Pâques + Lourdes = da Bomb!

I contemplated having Easter + Lourdes = something French, but da Bomb just seemed so much more powerful some how...haha. Ok, so I had a wonderful weekend in Lourdes (even if I went alone, it was more of a pilgrimage, so it didn't bother me at all! It some ways it was nice to have a retreat, to get away and lay some ground work again. I had been feeling a bit adrift before I left, and now I nice and grouded again.) So, here's the break down:

Holy Thursday:
I left Angers around 13h30 and arrived around 21h15. Bleh. And I couldn't go to Holy Thursday mass, which was a major bummer, but can I really complain about anything? So, lot of train time, but no big deal! My hotel (weren't really any hostels in Lourdes, so I found a little family-owned one star hotel that was pretty reasonably priced) was super close to the train station, so I found it without any problems, checked in, and then basically relaxed so that I could wake up early and refreshed tomorrow.

Good Friday:
Woke up, ate breakfast (included with the hotel), and then headed out to, first of all, find the Tourism Office and get a map! Well, I had printed a map offline, and didn't realize that to access the road of the tourism office from a certain square you had to go up a set of stairs (the road overpassed the square), so it took me a little time to find the Tourism Office and a bit more time to find les Sanctuaires (the basillicas, the grotto, the baths, etc). Of course, I also found out later that the way I arrived at the sanctuaries was a bit round about, but no biggie. Since I had three full days at Lourdes, I decided to let Friday be a leisurely day to explore. So, I went inside the different Basilicas and chapels (they are all part of the same overall construction, but la Basilique du Rosaire is ground level, then when you climb the side slopes or the staires, there's le crypte and then above the crypte is la Basilique de la Conception Imaculée. There are also lots of side chapels). I visited the afterwards, which is basically on the right side of the sanctuaries and the basilicas (they built them around the grotto), and it was a bit of surreal experience, because you have this rock feature where a saint was visited by the Blessed Mother, and then you have these metal benches, concrete, bars for the line to circulate through the grotto, etc. Definitely an interesting juxtaposition of history and modernity. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Our Lady was HERE. Saint Bernadette was in the same spot as I. It's mindblowing! Anyhoo, at noon I prayed the stations of the cross with a group, and it was really incredible - la chemin de la croix was situated on a hill, so you have to keep climbing to see the statues representing the different stations, and while there you get a incredible view of the Pyrenees (forgot to mention that the mountains in Lourdes are AMAZING). I did a bit more exploring after the stations and then a bit before 3pm I settled myself in the crypte to say a rosary, and when I was about to the end a large group of Germans came in and started to pray the rosary. It was awesome - nothing like the Hail Mary in German rebounding off the walls of a small chapel. After the rosary I went to confession, which was quite an interesting experience because it was basically rows of chairs in between confessionals on both sides, and there were different corridors for different languages of confession. I said my confession in English, just because of the nature of confession; it's so much easier to speak openly from your heart in your native language. My confessor was a rather interesting, midly anti-French, American priest. So yes. Afterwards I headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner at 19h00 (I decided to eat dinner at the hotel - so much easier Easter weekend. Who knows what would have been open?), and the sister (was a brother-sister business, I think) arranged it so that the three people alone at the hotel ate together. So I met a really sweet older woman and a younger guy who worked for the Post Office in Paris. After dinner, we headed together to la Basilique de Saint-Pie X (underground and enormous! Very modern architecture, too - like an upside-down boat) for the Good Friday Service and then I headed to bed.

