Oops! A Bit to get Caught Up On!

Has it really only been two weeks?  That makes me feel a bit better because in my head I'd left this for nearly a month! (oh, wait, nope! It's been nearly 3 weeks!)

So I have arrived in Thun, Switzerland, where I am staying with the wonderful Susanna Rychiger in her big yellow house, and its so nice to NOT have to be planning immediate next steps! I'm here for nearly 10 days, which had been originally planned so I could "connect" in with the small community here and another one nearby (Manorhaus), although I had overlooked the fact that most people are on holiday at the moment and the community is in the middle of figuring out their own "next steps", which means its pretty quiet at the moment!  But that's ok with me, as Thun is a beautiful little place and I'm enjoying the opportunity to stop for a bit, get caught up on blogs and emails, laundry, and rest a little!

Upon leaving my "English Interlude" I "toddled off" on my adventure, beginning in the beautiful, provincial town of Vichy, which is just north of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region of central France.  Vichy's "fame" comes primarily from its thermal springs, with a secondary "nod" to its bottled water "Vichy water", and then, not so positively, for it's role as home to the "Vichy Regime" government of France, under Germany during WW2.

Its a beautiful spot, lovely and green, along the L'Allier river, and, because it really came into its own during the Napoleonic Era of France(he came once and it was a favourite of his sister's...), its all laid out with parks and boulevards and fountains, which I must admit I like!  It has a funny little "vibe" to it in that it's "heyday" was really during the late 1800's and the early 1900's, when it was THE fashionable place to go and "see and be seen", but its as if you can still feel/hear the echoes of that time?  Paintwork is faded, the rotunda has become a bit shabby and the opera house needs(and is getting) renovating, but its still a lovely, restful place, with lots of health and outdoor activities for families, and with a slow overhaul of its economy happening, from thermal health springs(which are losing some of their importance in health and rehabilitation circles) towards more current health and well-being industries and small business enterprises.  Every second business seems to be either a "spa" or chiropractor!

I stayed here with a Couchsurfing host who already had someone staying with her(a French guy who lived in Moscow but who was back getting a French teacher's qualification), but who kindly let me "crash" with her too!  She was a young, Japanese pastry chef, working in one of the local 4 star restaurant/hotels, and was lovely!  She was also a christian, and was so excited when she found out I was too, as they tend to be fairly "few and far between" around here! I had a few pleasant days there, walking along the river, enjoying the shaded parks and joining in with my host's birthday celebrations and going along to her church's weekly prayer meeting!

The entrance to the Thermal Bath buildings, Vichy

Vichy, France

Place de la Republique, Vichy

Birthday dinner for Ayumi, Vichy

The 4**** hotel and restaurant where Ayumi works, Vichy

From there I managed to arrive(after having my Blablacar rideshare break down on the highway!) in Dijon, where I stayed with a wonderfully generous couple with very limited french, and who promptly invited me along to their local anarchist pub for the evening!  Unfortunately, I was exhausted from travelling that day and wasn't being very coherent, so I skipped the pub and crashed, but the following evening went along to a local "wine & music" festival which was fun!

Celine, my Couchsurfing host, Dijon

Wine & Music Festival, Dijon

From Dijon I travelled just an hour south to Chalon-sur-Saone, where I was hoping to connect with the house church network I had been told about in Poitiers.  When I arrived, I had a few hours to "kill" before I could meet my host, so wandered along the river, enjoyed the "old town" and found a park to enjoy until I could access where I was staying.

I really do love the generosity of so-called "random strangers".  So, my host, Annabelle, worked in another town(Beaune) about an hour away, and couldn't get back to let me in, so I met up with her boyfriend who let me into the flat, gave me a key, and left me to shower and settle myself before coming back in an hour to pick me up for the evening! So, having not spoken to my actual host, and only accomplished about 15 words of french with her boyfriend, he left me in her flat, with her cat and a key, and said "See ya later"!  The "later" then involved driving to meet Annabelle in a tiny village called Meursault, where she was spending the evening having dinner with her family before watching the fireworks for Bastille Day!  What I didn't realise was that her family runs a winery, so upon my arrival, I promptly got taken to their "Cave"(beautifully cool, stone cellars for storing wine) for a wine tasting, followed by a lovely dinner and then fireworks in the village!

Annabelle(left) and her family, Meursault, France

Meursault, France

Fireworks for La Fete de Nationale(Bastille Day), Meursault

The following day I was able to attend the "Fete de Maison des Dieu", and connect with a few people from the church network.  This is basically a very simple, small network of house churches who link up to encourage and strengthen one another, living where they live and working where they work!  I met a lady(Sabine) who had recently read Red Moon Rising and had arranged to introduce a 24-7 prayer room into their weekend.  We chatted together a bit about how she had been re-discovering the power of intimacy with God through prayer and her desire to see that spread, through prayer rooms, within France whom she said "always seems to be a bit slow in spiritual things".  I then got to spend a couple hours in the prayer room there, which was fun, and then I managed to catch up with a French guy I had met nearly 7 years ago at the Eurogathering in Brno, Czech Republic!  At that time David Peirron had been trying to initiate 24-7 Prayer on a national scale within France, and was newly engaged.  Unfortunately, the following few years were quite tough for him and we rather "lost track" of him within the movement.  It was wonderful to meet him again and to find out that, a few years back, he and his family(currently at 3 boys!) had moved south to join part of this Luc5 house church network and have been doing really well since!  He and his family "home" people supported by the State as an alternative to institutionalising them, while they try to balance out their lives.

