Noël

Now that I am happily contented after much food, treats, fellowship, and fun, I should at least recount some of my adventures of the past few days.  So much has happened, it's unbelievable...then again, my fatigue must have come from somewhere.

Anyway, we are in the midst of enjoying our Christmas holidays with a few friends. Last week, we rented a car and drove to Domremy, the little village where St. Joan of Arc was born.  It is so beautiful and non-touristy.  I was planning to buy souvenirs there to bring home for all my friends (Joan of Arc fans), but there were none to be had (granted, we didin't look very hard, but the pilgrim center was not out to make a profit).

It was a very rainy day.  We first visited the church where St. Joan was baptized and went to pray quite often.  The church has changed a lot over the years (they've completely changed the orientation of it), but the statue of St. Margaret that she used to pray in front of is still there.

 The basilica:

 After roaming around in the pouring rain, we at last made it to the pilgrim house next to the basilica.  Starving, we decided to eat at the restaurant.  They were going to just serve us sandwiches because the kitchen was closing, but they were super nice and gave us roast chicken, salad, and fries followed by mirabelle tarte.  Food never tasted so good!

 This is a replica of St. Joan's house.  The stones in front of it are actually part of her original house.
To hear more of this story, go to my sister's blog.

Afterward, we went to a local shrine to Our Lady called Benoite Vaux (it was still pouring rain and getting dark).  Sadly, when we asked a nun, she said the church was closed for Christmas, so we didn't get to go inside. This incident became the fodder for many jokes of the following evenings.
Stay tuned for part 2!
--Mary