Holy Saturday
Woke up at around 8h00 (impressive, right? It's weird - France has made me a little old lady...I go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. lol You silly inner clock, you!) and dedicated the morning to "le chemin du jubilé" (the way of the Jubilee). Basically, you go to four different spots in Lourdes associated with Saint Bernadette, pray, reflect, etc...there's also a prayer of the Jubilee. So, if you do it in the specified order (via the Pope), you start with the Parish Church where Bernadette was baptized, then head to le Cachot, an old prison where the Sourbibous lived for some time out of desparation, and then you arrive at the sanctuaries by la porte de Saint Michel, go through les arcades (basically 7 archways that all lead to the grotto), and arrive at the grotto for step number three. After I visited the grotto it was about noon, so I went wandering to find a boulangerie where I could buy a sandwich, ate lunch, and then did a bit of browsing through the MILLIONS of souvenir shops. Really. I could not tell you how many shops with Lourdes souvenirs there were. After a while you learn to discern between them, pick the better ones, but even then it's a bit overwhelming. At around 2 I headed to fourth and final step (I took a long break because it was closed between noon and 2) - the hospice (now hospital) where Bernadette received her first communion. I thought it was a rather beautiful way to order the visits; they wrote that they purposely had it end with the Eucharist, as Mary would not want it to end with her but with her Son. After having finished la Chemin du Jubilé, I did a bit more shopping and found a rosary (I lost my First Holy Communion Rosary freshman year and have been waiting to buy a new one) - it is rather simple and made of the same quality of wood as St-Bernadette's first rosary. One thing that I have learned to appreciate more concretely from this pilgrimage is how God really works through the humble and the lowly. After dinner I headed with the my acquaintances from the hotel to the Easter Vigil mass, which was awesome. I forgot to mention in describing Good Friday that these masses were International Masses, i.e. parts of the mass were read in a total of six different languages (French was, of course, the base language, but then there was Italien, Spanish, English, German, and Dutch). Also, when we went to mass, we were a bit late, so we decided to sit in different rows on the aisle seats so we could all see a bit better, and there were two asians girls in a row, and I asked them in French if the seat was taken, tried in English (don't think they heard me), and the younger girl said in broken French that there were German, so I said allemand? Oh! Ist hier noch frei? And then I sat down next to them and got to practice some German for a while before mass started! Wunderbar!

Easter Sunday!
So, I started off the day going to the Easter morning mass with another woman from the hotel (what better way to set the tone for the day, even if I did go to Easter Vigil?) After mass, I decided to look at the Baths (which I discovered were just beyond the grotto), and realized that I should have gone on Friday when there was hardly anyone there, because there were LOTS of people on Sunday, of course, and the lines for the baths were impossibly long. Ah well. Perhaps it's better not to do everything in one go - leaves something for a return trip (and I definitely want to come back!) So, I found a boulangerie that was open and had a rather simple lunch, which did, however, include a rather delectible chocolate pastry. ^_^ Did I mention that the weather was rather unpleasant and strange? Rain off and on Friday, more rain Saturday and snow in the afternoon, and then hail after Easter Sunday mass...followed by snow and rain...and a bit more rain. Ah well. Somehow it still worked out quite well, even if it was cold and rainy the entire time. The afternoon I decide to make a mini-pilgrimage to Bartrès, a village a couple kilometers outside of Lourdes where Bernadette lived for some time. If you take le Chemin de Bernadette, it is a lot longer, but it is the path that she took (approx) to make the treck from Bartrès to Lourdes and back. You go through some beautiful country side (I was a mildly worried several times that I had made a mistake...paricularly when I had to walk between the fences of two different farm properties, but I was right and got there after a 45min walk. It was also essential all uphill, so you got a really good view of the mountains and the city below! So gorgeous!!!) In the town, there is l'église de Saint Jean Baptiste, where Bernadette often came to pray, a home where she lived for some time, and the place where she watched the sheep. That was particularly interesting because it was virtually untouched, and it was a bit easier to imagine the past of the place, etc. On the way back, I missed a turn somewhere and found out that taking the main roads is a lot quicker (and a bit easier), but it was totally worth the crazy country treck! I got back in time to rest a bit before eating dinner and rushing back to the sanctuaries to buy a ticket for a concert at la Basilique du Rosaire. Sunday marked the beginning of le Festival de la Musique Sacrée, so I listened to Charpentier's Messe de la Vièrge et Te Deum. It was so incredible. I really could have listened to the orchestra and singers forever, but the concert had to end at some point. It was, however, an awesome end to my Easter Sunday in Lourdes.

Easter Monday
So, I woke up early this morning so I could make mass at the grotto at 8h30. Just by coincidence, it was an English mass, and even though it was raining the entire time, it was worth it one, because it was at the grotto and two, because it's been two months since I've attended a mass where all the responses are innate and natural. I have the hang of things now with the mass in French, have picked up a decent amount of the responses, but there's nothing like praying in your native tongue. After mass, I said my goodbyes to the sanctuaries and to Lourdes and caught the train back to Lourdes at 11h15. Got back to Angers at 18h15 and was quite ready to be done with the train...for the moment.

