‘The Holiday’: France - Part 2

We saw the original Kartause during our 'Holiday' House Swap (you can read about the first half of our trip here)!

We were able to visit the Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order, in the Chartreuse Mountains very close to where we were staying.  In 1084, Saint Hugh gave it to hermit Saint Bruno and his followers who founded the Carthusian Order. It is the monastery that the Kartause in Gaming (founded in 1330) is modeled after.  It was quite foggy when we reached the top of the mountain where it is located, but we could see many similarities to the Gaming Kartause like the courtyards, walls, and building designs. 

We visited the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, high up in the mountains above the cloud line, about 50 miles south of Grenoble. It was here that Our Lady appeared to two shepherd children on September 19, 1846. 

It was a gorgeous day to be there! We went to Mass, then took time to pray in the chapel as the children played in the playroom, and we had a delicious lunch prepared by the Sisters living there!





















We spent our final night in France in Lyon. The family that we did the house swap with arranged for us to stay the night with their friends. They generously hosted us and toured us around the city, where we saw many gorgeous churches!















It was an amazing Holiday trip and we’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to pray in so many holy, beautiful places!

'The Holiday': France - Part 1

During our Christmas Break, we had the incredible opportunity to live out 'The Holiday' as we swapped houses for the week with a family living in the French Alps!

The trip was a gift from God - as we couldn't have expected or planned this on our own.  The family we swapped with was a friend of our current neighbor, someone who thought we had no connections to.  But even that surprised us how God showed up in the details as we learned that she had been a student of Brian's father and in the same Community that Brian grew up in.  It was amazing to see how God was working in all the details...

We said 'yes' to doing the house swap right away when we learned it was it was near Southern France.  Two years prior, we had tried to visit apparition sites of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, but were unable to.  Now was our chance!  We have been praying to St. Joseph for a special intention, so we could see God's provision and gift in allowing us now to visit this holy site!  Brian and I began a novena to St. Joseph so that we could consecrate ourselves to him on the Feast of the Holy Family when we could be in that place where the Holy Family appeared.

We quickly realized that there would be many other holy sites that God would allow us to visit on our trip.  In addition to that, we later learned of the housing accommodations - an after-thought for us - but turned out to be the corner property of a castle, the house was at least 300 years old and was standing at the time of the French revolution.  More importantly for our kids, their kids would be leaving behind their rooms filled with playmobils, stuffed animals, and dress up clothes -- needless to say, it was an amazing opportunity!

Our first full day in France, we drove 1.5 hours to the town of Ars where St. John Vianney lived and is buried.  You can read more about the site here from The Catholic Travel Guide.  We got to see his body, but not his heart - as it was on tour in the USA at the time.  Thankfully one of my friends had been able to visit his heart on tour in Washington, DC, to pray for our special intention -- so when I was praying before his body it was neat to think his whole body and heart had now been prayed before for our intention :)

Two days later, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we drove about 3.5 hours south to Cotignac to the apparition site of St. Joseph and Our Lady of Graces.  You can read more about the apparitions and these sites here from The Catholic Travel Guide.  It was amazing to be where the Holy Family had appeared!  Maybe second coolest to being in Bethlehem and other places in the Holy Land where they had lived :)  It was very special to collect the healing waters from St. Joseph and to once again entrust our special intention with him.





Our Lady of Graces Church about 15 minutes away:





Lovely picnic with our family outside the Church.  It was a warm 55 degrees down here (only about 35 degrees where we were staying).





We then drove about 30 minutes to the town of Saint Maximin-la-Saine-Baume where St. Mary Magdalene had lived and where the tomb of her skull is in the crypt of the Basicilica in her name.  You can read more about this site here on the blog Strange Remains.  It was a blessing to be able to pray here for our friend who has taken St. Mary Magdalene as her confirmation saint!











The following day, New Year's Eve Day, we drove 25 minutes to Grenoble for an afternoon of fun!  We rode the Grenoble-Bastille cable car (aka, Les bulles -- "Bubbles") from the city center up to the Bastille, a former fortress overlooking the city.











Back in the city, we had a blast at the park and riding the carousel.  Riding the carousel was the kids favorite part of the whole trip! :)  I think Brian and I stayed awake until 8pm that New Year's Eve :)







We were staying in the small town of Crolles, about 25 minutes from Grenoble.  I only got a few pictures from the house we were staying in...



Here's the view from their master bedroom - such a gift to wake up to this view!



Here's a view of the front of the castle property -- the house we were staying in is in the far back left corner.



This picture was at a nearby park -- you can see the mountains that the front of their house faced in the background here:



Stay tuned for Part II, which will include our visit to the original Kartause and an amazing Marian apparition site high up in the French Alps!