Sun Rise Over Sant Cugat

Yesterday was an adventure, though I would not have called it that myself until it was over.

I arose to a beautiful sunrise over Sant Cugat and prepared for the journey ahead. ¨I’ve got this,¨ I thought, ¨Barcelona to Montpellier, Montpellier to Lyon, Lyon to Saint Rambert d’Albon. Arrive at 6pm. Everything will be just fine.¨ It took two trains to arrive in Montpellier and from there I was to hop on the train to Lyon, except that train was full. I have never felt so lost and alone. My hosts were to pick me up and I did not know how to contact them or which train I might be able to take. A frantic phone call home, many expensive text messages and three train station attendants later and I finally have a ticket to my final destination and  my hosts had graciously agreed to fetch me from the station at a later time. Still, every moment of my day was incredibly intimidating. My two most common thoughts: ¨what am I doing? and ¨I really should learn French.¨ Not far behind was, ¨that’s a story for the grandkids.¨

God has such a way of reminding us we are in His big old palm and not alone as we feel. At the station I met a couple from Canada on their way to Avignon. He had just run a marathon in Bordeux, so we had a lot to chat about.

Around 9pm, I arrived here. I wish there were words to express how beautiful it is. My hosts are very gracious, and I have spent the morning working with Brigitte. We’ve been tending the horses, making up the guest house, harvesting vegetables and feeding chickens and kittens! I will be working 5 hours a day in exchange for free room and board. I have been singing Beauty and the Beast songs in in my heqd all day and have such a strong desire to go running through the French countryside in a blue dress carrying my basket of freshly laid eggs and an old book in my hand. Think they would mind?

Park Near Montpellier Station