Fete de la Maison des Dieu, Chalon-sur-Saone

Felt like "home"!, Prayer Room, Chalon-sur-Saone
(but I forgot to get a photo with David & Debra!) 

All in all, the day was a pleasant day, overall, with those few "highlights", especially!

After Chalon-sur-Saone and with a quick "pitstop"(while waiting for a lift) in Beaune(lovely medieval town, smack-dab in wine country!) I arrived in Lyon and, after about an hour of confusion, misjudged arrangements and an inability to communicate due to lack of wifi and mobile phones, managed to connect up with my brother and his family, who are also travelling throughout France this summer!

What followed was two days of fun, tramping around Lyon(and renting bikes so we could get lost....) with my brother, his wife Andrea, and my nephew Benjamim and niece Amelia, and basically just enjoying the fact that we were all enjoying our adventures and what fun that we could meet up in the midst of them!

Ben & Amelia on the way to the funicular, Lyon

Blurry shot of the Basilica, Lyon

My brother & family on a water break, while "lost" on bikes, Lyon

From Lyon I continued on to my last stop in France, Annecy, where I was hoping to connect up with a church plant community I knew of through my friends Jonny Nott and Anna Evans.  About 5 years ago a couple from their church in Loughborough had moved out to Annecy to see what it would look like to "do" christian community in a setting like that(Annecy is an "outdoor mecca" with loads of tourists and visitors coming for the climbing, hiking, sailing, cycling and beauty in the summer, and the skiing in the winter), and over the last few years had partnered with a french couple and found themselves with a small, bilingual church community!

I had been having difficulty with my arrangements for Annecy as my original contacts had had to suddenly move back to the UK and I couldn't seem to get a hold of the other couple I was given contact details for.  And I had also been having difficulties finding somewhere to stay, as the Couchsurfing contacts I had tried weren't responding and the hostels were all booked up for the weekend I wanted to be there! But, finally, I sent out a last minute "plea" on the Couchsurfing website and a wonderful lady named Marjorie said she could host me at least for the Saturday night.  I arrived and, having taken me out for pizza, took me back to her place, where she has a hairless cat and a private beach on the lake for her apartment building!  Also, having misjudged the Sunday bus times, she kindly drove me into Annecy(20min?) the next morning so I could go to church!

Church was fun, with a nice mix of young families, french and english, and I met a few more "Loughborough Connections" who kindly took me out to lunch with them afterwards, too!  By this stage in my travels, I must admit I was feeling pretty tired so, as Marjorie was working a night shift that night(she's a nurse), I spent a quiet evening swimming in the lake(oh such struggles....) and beginning to realise that I was about to leave France. :(

The Old Town, Annecy, France

Street Performers, Annecy

Lunch with the "Loughborough Connections", Annecy

View of Le Lac, Annecy

On Monday I caught another lift to Bern, Switzerland and from there took a short train up to Thun where I was warmly welcomed by Susanna!  The last few days have been VERY quiet, strolling around the town, along the lake, and a day trip to Bern, although I had another, slightly random, "re-connection" in that I met up with Sonya Kaufmann, who is a Swiss girl who lived in Guildford for a year or so, a while back, and also that one of the guys in the house here(Martin) also came to the Guildford Boiler Room for a while, when we still met in the Stoke Pub!

I'm very grateful for the opportunity NOT to have to be doing or going places, as in the last few weeks my feet have begun to bother me and I believe I've begun to develop plantar fascitits, which WOULD NOT BE GOOD, considering the amount of walking that I will need to continue to do in my travels! But, have some days rest, doing lots of stretching, and investing in a pair of Birkenstock sandals, have already seemed to have helped and I'm hoping that I can "catch" it before it becomes worse!

Thun, Switzerland

The Burg in Thun, Switzerland

Beautiful! Thun, Switzerland

the Horological Clock, Bern, Switzerland

The river Aare, Bern - People jump in with dry bags, or inner tubes and float their way around the city!

Skyline shot from the Rosengarten, Bern

This evening I will be going along the lake to another small town, Spiez, where there is some kind of "town celebration" with fireworks, as Martin has friends there who work for an organisation helping to support Syrian refugees, when/as/if they arrive in Switzerland.  Apparently there is a family that they have befriended and are trying to support them as they try to learn german and transition into life here, so that might be very interesting!

Over the coming week I will have some more "chill time", and begin to contact the various people in Germany that I'm hoping to connect with, and possibly have the opportunity to visit the Jungfrau peak(through Sonya's cousin??), before joining Susanna at the Swiss National Day of Prayer on August 1.