Les Chateaux!

Bonjour everyone!! I hope that you have all had a wonderful fourth of July holiday! I'm sorry that it has taken us so long to update you!! We have had a busy week, but it's been a great week! The full-time staff here was gracious and generous and gave Amber and I three days off to travel! We were so excited!! There was a lot of work to be done beforehand, but we finished it and were able to be gone for three days. We decided to travel to the Loire Valley for a day or so and then head up to Paris. On Thursday, we took a train down to Tours and then another train over to Chenonceau, which is in the heart of the Loire Valley. We stayed at a hotel right outside of the Chateau (castle) of Chenonceau. On Thursday night, we just walked around and enjoyed the small town that we were staying in. It was very quaint and very French (obviously). On Friday morning, we got up and walked over to the castle and spent a couple of hours there. It was beautiful!!! I guess the most famous story behind this castle is that King Henry II gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers as a gift. After King Henry II's death, his wife, the queen Catherine de Medici, took back possession of the house from Diane de Poitiers. Here is a picture of the Chateau de Chenonceau.

The next photo is of Amber and I from one of the balcony's in the house with the tower that reminded my of Rapunzel in the background.

After Chenonceau, we hopped on a bus and went to the city of Amboise to visit the Chateau Royal d'Amboise (the royal castle in Amboise). This castle was the royal residence for King Charles VIII and Francois I, which was during the late 15th century and the early 16th century. Within the gates, there are a few buildings that are still standing. However, this royal residence used to be a lot bigger. Leonardo Da Vinci's tomb is in the small chapel that still stands on the grounds. Here is a picture of the Chateau Royal d'Amboise.

After that, we walked over to visit Leonardo Da Vinci's house. This house was given to Da Vinci from King Francois I. This is the house that he lived in for the last three years of his life. Francois I and Da Vinci were good friends. From his bedroom window, Da Vinci could see the royal castle.

Here are a couple other photos of us on our mini-trip!

After visiting the Loire Valley, we hopped on another train and headed to Paris! One of the students that was here at the beginning of the summer was staying in Paris, so we were able to stay with her and hang out with her for awhile! We really only had Saturday to do stuff in Paris. So we slept in (of course, what else would we do with vacation time?), got up and went to the modern art museum called Centre Pompidou, and then we decided to just be Parisian, rather than be tourists. So we walked around just enjoying being in Paris, shopped a little, and had a long dinner at a café. It was wonderful and just what we needed, I think. It was nice to not be running off to see how many things we could visit while in Paris. We've seen them once and will hopefully see them again in our lifetimes, so we just wanted to enjoy being in Paris. :-) I will say that visiting the castles made me feel like a little girl again. It felt as if we were in the "foyer" of some fairy tale. Being in the castles made it seem as if we were almost in a fairy tale but not quite all the way there yet. It was wonderful!

Sunday afternoon, we returned to the institute and to work. It's been a good week getting to know the new group of students as well as getting to spend more time with the students that have been here for a couple of weeks now. Amber and I both have new projects we are working on for the full-time staff, data entry and some research work. Both of these projects will help the full-time team with the ministry throughout the year, not just this summer. So we are happy to invest our time in these projects to help further, and ease, the work of the ministry and the team. I'm also going to be starting a Bible study with the students this coming Sunday night. I'm really excited and a little nervous. It will be in English, because the students have 5-6 other opportunities to worship in French. When I was here, I remember wishing that there was at least a couple of opportunities for me to worship in English.

Prayer requests:

We are extremely grateful and thankful for the time off and the opportunity and ability to travel! It was a wonderful adventure! We are also thankful that the group B students arrived home safely at the beginning of this week!

Please pray for the students as they are in the middle of their classes and as they continue to get to know each other and interact with one another. Please pray for the Bible study this Sunday night, just that God would work through me and the study in whatever way He sees is best.

Also, today is July 7th, which means we have about a month left of our time here. This realization is very bittersweet for us!

We love and miss you all!

Katie