Well, that's about it for my Easter Adventures - I hope everyone had wonderful Easter breaks, etc. I'd love to hear about them if any one has the time to drop a e-mail my way! :)

Ok. Captions: les sanctuaires par la porte de Saint-Michel, the "crown"/dome of la Basilique du Rosaire, Notre Dame de Lourdes (statue on the pathway to la porte de Saint Michel, if your back is to the sanctuaries), the grotto, and le bergier

Keepin' on Keepin' on.

So, for the first time in a while I will NOT be writing a small novel in disguise as a blog post! I just figured it was about time to check in and let everyone know how things are going. It was very strange at first going back to "normal living" in Angers after such a crazy, intense week in Germany, but very nice as well. It's so funny how even in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home I can still find habits, fall into the patterns of daily living, get swept up with life and watch it pass. That is a bit my story of late...going with the flow of classes, outings with friends, homework, etc. I got to see a couple films this weekend (Le Printemps du Cinéma, so every showing of every film in every theater cost 3 euros 50!) - Paris (interesting portrait of life in Paris...made me think of Love Actually. I know there's Paris, je t'aime, but this Paris actually connected the different stories. I definitely liked it better, and it definitely left you with things to think about when it was over) and Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (which I highly reccomend, particularly to French speakers...it's hilarious). My big news really is that I am leaving Easter Weekend to make a short pilgrimage to Lourdes - I am quite excited :) I leave tomorrow at 13h38 (and get there at 21h10 - bleh. A couple of Train switches/wait times) and I stay there until Monday (leave at 11h00 and get to Angers at 18h00). I'll be sure to keep you all in my prayers - and Happy Easter!!!

Die Ferien in Deutschland!

Sorry it took me a while to update – I arrived home late on Sunday night to find out that the internet is out at the house. Needless to say, I’ve been in withdrawal a bit and it has been difficult to get on to respond to e-mails, post pictures, update my blog, etc. But here it is finally – my crazy adventures in Germany!

STRASBOURG

Day 1

I have to admit, I slept terribly the night before leaving because I was so nervous! I have never done anything so independent and ambiguous and I think I was started to realize it, because I couldn’t stop worrying about what might go wrong, etc. etc. Then, I got up, hurried to the UCO to print one last confirmation before leaving, and made it to the train station with plenty of time. Good. We get on the train, and 20 minutes later it stops in the middle of nowhere and we hear over the loudspeaker that there has been an accident and so there will be a delay. Two hours later, we leave again, well after the time for my connecting train from Paris to Strasbourg. Soooo, at the Montparnasse train station we got new tickets to Strasbourg (didn’t have to pay, of course) and then we took the metro to the East train station. We ate lunch in a café by the train station and walked around a bit…let’s just say my first view of Paris was not a very romantic one. But the café was nice. Lol We finally arrive in Strasbourg four hours later than planned and head off towards our hotel, which is not too far from the train station, according to the map the hotel provided. The TERRIBLE map the hotel provided. It was, indeed, very close to the train station and an easy walking distance from the center of town, but the road names were different and there was a terribly confusing road split, etc etc. Once we finally found our hotel, we dropped off our stuff and then headed by bus to the center of town (without a map – reception was closed!), where a very nice couple walked with us towards the direction of an adorable alsacien restaurant (Strasbourg is in the region Alsace). We had a traditional meal of choucroute (still figuring out exactly which part of the meal that was… Joselyne seemed to think it was the Sauerkraut, but on the menu it said Sauerkraut and choucroute, I thought. If so, then choucroute is more potatoey) and Gewurtztraminer (very nice white wine from the region). We leisurely explored the city a bit after dinner and then headed off to bed.

