And so, the journey begins.

Only a few days in, but it seems a long time ago now that I was sitting in my bedroom writing my first post. It's not just the distance that separates me from that place now. The over-packed suitcase is gone, now my surroundings are quite different - I am in a white, reasonably big, slightly dirty kitchen with a large bay window at the front, looking out onto a paved courtyard, from which I can see the rolling hills of the Côte d'Azur, and hear the cicadas as they sing (very loudly!). An idyllic setting, really. And I can't complain - I feel that God has truly blessed me in these first few days of my stay here in France, and I hope that He continues to do so! There have ben a few teething problems (like the fact that I arrived, exhausted and rather sweaty, to be greeted with a very confused employer who wanted to know why I was here several days too early for my shift!), but these are massively outweighed by the gifts that God has given me - a friendly, helpful flatmate called Marie (who seems to know everyone!), a reasonably active social life, and of course, a few days to settle in and explore. It's still a challenge to understand everything that people are saying, and I am yet to build up the confidence to really step out and lead a conversation, but hopefully this will come with time. I look forward to the challenges that the next few days will bring me, as I start work on Monday, and pray for confidence in tackling them head-on. This was not a bad beginning!