeker Park! Loved.This.
So what does one do when the sky is so brilliant? Sleep outside, of course!! Rach and I made a valiant attempt to make it through the night, but by 3am the wind by the pool was really getting to us. Still, it was well worth it!
Sunday morning we were picked up by Geoff, a friend and neighbor that we had met the week before. He took us to his church in Narbonne, which meets currently meets in a hotel. We had coffee and chatted with some other "holiday makers" before the service. The minute I walked in to the humble room, I felt my soul swelling with joy and thankfulness. It was just such a pleasure to be in this place where other brothers and sisters gather to praise God and study His Word.
The service consisted of songs and a sermon in both English and French. So cool! Pastor Steve would speak a phrase or sentence and then his wife, Sue, would interpret in English. We loved every minute of it. Afterwards, we had a chance to speak with Steve and Sue and found out they came from Oregon about 9 yrs. We asked for sight seeing and lodging suggestions in Narbonne, but they offered to let us stay with them instead!! We were so surprised by their generosity.
Sooo, tomorrow they will be picking us up and taking us to Carcasonne to see the castle town. We will most likely stay with them until Saturday and then finish up with a couple days in Barcelona! Can't wait.
But back to Sunday tho. We also spoke with this ADORABLE French/British family....the mom said she would have taken us home to with the kids of Steve and Sue hadn't already snatched us up. Lol.
Jeff then took us to a great outdoor market, full of life and color. The one unbearable item was raw horse meat. Ew. Gross.
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