Day 2

Woke up moderately early and headed into town so I could go to mass at the cathedral at 11am. The Strasbourg cathedral was actually very interesting architecturally; I would almost describe it as skeletal. But the inside was gorgeous and the mass very lovely – they even read the second reading in German! We got to look at the astrological clock in the cathedral after the mass, and then we headed to the tourism office for a minute, where I heard in the span of 5 minutes French, German, and English. Needles s to say, I was in heaven. J We ate lunch at a little café where I had a HUGE, yet thin, type of pizza, and then we headed toward La Petite France, a very gorgeous nook of Strasbourg that is intersected by lots of little rivulets of the greater river, and walked around for a while. Then, we took the bus and headed to La Musee des Secrets du Chocolat. MMMMMMMM. It was a very cute and interesting museum that discussed the history of chocolate in general and then for this specific chocolate company. At the end, there was a demonstration of how you make hollow chocolate animals, which was pretty awesome to watch. After touring the museum, guests receive a small gift of chocolate, and I received another assorted bag of chocolates worth 12 euro because I found the cutest messenger bag ever and had to buy it. Very unlike me, I know, but it was a must – on the outer flap is written “Dans tous mes états” and on the inside pockets (and there are lots of pockets , which is terribly practical) are the names of all the different types of chocolate: bonbon, pepites, gateau, etc. We then returned to Strasbourg and did a bit more exploring until we found a cute bar on a boat that had a menu out front for different sorts of “tartines,” so we decided to go there for a light dinner. She handed us the drink menu, and when we asked for the menu of food, she comes back and plunks the big sign from out front into the chair next to us. A bit embarrassing, I’m afraid, but she later on did it for another couple, which lessened the humiliation. We wandered around a bit more after dinner (partially because we kept getting turned around while trying to find our way back to the hotel) and then settled down early to get a fresh start tomorrow.

Picture: McKenzie and I at le Gutenburg with our lovely dinner of Ham, Choucroute, and Sauerkraut + Gewurztraminer!

München (Munich!)

Day 1

Woke up early to see the European Union buildings in Strasbourg before leaving, took the bus, took a connector bus…and then realized we had taken the second bus in the wrong direction. Great. There not being enough time to fix our mistake and catch the train, we returned in shame to the Strasbourg train station. After our early morning flub-up, everything went quite smoothly, actually, and we arrived in München without any real problems. It was so crazy at first to hear German every where; I felt like a kid in a candy shop, a young kid without enough money to taste all the candy available but who was willing to try anything possible. French and German are two different kettles of fish; while I can understand quite a decent amount of German, I still struggle to speak at times, and I definitely have to work on my vocabulary, so I was in Germany while still in a period of linguistic study where improvements are quite noticeable. In French, I have reached more of a plateau where I learn bits and bits each day and but the progress is a lot more slow. So, we arrive at the hostel and because it is primarily for English speakers, she greats us in English but I determinedly respond in German. Finally, I ask her a more complex question later, and she responds, “Oh! Sie sprechen Deutsch!” and then begins to respond in German. Yay, triumph! We then could not figure out how to open our door, so I go down and ask one of the other workers (in German) if she could help us, and she comes up with me and shows me how it works…on the way up we carried on an amicable conversation in German and it was quite exciting and validating. YES, I CAN speak German, people! lol We then ate a late lunch at a cafe and proceeded to stroll around the city…we discovered der Viktualienmarkt (a big open-air market) and then walked to der Englisher Garten, which was incredibly beautiful and peaceful, not to mention enormous! No way we could see all of it – 900 acres, I thinki! We saw the Theatinerkirche (the basilica, I believe) and a nearby monument before decided to seek out the Hofbräuhaus (along with Oktoberfest, München is known for this large traditional beer hall).They only do things big at the Hofbräuhaus, so we split one of their traditional beers while having a meal of sauerkraut and wurst. While there, a really interesting Australian couple sat next to us and we ended up talking with them for quite a while, sharing stories, comparing cultures, etc. I also met two fellows from Köln (Cologne) and got to practice some German a bit. Overall, a very full and interesting day.

