Les Gorges du Verdon

Last weekend, Kirstyn, Emily and I took a trip to spend the weekend at our friend Mathilde’s house. 

The train journey was in itself incredible, as we took a tiny little train all the way up into and through the Alps. The sun was starting to set, and we saw mountains, valleys, wild flowers, sheep gamboling in the fields, and lots of old people who would wave at the train as it passed by the bottom of their gardens.

The next day we drove to the Gorges du Verdon – Europe’s biggest canyon don’t you know! They’re more famous though, for their incredible bright blue/green colour, which is just BREATHTAKING, especially when the sun is shining. After a picnic including some delicious quiche handmade by Mathilde, we decided to have a go on a pedalo. 

It was pretty windy…

But passing through the Gorge itself was an amazing experience which felt like entering another world. I haven’t adjusted these colours at all!

As Mathilde would say, ‘Perfect!’

 

Even this trip reminded me of the faithfulness of God, even in the small things. Before moving to Nice I was researching the region and looking at things to do here. I read about the gorges and had recommendations from various friends that they were a must, but being over 3 hours away and a car being necessary to get there, I had accepted the fact that maybe this would have to be something that happened another time. Yet, 3 weeks before I leave this place, I get the chance to go and see this awesome creation with my own eyes. Thank you. 

Happy Easter

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” Luke 24: 5-6

Happy day of celebrating the fact that Jesus died for us and for all our sins and rose again so that we don’t have to be separated from God but can enjoy and experience a relationship with him and life to the full! (Bit of a mouthful, so Happy Easter for short!)

Here are some pictures from a recent trip to St Jean Cap Ferrat, a beautiful peninsular to the east of Nice. The weather was perfect for walking all the way along the peninsular, experiencing (and dodging) the crashing waves, admiring the lighthouse up close (normally I watch the light sweep round over the bay from my bus stop every morning) and feeling very windswept and on the edge of the world.

Cactus graffiti - I'd like to think that this is somebody's Grandma and Granddad declaring their love for each other...

A staircase leading to the sea. We sat and watched the waves for a while and left behind a message for whoever would come after us; I wonder if anyone found it?

La Rome française

Last weekend was the GBU weekend away in Nimes. The weekend got off to an eventful start with the man on the radio warning us, under no circumstances, to drive in the direction we were going in. Oops. We got off the road to avoid any potential dangerous south-of-France-inexperienced-in-snow drivers and hung out in a McDo for an hour. We eventually made it there safely, and it was great to see some familiar faces from the last weekend, as well as meet some new people.

Part of the programme was a trip to Nimes, where we ran about in the freezing cold for a photo scavenger hunt. From these photos you might think that I went to Rome for the weekend, as the Ancient Roman influences on the city are still pretty obvious. Les Arènes is an amphitheatre and a mini version of the Coliseum, whilst La Maison Carrée is like the Pantheon.

This was the altar of the church we were staying at. I really loved the bright colours of the painting, and the point where the colours break out reminded me of John 3:16 and also the lyrics from the song Spirit Break Out, ‘Can you hear it, the sound of heaven touching Earth.’ We were invited to join the worship of their Sunday morning service and it was very joyful praise. There was a man there who created a painting over a few worship songs; it was great to see a talent like that at work.

It was great to have some quality prayer time with the girls (Grammar tip: prayer in French is great for practising the subjunctive!) The subject of the future (summer and job stuff) once again came up, but I know that it’s in his hands. Just trying to listen and make being silent an active, not a passive activity before Him. He is good.

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Devenir ce que nous sommes déjà

Last weekend I went away with the GBU (Groupe Biblique Universitaire). We were supposed to leave on Friday afternoon, but the heavy rain and flooding meant that a new location needed to be found. Thankfully, we were provided with a new location and set off on Saturday morning for Aix-en-Provence. The rain continued but it didn’t stop it being an excellent weekend. I was reminded of how small the world is by the fact that the speaker became a Christian at Jesmond Parish Church!

