The home stretch - off to Lourdes!

Well, everyone, I am getting ready to leave my "family home" in Nantes - it has been a great place for a homeless college student to spend some quality time getting to know France! I am very grateful to have such a wonderful friend as Caroline - praised be Jesus, she is finally finished with her Master's thesis paper and will present it on Monday (please say a prayer for her that it goes well!). It was so wonderful of her to host me in the midst of her stress, and for her family to take me in so completely!

Last night I made dinner again - my favorite sweet/sour meatballs over rice. :) They were well-received I think, although the sauce was not exactly right (they do not use "brown sugar" here, only pure cane sugar!). They sure tasted like home to me!

Tomorrow afternoon I will be riding the rails again, this time on a 7hr train ride to Lourdes! I am planning on spending my final week before moving into Rome on "retreat" in the beautiful Pyrennes mountains in SW France, in one of the most "Catholic" sites in France -- Lourdes. I will be staying at the Emmanuel Community house in Lourdes, Maison Sainte-Therese (St. Therese House), which sounds like it will be very nice and relaxing, but I will probably not have any Internet access (nor will I want any, I think).

Next week I will take the train again from Lourdes to Nice, which sounds nice but I won't be able to spend any time in Nice :) because I will immediately transfer to an overnight train to Rome!

So the next time I will write to you on here will be when I finally arrive "home" in Rome, on the 23rd of September.

You will all be in my prayers in Lourdes! Love ya'! :)

+ Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!