I know it's been a while... but better late than never, right? With that, the blog is back! Over the next few posts I'll get you all caught up on the last six months of our lives. As much as you might be interested in our most recent happenings, my mind must process this all in chronological order. So starting where we left off...
In October Joe and I took a road trip to France! Even though I had just learned to drive a stick we rented an automatic because it would be the first time driving without any other stick drivers in the car, and we were driving through windy mountains, and Joe was nervous (surprise, surprise). When I showed up, however, they were out of automatics... nevermind the fact that we had made a reservation and had pre-paid almost TRIPLE the amount of a stick. So in the end we ended up driving stick afterall... and I have to say it made the trip a bit more interesting :)
So first stop on the trip... Carcassonne, a small medieval town with a huge fortress! We spent the evening walking through the windy, stone alleys and exploring the fortress. Then we had traditional meat cassoulet for dinner... very good!
The next morning we got back on the road and drove to Lourdes to meet Joe's parents for a few days. The drive was sunny and peaceful, despite fears of running out of gas due to the week long fuel strikes in France. Normal.
Lourdes, famous for Marian apparitions, is now a popular pilgrimage site, especially for the sick and elderly. While the story of Lourdes is pretty inspiring, I found the commercialization and exploitation of the site made it quite difficult to connect spiritually. With that said, we still found it interesting and are glad we made the trip.
Here are some of my favorite examples of people trying to cash in on Mary...
In October Joe and I took a road trip to France! Even though I had just learned to drive a stick we rented an automatic because it would be the first time driving without any other stick drivers in the car, and we were driving through windy mountains, and Joe was nervous (surprise, surprise). When I showed up, however, they were out of automatics... nevermind the fact that we had made a reservation and had pre-paid almost TRIPLE the amount of a stick. So in the end we ended up driving stick afterall... and I have to say it made the trip a bit more interesting :)
So first stop on the trip... Carcassonne, a small medieval town with a huge fortress! We spent the evening walking through the windy, stone alleys and exploring the fortress. Then we had traditional meat cassoulet for dinner... very good!
 |
| If you look closely you can see me sitting on the fortress wall. |
The next morning we got back on the road and drove to Lourdes to meet Joe's parents for a few days. The drive was sunny and peaceful, despite fears of running out of gas due to the week long fuel strikes in France. Normal.
 |
| Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes |
Lourdes, famous for Marian apparitions, is now a popular pilgrimage site, especially for the sick and elderly. While the story of Lourdes is pretty inspiring, I found the commercialization and exploitation of the site made it quite difficult to connect spiritually. With that said, we still found it interesting and are glad we made the trip.
Here are some of my favorite examples of people trying to cash in on Mary...
Cheesy Mary souvenirs aside, the trip was a lot of fun! And we even made it there and back safely with a stick :)
No comments:
Post a Comment