Me, Belgium, and France-y Stuff

Gah. Some day I'll get better at this. I came down with a four day flu virus that wiped me out and yesterday was the first day I felt almost totally well. No puking or cold-like symptoms, thankfully, but immense weakness, feeling faint, dizzy, and shaky; plus I wasn't able to eat much. Hooray for stomach shrinkage! Though I really don't recommend it as a diet. 

I tried to find the balance of resting and getting work done and greatly entertained the masses when I would take resting breaks laying on the floor by the table where I was painting. 

I knew I was all the way better yesterday when I felt I had pent up energy to burn and did an hour of yoga! I went out for a walk tonight and after walking a mile out I was able to (very slowly and carefully) run all but a bit of the way back. We'll see how my foot and leg feel tomorrow and I can hopefully work the intensity back up again. 

Getting sick was yet another thing to remind me of how little control I have and to trust the One who holds all things together. My outward improvements in what I am learning pale so magnificently in comparison to the inward changes that are happening. The Lord has become so near and more precious to me than before. I am so greatful for my time of being pulled away from everything familiar to walk more closely with him. 

Abiding in His love has become the theme of this adventure. 

I left off at Normandy last time, so I'll just give some highlights from the rest of the France trip. 

Mont Saint Michel was probably my favorite sight of the trip. It is a beautiful monastery built at the top of a medieval village out on an island off the coast of France. You can walk to it when the tide is out. We took the bus on the bridge that was built out to it. 

                                   

                                     This was my first sighting as we were driving up to it. 

        

                                

                              It's very touristy in the village below, but fun with all the shops. 

                                

                                              It's still an operational monastery. 

                                

                                

                                                  Look at those two crazy cuties! 

                                      

                               

                               

  

        

                          This will definitely be one of my favorite places from the whole trip! 

Hans bought a postcard there which he plans to use as a project for me later! I'm excited to improve and come out with a rendering of Mont Saint Michel that I can be proud of. 

The next day we went and saw the Bayeux tapestry, the Bayeux cathedral, and the war memorial museum in Caen. 

                              

                                                The town of Bayeux was lovely

                               

 The Bayeux tapestry is from the 1070s and is almost 230ft long. It tells the events leading to the Norman conquest of England. Notice the charming scene of decapitation, just above. 

 

You could accuse me of looking it up on Wikipedia just now to remember what it was, but I would vehemently deny it. Of course none of the words from the first sentence were taken and altered from such an article...I cannot imagine why you would think that. 

                               

                                        I never tire of these magnificent structures. 

                               

I got to sit outside and work on quick sketching and perspective. I didn't get anything done worth showing, but it is so much fun to just sit and draw! It's surprising (and a bit intimidating) the amount of people who will slow down to see what you are drawing and stop to talk. I actually got quite a thrill from it, as I remember as a child I used to daydream about being an art student in Europe and sitting in grand, old places and locals speaking to me as they would pass by. 

So strange how life turns out sometimes.  

       

                      I was just so impressed by this sign's English and word placement. 

        

     

                                                    The Caen war museum

                                

They were ahead of their time with the hip lingo, as you'll notice this plane says "Bros" on the side. 

                               

                                                                My kind of ladies. 

                               

                                                Artist sketches from the battlefield 

                               

                             All I could think when I saw this was "are you my mummy?"

                                  (If you don't love Doctor Who, you just won't know.) 

      

That's all for the first road trip! I have literally (please hear that in Chris Traeger speak) a billion pictures to go through from Switzerland and I haven't even started. 

This week is the flower carpet in the Grand Place and I'm so excited to see it! We might also take a short trip to Brugge so I can work on a painting project there. It'll be my first painting in the field lesson. 

And so far I'm actually not freaking out about turning a quarter of a century old next week. I've decided (Lord willing) that this year is going to be freaking awesome. 

Ttfn (Ta Ta for now, as tigger likes to say) 

...Katina quickly bounds away 

What a whirlwind...

The end of this week will mark a month of my being here. Time has flown by! But we have really done so much in the time that it is no surprise. 

I was so bogged down with jet lag the first week, and we were traveling the second and third week with Marcus (Hans and Norma's son), that I haven't really gotten to write much about everything we did or go through any pictures till now. 

First, the Normandy trip.

We did just an overnight trip, but dang these crazy(awesome) people know how to see a lot in a little bit of time. We left super early, so I had my happy morning face on, but I was so excited to road trip to and through France!

  By the way, one of the secrets to morning Katina is bribing her with coffee...don't speak, don't touch, don't hover; just bring very strong coffee and slowly back away. If you try to overload her with information, you will be rewarded with caveman like grunts, growls, and if you get especially annoying (or really lucky, depending how you view things) there will be biting.  And while you're at it, freshly baked pastries are also helpful. I'm just putting this out there for anyone to utilize in the future...

                                         

  Still in Belgium. Obviously, we in the states need to ramp up our marketing game. Love this. 

                                    

                          Not a very dynamic photo, but I had to capture us driving over the Seine.

        

                                                                    Bam. France. 

We headed straight for the American war memorial and cemetery. While I was feeling giddy in the car at the thought of being on the beach again, the feeling of solemnity as we were walking into the memorial put my mood in its proper place for the experience. 

I am not a history buff. I don't do well with memorizing facts and dates, but I do love hearing stories of real people, who despite their circumstances choose to live and fight for the good of others instead of preserving their own skin. 

                                    

      

It was actually incredibly moving for me. I have never been super patriotic. I have always associated patriotism with people being closed-minded to other cultures and being waaaaaay to stuck-up, prideful, and pigheaded about "our way being the best way;" people being 'merica this, 'merica that, loud, obnoxious, and mulleted. Haha. 

But in all seriousness, I was filled with a great sense of pride for our soldiers, for how much they gave up for what they believed in. Many were so young and left families to serve and save the world from destruction. 

                                     

                   

We watched stories of different individuals who went to fight. 

It really made history come alive for me.

After the museum, you walk out into the cemetery where you see row, after row, after row of white crosses. So much death and so much tragedy. It almost felt wrong for the day to be so beautiful. 

                               

                               

After the cemetery we made the trek down to the beaches. It was hard to imagine it filled with boats, soldiers, and blood because the day was absolutely lovely. 

Even though there is a sense of heaviness with so much violence and death, there is also a sense of...resolution, a settledness, not peace...I can't find the right word, but anyway...they accomplished what they set out to do and there is a silent strength in that. (Or perhaps I am just overthinking and way over-romaticizing it, but it seemed legitimate to me...) 

                             

                              

                             

                                Not gonna lie, I was still pretty giddy about the beach. 

I tossed my shoes off, rolled my pants up, and chased the waves. 

Still managed to get my pants wet...I always go in too far. 

                                   

                                              Hans caught me taking pictures. 

                                                         Finding seashells. 

Looking back through these pictures, I am wondering why I left that stupid cardigan on!?! It was warmish, but I guess I was just being lazy. (You were totally wondering the same thing. Admit it.) 

Ok, I was planning to get through both days in one go, but sleep, bed, pillow friends... Calling me...

It's taking longer to blink...

Part 2 tomorrow!