Day 2

Today, we woke up and had a fabulous breakfast at a nearby pastry shop (chocolate croissant with nutella inside! Je suis trop gourmande, je sais! The nutella was a pleasant unexpected surprise!) and then headed to Schloss Nymphenburg (Schloss = castle), the castle for the Bavarian kings of old. We easily spent the morning and a bit of the afternoon there, touring the gardens, a smaller building on the grounds of the castle, the museum inside what used to house the king’s carriages/horses, and the castle itself. We then ate lunch at a café on the grounds of the castle and then heading back to central München, where we reexplored some places we visited yesterday (namely, the market, where I bought a glass of fresh Karotten-Grapefruit Saft ; Carrott/Grapefruit juice. You can combine it however you want, but I was intriguied by this suggestion and it was quite good. We found another nice German restaurant for dinner and were in the process of returning to the hostel when we found the most politically incorrect street musician in the history of the world. He was hilarious, I have to admit, and spoke in atleast five different languages. Crazy, crazy man. While gathering around with others to watch this crazy musician, we met a couple of Germans from Saarland (small region in the south-west) and talked with them for a while. It was really quite an adventure meeting them, and we had a lot of fun – definitely a good impression of München.

Picture: Schloss Nymphenburg!

BERLIN

Day 1

So, we woke up early, took the train to the München air port, and arrived in plenty of time. HOWEVER, I have apparently never flown before and no nothing about standard prep for departure. Like checking in. And putting liquids in plastic bags. I just about shot myself in the face, but every one was incredibly nice – “Entschuldigung, Entschuldigung!!!” “Es ist nicht so schlimm.” – and Air Berlin is pretty much awesome. Nice stewardesses and then even provided a drink and a snack for the hour long flight and a chocolate on the way out. I was very impressed J So, we arrived in Berlin without any significant problems (besides general stupidity) and at the airport we bought this really handy “Berlin Welcome Card,” which includes a small tourist information book and a pass for all the trains in Berlin for 48 hours – perfect! So, with our handy dandy bus pass we took the bus to Alexanderplatz (the famous TV Tower is there and it is very close to Berliner Dom…a very central location overall!), where our hostel was located. Once we were all settled in, we headed back out and went to the Reichstag (German Parlament) to go into the glass dome built on top of the old building. We went around 5pm, waited in line for a good hour (we saw the lines in passing during the day and they were much worse!!!) and then got to look out on the sky line of Berlin by night, which was incredible! We then hopped on a bus to try and see the Gedächtniskirche (memorial church for the dead of WW2) and also KaDeWe (basically the equivalent of Macy´s at Time Square), but both were closed, or so we thought. The worker at the Reichtstag told me that there were closing at very soon, at 8, which was true, but we had a good hour before they closed. Somehow, when it was actually 7pm we were convinced it was 8pm. Oh well. We then wasted time trying to find a restaurant from the tour book that ended up being closed and a little sketchy looking. I was definitely a bit frustrated, tired, and hungry, and then we finally find a good restaurant. We had almost entered the building when THUMP, some potatoes fell from a window just above us and nearly knocked us out. Dead, lifeless potatoes with no apparent perpetrator to claim them. It was as if they fell from the heavens. I have to say that was the most bizarre of the entire trip...and rivaling for the spot of most bizarre moment in my life. After our near death by Kartoffeln (potatoes), we ate a lovely dinner and headed back to the hostel to get a good night’s sleep. At the hostel we met some incredibly nice Italian roommates that gave us some wonderful advice on what to visit, etc. They were really too nice; perhaps a good way to finish our interesting day. J

Day 2

This was definitely the most intensive day of the trip – lots of sight seeing! Order of events: a bit of time at the East Side Gallery (basically the Berlin Wall decorated by graffiti artists; I wish we could have stayed there longer, see more of the wall, etc.), then the Holocaust Memorial, then the Jewish Museum (incredibly powerful, particularly the new building, where was constructed consciously so that the whole building was an experience and representation of the Holocaust. Most moving of all was the work entitled “Fallen Leaves;” all along the floor were thousands of metal faces and as part of the experience the viewer is supposed to walk on the faces. I will never forget the hollow, haunting sound of clanking metal in that large chamber), then lunch in a small café – we were starved!, then Checkpoint Charlie, and then we wasted lots of time with bus systems (definitely a bit complicated in Berlin, and the maps of the bus lines weren’t incredibly helpful), but after a lot of questions we finally found our way back to the Gedächtniskirche to see the interior and to KaDeWe, where we did a little shopping and ate these sinful chocolate cakes as a way to wind-down. Then, at 8 o’clock when went to the Staatsoper for a chamber concert, which was a lovely way to engage in the culture, as well as the history, of the city. Very lovely. Afterwards it was a bit late, but we found a bar that was open and offered different things to eat, so we each bought a bowl of soup and then a flavored Berlin beer. It just so happens that I ordered Broccoli soup and a apple(?) flavored beer and McKenzie ordered Tomato soup with a Strawberry-flavored beer. I felt a bit like I was in a Dr. Seuss book J And then there was an older man there that heard us speaking French (have to keep practicing, you know!), and he was telling the server “Sind sind Französicherin! Sie können Französisch benutzen!” (They’re French! You can speak/practice French!) So, after that she spoke to us in French, even if I responded in German. Ah well – I was still practicing a foreign language!

