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. 

Sometimes I feel like I’m in Barcelona…

Here are a few visual highlights from my recent trip to Barcelona…

The Sagrada Familia – WOW. Gave me goosebumps just walking round it. If that’s what God-given talent in a man can do, then Heaven is going to be amazing (but you already knew that). I’d love to go back in 20 years when it’s finished – they’ve been building it for 100 years!

Me and my travelling buddy Kirstyn enjoying the sunset and the view over Barcelona (even if the town planners could have arranged it so that the sun set over the sea…we’ll let that one slide just this once)

Incredible freshly pressed juice at La Boqueria market, for the amazing price of 1 euro. I tried Kiwi, and Strawberry & Mango.

An amazing front to a patisserie on Las Ramblas, the main pedestrian street through Barcelona from Placa Catalunya down to the waterfront.

Wandering round El Gotic, the gothic quarter, was nothing like Vieux Nice, even if the streets are just as old and narrow. The feel was much darker, and there were lots of interesting shops and street art, like this one:

The park was full of performers, including one man blowing enormous bubbles. I’m pretty pleased with how this shot turned out.

April was also my last month of work! 7 months has flown by so quickly, and I’m staying here another month in the hopes of ‘Profitez-ing’ a bit more and also doing some uni work in the sun. I got lots of lovely leaving presents, including a card from the students titled ‘Good luck Katty’, with messages such as ‘I ❤ linking word’ and ‘thanks for your knowledge’. It has been difficult at times when the bus journeys have felt neverending, or just when what I say seems to go in one ear and out the other, but all in all, I have learnt a lot about teaching in these seven months. And discovered a deeper appreciation for the British education system…

Krakow, the land of hipster birdcalls

Part II of our trip was a whirlwind tour of Krakow. The photoessay continues:

Krakow’s main square, Rynek Glowny, was a great place for peoplewatching. The indoor market in the centre sells all kinds of souvenirs – I am now the proud owner of a beautiful blue Polish old lady scarf.

The magic of Krakow was that it made me briefly like pigeons. They belonged there, and when these ones lined up so nicely for a photo I had to oblige. They look like happy Polish pigeons with puffed out chests and somehow not the English/French flying rats…

We were wandering the streets in search of food when we saw a wooden carving of a smiling Grandmother. Thinking this obviously = traditional Polish food, we stepped inside to find ourselves in a museum with marble busts of prominent old men with moustaches. This corridor led to a courtyard, which in turn led to a wooden shack filled with dolls like this one…

We started to get a bit scared to say the least! We actually had no idea what was happening, until we went through one final door and found ourselves in a dining hall! The food was so good that we went twice.

Such a beautiful church! It was breathtaking. The ceiling was my favourite part, it was dark blue and covered in golden stars. I like that God blessed people with such creativity and talent to build something beautiful that would bring glory to Him.

Krakow was also the city of pierogi, mashed potatoes, a surprising amount of R’n’B clubs, Jewish history…and this cheesy photo taken at Wawel castle:

The title of this post comes from the fact that if you say ‘Krakow’ fast enough, it kind of sounds like a bird signal…which was used whenever we saw hipsters. It was used a lot here.

Of course, Krakow is not far from Auschwitz, and we visited here. I’ll write about that in a separate post once my thoughts are collected on 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.

Mashed potatoes and Mountain views

In our apartment here in Nice we mostly live off fruit (kiwis and apples) and vegetables (Mexican selection, frozen bags retailing at around EUR 1.99). As a result, whenever we eat a meal at a restaurant, it tastes a million times better to our little pauper taste buds.

Case in point was a couple of weeks ago, when some girls from the GBU and I went to eat at La Rossettisserie. It’s hard to find as it was formerly a boulangerie, and all of the signs outside the restaurant haven’t changed. When you do locate it, you step inside and it’s so small! There are places for about 20 diners, max. We were a group of four so we were sat round the end of a larger table for twelve with two other parties.

The cosy atmosphere is matched by the cosy and simple food. There is a choice of 4 roasted meats and 3 accompaniments, and that is it! I had poulet rôti with purée (aka roast chicken and potatoes). Delicious! Better still though, was the quality time we got to spend in each other’s company. I’ve known Emily since my first week here in Nice, but Kirstyn and Mathilde are newer friends and so it was great to get to know them a bit better. Very encouraging to be surrounded by women who love Jesus.

That weekend, a bunch of my friends had gone off to London for the weekend. I knew they would have an amazing time, and part of me wanted to go with, but I decided it probably wasn’t sensible as I live 45 minutes away from the city normally! Instead I sent them off with a list of my favourite things to do, and received a lovely picture of the Queen in return. She’s regally looking at my desk as I write (and probably tutting inwardly at how messy it is).

So, I became an honorary Canadian for the day and took a trip up to St Paul de Vence with Emily and her friends. I’d already visited but it was really beautiful to see the snowy mountains as a backdrop. I really like wandering around all the Cimitières here, if I can say that without seeming too morbid, as they are so silent and peaceful, and something about all of the pale stone is very soothing.

Vence is just one winding mountain road away from St Paul, so we grabbed the next bus to have a look around. I don’t think we gave Vence a chance to shine, as there was still some snow on the ground there, and it was really really really cold! The old town was beautiful but oddly deserted, and combined with the clouds that had rolled over and these creepy trees, the whole place had a rather eerie feel. We also trekked all the way over the Matisse chapel to find it closed¸ which was a shame as I have heard good things about it. It’s all white inside but with really colourful stained glass. I hope to return there when the weather is a bit nicer.

Last weekend was a weekend away with the GBU, the Christian student group here in France, and I’ll write about that in another post, this one is rambling enough!

Can you tell what it is yet?

Look closely, can you see what is missing from these photographs?

What if I tell you that today has been declared a Snow Day? Aha.

This is one of those moments when I love French logic. All the buses are cancelled in the entire region for the whole day because it might snow this evening. There is snow on higher ground but none here on the coast yet. I am coming to the conclusion that my plan to avoid winter altogether this year probably won’t work…

So for today it is all too tempting to put on my horrendously 80s cardigan (confession, I’m actually wearing it right now), curl up under the blankets with a mug of hot chocolate and read. Whilst doing this occasionally is no problem, and arguably even necessary to restore order, I am aware that here in Nice, with a much lighter workload, it’s all to easy to curl up in a warm nest. Even when travelling. I want to step out of my comfort zone, both in France and in my walk with God. It’s scary and sometimes the blankets call your name (and the hot chocolate!) but I need to do it, to persevere, to take risks. Because that’s where all the fun is.