The theme was about our identity in Christ. It’s interesting because I’ve been thinking and praying so far for what the point of this year was, what my purpose, goals and ambitions are, and the phrase ‘Devenir ce que nous sommes déjà’ (Becoming who we already are) popped up in one of the talks – this idea has been following me around during my time in France and I really think it’s applicable here. It’s amazing grace that we are loved unconditionally and beyond comprehension as who we are right now, but at the same time, as Mumford and Sons put it, ‘You were made to meet your Maker’. At the moment, I have taken a step out of ‘real life’, I’m away from my friends and family, it’s the perfect time to reflect upon who I am and whether I’m moving towards God’s good plans for me, living life as he intended it to be – to the full. Food for thought.

The intense weather situation didn’t stop over the weekend either; Tuesday night saw the Promenade des Anglais closed due to gigantic waves crashing onto the road. Whilst this was slightly inconvenient at the time (a three and a half hour journey home from school is less than ideal), it did make for spectacular viewing. The next morning was calmer but the beaches were still closed. When the sea is choppy the water becomes a great milky green colour, in contrast to the usual azure blue. Instead of extending a few metres out, it was this beautiful colour you can see in the background of the picture all the way to the horizon. Going for a run along the Promenade, watching the waves crash upon the rocks was so refreshing, and when ‘How Great Thou Art’ came on my iPod, I ran that little bit faster, reminded of the awesome power of nature and gratitude to our creator God.

Settling in

Well, my first few days here can be measured in a number of ways:

Apartments rented – 1

Berets seen – 3 (of which worn non-ironically-1)

Trips to the beach – 7

Ice creams consumed – 2

Tiny tiny dogs spotted – 139024859034854³

I managed to get hold of an apartment really quickly (grâce à Dieu), which is pretty central in Nice. It’s quite old and charmant in that French ever so slightly dilapidated way, but I do have my own balcony, complete with wooden shutters for at night, so it does feel very French. I’ll be living with two other girls but I haven’t met them yet. I think it is also the best decorated room in the whole of Nice, thanks to many going away presents! It’s amazing that God has provided me with this.

                         Baie des Anges

This meant I could spend some time relaxing and sightseeing. I have made plenty of trips to the beach, and I don’t think that is ever going to get old for me, I love being beside the sea. The sea here is so clear and so blue, hence the name Côte d’Azur (Azure Coast). It also shelves pretty quickly in places which can be a bit of a shock and gets me acclimatised to the water pretty quickly! There is no sand which means I don’t bring half of the beach back with me, but the pebbles can be painful to walk on, so I think I’m going to have to invest in some glittery jelly shoes that the locals sport (women only).

Especially for Nicola, who wanted pictures of food…

Sightseeing has included so far lots and lots of walking round! There are lots of pretty residential buildings in Nice with pretty stonework so it’s really easy just to wander for hours and hours. I also took a lift up to the Parc de la Colline du Château where you could see the whole of the Baie des Anges, the main bay of Nice. There has also been more than one opportunity to sample the ice cream made by Fenocchio – they have an amazing range of flavours! Some are tasty, like the White Chocolate one, some I am scared to try – tomato, basil and avocado amongst others. I did brave a scoop of lavender though and that was surprisingly tasty, delicate and sweet to begin with but then it has a really strong perfumey taste afterwards (pretentious food critique over) so maybe I’ll branch out a bit over the next few months.

Yesterday was Lou Festin dou Pouort (La Fête du port or Port Festival in the Niçois dialect) so I wandered along to take a look. There were lots of lights everywhere and four stages playing all kinds of music – I particularly enjoyed the French rock band that did Arctic Monkeys covers, complete with attempted Sheffield accents. It was actually quite convincing. My favourite musicians however were a group of old Niçois men who had traditional instruments and sang local, French and Italian folk songs. One of them even serenaded me , which I videoed and will be on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2266855547446), but the song was called Bella Bionda (Beautiful Blonde) so maybe his eyesight was impaired.

Next time I write I will tell you about the church I went to today in more detail, but in brief it was so friendly and they welcomed me like family – great!