Picture: view of Berlin from the cupola of der Berliner Dom

Bremen

Day 1 – Berlin-Bremen

So, the train to Bremen didn’t leave until 2pm, so we got up in the morning and toured the Berliner Dom, which was gorgeous. The most incredible part was that you could climb and climb and climb stairs and arrive at the cupola/ go outside at the height of the dome! It was incredible! We ate lunch at Café Einstein, which our Italian friend told us was a very famous, old café in Berlin, and then headed separate ways – McKenzie to Oldenburg (just west of Bremen) and I to Bremen. When I arrived in Bremen, I found Trevor and then we shot off running to catch a train that left in one minute. Needless to say, this was a very unpleasant task with my turtle shell of a backpack, but I managed. We arrived at Jakobs, Trevor’s university, and he showed me around, we ate dinner, and then relaxed. I watched Juno on a laptop with his friends (poor Trevor was pooped – he hadn’t slept well the night before) and then headed to bed.

Day 2 – Hamburg

So, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then headed over to Hamburg at around 11. Once we arrived, we basically walked around the city, explored, etc. Hamburg was very beautiful, but the weather was terrible – I was almost blown over by wind more than once! Despite the weather, we had a wonderful afternoon and grabbed a pizza before heading back to Bremen at around 7. It takes two hours to arrive back at Jakobs and with a half-hour delay, we were there around 9:30pm. Then we spent time with some of his friends (it was one girl’s birthday) before heading to bed.

Day 3 – Bremen-Angers

Overslept a bit this morning, but still managed to head over to downtown Bremen in time to arrive at the cathedral for mass. Correction: in time to arrive at the cathedral for service. While I knew Northern Germany was primarily Protestant, it never occurred to me that a cathedral wouldn’t be Catholic – I’m a bit silly. So, I missed mass (there were some Catholic churches in the city but I couldn’t make poor Trevor sit through two services) on Sunday L I was not amused, especially since I was really interested in hearing the mass in German. The service we did attend was interesting, but I was completely lost because the structure was so different. There was neither a solid linguistic nor a solid structural base to root me down so I was a bit lost. Ah well. Bremen itself is a very small city but incredibly pretty with lots of quaint architecture, etc. I got to take pictures with die Bremer Stadtmusikanter (if you know Bremen, it is because of this Grimm’s fairy tale. I bought the book auf Deutsch while in Bremen) and then we ate lunch on an old pirate ship/pancake house. Verrrry yummy J I must say, however, that Michael Buble and Norah Jones didn’t really mesh very well with a pirate ambiance. Lol After lunch, we headed back to Jakobs (the weather was pretty bad again - windy, rainy - so there wasn't much impetus to stay. Plus, Trevor had a Chinese tutoring session he had to head up at 2pm) so I could arrange my things, we relaxed for a while, and the we headed to the airport where I met up with McKenzie again. This time, I was prepared, although I had a bit of trouble detangling myself from my money back (which had my passport, etc, but was under my shirt – had to remove it for the security check!). I made the security smile, so it was ok. lol Unlike some of our other adventures, everything went incredibly smoothly on the return home; God definitely had his hand in that! We flew to Paris, took a shuttle to Montparnasse train station (and was able to see la Tour Eiffel and l’Arc de Triomphe en route!), and arrived in time to buy a sandwich before the last stretch to Angers.

Pictures: The crazy Hamburg wind; Trevor and I with die Bremer Stadtmusikanter!

So ends my adventures – what a wonderful week! I definitely can say that I learned a lot a grew as a person by leaps and bounds! (Had to let go, go with the flow, etc. Definitely a challenge for me, but so rewarding in the end)