Lost

Wednesday, June 8th, 2016

So the word for today is lost – not that we lost anyone on route – 20 hours of travel and we all made it from Halifax to Toronto to Frankfurt and on to Marseilles, however my luggage got lost, or at least decided that Frankfurt was a lovely place to stay for a while.  I am hopeful that it will arrive tomorrow.  I am very glad that I packed a few clothes in my carry on case so I am not completely without clothes.

 Here we are in Marseilles after 3 flights - I only have carry on luggage.

When we arrived in Marseille we were met by lovely Viking representatives who made sure we were on the bus to be transferred to our awaiting ship, docked in Avignon about an hour away. 

After boarding the Viking Heimdal we enjoyed a lovely lunch and then a few of us decided to join a welcome walk in order to explore this quaint town on the scenic Rhône River.  There were some who chose to enjoy the sun deck and few who really needed a nap.

Later today we will have the mandatory ship safety drill followed by dinner and then we will all hope to be lost in a sea of beautiful dreams, ready to wake up in the morning and begin our first full day of touring. Hopefully my luggage will find its way to me tomorrow.

Adventure

I think the best word for today is adventure as we set off for France with a group of 19 people ready to explore the wonders of a country I have never visited. 

Travel is always an adventure and being open to new ideas, insights, foods and culture is key to having a great trip.  The reason we leave home to travel to other places is so we can experience some things which are different.  I love talking to people from others parts of the world and learning from their perspective.  With only 196 passengers on our ship we have an opportunity to connect with interesting folks.  It often seems when our group travels we pick up a few more people who simply enjoy our company.  On our last trip someone said, "I can always tell where your group is because I hear the laughter."  

When you leave on a trip you really have no idea what adventures await - oh yes we have an itinerary and a plan but that may change depending on circumstances.  It is quite possible that the second half of our trip may be altered somewhat because of the recent flooding in Paris and the north of France.  I am not worried.  We are traveling with a great company and I have every confidence that Viking will make sure we have an awesome experience.

Here is the map of our journey.  I hope you will enjoy following along with us as I chronicle some of our adventures.  I trust it will be an adventure filled with joy and laughter and we will come home with memories to last a lifetime.

Harmony

The word I chose for this week is “harmony.” My first thought was music - I love a variety of music and I especially love it when I am singing in worship and I hear beautiful harmonies…different but complimentary notes coming together in unique and inspiring ways.  Music is much more interesting with harmony.  I am in awe when I listen to barbershop quartets who bring together such amazing harmony.  

But what about harmony and life – most of us prefer to live in harmony rather than discord.  To live in harmony is not to all be the same, but it is to live in ways which are complimentary.  In a faith community or in a family, it is important to work together, combining different gifts and idea in ways which produce something pleasing.  Landscapers work to create harmony in gardens, combining different plants that work together to complement each other.

When we live attentive to the needs of our Body, Mind and Spirit we find harmony.  I love the hymn in More Voices #82 which says 

Bathe me in your love, O Source of Awe and Wonder;

Help me walk the sacred path of harmony and peace.

May I be attentive to the musings of your presence,

Drinking from the well of hope that brings the heart release.

It is not always easy to live in harmony; sometimes we struggle to live in harmony with ourselves let alone other people.  Next week Paul and I are traveling with 17 other people on what promises to be a fabulous trip to France.  We met with many of them earlier this week to hand out tour documents and answer questions.  

Each person on the trip will bring their own unique personality and my hope is that we will both live in harmony and create beautiful harmonies as we journey together, sharing our own insights, joys and experiences.

I will be using this blog while we travel to share daily updates on our trip so feel free to check in and follow along on our adventures.

This week may you walk the path of harmony and peace.