What began as a trip in another bustling city quickly became a relaxing one with some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.
We spent our time at Champfleuri, a retreat center just outside of Grenoble where Luke's mom has connections through her missionary work. It serves as a camp in the summer, and it is currently being used by a program for students to study the Bible in French. We were picked up from the train station by Damion, an American pastor who is in charge of Champfleuri.
Once we arrived, we quickly got to know the students who are living there until February. This year's program has eight girls, so the guys were back in the minority ], just like in Spain. Most of the girls were using this program as a break between college and high school and all of them spoke at least one other language to go along with the French that they were currently learning and using. At one point, we heard French, German, and English being spoken at the same time in one room, so we started speaking in Spanish just to get a fourth language in there.
It was awesome getting to know all the students who likewise were happy to meet some other people outside of their small program. There were so many different countries being represented there and it was amazing to hear all their different stories from the different places they have been. One girl was from Germany and had also lived in Australia and Argentina before coming to France.
On Monday morning, the five of us went on a hike to further explore the mountains. As we began the hike we quickly realized how perfect it was that we were here during this time of year; the yellows, oranges and reds that coated the mountains made an already breathtaking view even better. Between the trees, mountains, countryside French houses and farm animals, it was almost impossible to walk forward without stopping to take in every new view.
For lunch, we ate at a picnic table overlooking the mountains, some of which actually had some snow on the top, before heading back to Champfleuri.
Wednesday was Luke's birthday and he was lucky enough to be able to spend it with his mom, who happened to be in the area for work on the same week we were off for vacation. For his birthday, she took us to a castle where a lot of meetings resulting in the French Revolution were held. The best part of the castle was the balcony, which overlooked a park filled with geese, ducks and swans.
On Thursday, we finally had to say goodbye to all the new friends we met and also to France because we were on our way to Venice.
Once we arrived, we quickly got to know the students who are living there until February. This year's program has eight girls, so the guys were back in the minority ], just like in Spain. Most of the girls were using this program as a break between college and high school and all of them spoke at least one other language to go along with the French that they were currently learning and using. At one point, we heard French, German, and English being spoken at the same time in one room, so we started speaking in Spanish just to get a fourth language in there.
It was awesome getting to know all the students who likewise were happy to meet some other people outside of their small program. There were so many different countries being represented there and it was amazing to hear all their different stories from the different places they have been. One girl was from Germany and had also lived in Australia and Argentina before coming to France.
On Monday morning, the five of us went on a hike to further explore the mountains. As we began the hike we quickly realized how perfect it was that we were here during this time of year; the yellows, oranges and reds that coated the mountains made an already breathtaking view even better. Between the trees, mountains, countryside French houses and farm animals, it was almost impossible to walk forward without stopping to take in every new view.For lunch, we ate at a picnic table overlooking the mountains, some of which actually had some snow on the top, before heading back to Champfleuri.
Wednesday was Luke's birthday and he was lucky enough to be able to spend it with his mom, who happened to be in the area for work on the same week we were off for vacation. For his birthday, she took us to a castle where a lot of meetings resulting in the French Revolution were held. The best part of the castle was the balcony, which overlooked a park filled with geese, ducks and swans.
On Thursday, we finally had to say goodbye to all the new friends we met and also to France because we were on our way to Venice.
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