Ashley and France : September 20, 2014

Twice today I immediately replied to tourists I met in French, even when they were speaking in English to me. For example, a guy visiting from Mexico with family, asked me at a restaurant, "Where are you from?" Without thinking I replied, "Les États-Unis." "What did you say?" "Oh, sorry, the United States." "Ah, language problems," my dad called it. Yes, taking on a new language can shake up one's brain a bit, putting the first language in the back of the mind.

"It's like the new language shoves the other to the background...The evidence suggests that when you're processing a second language, you actually have to inhibit the first...When you switch back, there's a carryover. It takes time." -Dreaming in Hindi, Katharine Russell Rich

Yeah, it's weird! There's been so many times now where I will blank out on a word I want to say in English, having completely forgotten it.

I first visited Mont Saint-Michel in summer 2011 with my French high school group, so I decided to include some throwback photos. Now being there fall, 2014, much change has occurred in between: personal growth, plus major construction on and around the abbey. The ramp in the first pic leading to the abbey is now used for buses and pedestrians and it takes them right to the island. That wasn't present during my last trip. Before you had to take the long 45 minute trek through quick sand and rivers just to get there. So, getting ready for our trip, I was all dressed comfortably prepped for the long hike, and was really surprised when that didn't happen, oh well. Each visit had its perks.

It was amazing to see the abbey again, to remember the light flooding through the arched gothic windows, to the statues of Jeanne d'Arc and Saint Michel, all very familiar. Since news has spread around the group that I am a religion major, some students have had plenty of questions about Catholicism. When I was shopping for a watercolor of the abbey for my mom, Shadi found me eager with a question. "Why is an angel sainted, like Saint Michel? Aren't angels already special enough? What is the significance of that?" I explained why, due to angels and saints acting as intercessors and angels being protector figures, especially evident in Catholicism. Being immersed in Catholic culture for so long has become very useful after all.

Mont Saint-Michel will be here for a long time, long after we're all gone I'm certain. There's something humbling in the fact that something so beautiful and timeless will continue to remain, an island of calm serenity, hiding history's secrets in its ancient walls. It was a privilege to visit again; I never imagined I would do so again only three years later.

Visit summer 2011. The blue backpack made both trips.

The soothing, familiar smell of the sea air, l'air de la mer, hit me the moment I stepped off the bus at Saint Malo. The town has a dreamlike quality to it: the seagull cries, sea wind, distant bells ringing from the cathedral of Saint Vincent. I almost fell asleep in the cathedral, lulled by the hypnotic piano organ, basking beneath the colors of the rose window. I could have stayed there a long time savoring the silent echoes. Sometimes a smile spontaneously arises at the realization, I am here, I can't believe I'm here.