When I arrived in Montpellier Sunday afternoon, I was a bit more exhausted than usual, which is the main reason I haven’t posted in several days. By the time I regained my energy Monday, it was time to start the work week. Also, I must have accidentally left my personal laptop in hibernate mode rather than powering it down properly. The battery was at zero when I arrived, so it needed some time to recharge to 100%. I really didn’t want to tap out another post on my phone.
I wouldn’t say the flights were great. There was significant turbulence on both flights. However, both flights arrived on time or a little early, and the flight attendants were quite friendly.
I’d had a big lunch with Kathryn before she brought me to the airport, as well as a hearty snack in the Centurion Lounge while waiting for the flight. So, on the flight from Phoenix, when the dinner service cart came around and the flight attendant gave me two entrée options, she made a frowning face when I replied, “Ni l’un, ni l’autre.” However, she chatted with me about where I was going. It turned out she grew up in a small village not far from Pont du Gard, about an hour by car from where I am right now.
Later, when her colleague came around with after-dinner coffee and tea, I also passed, thinking it would have made it even harder for me to sleep. However, he suggested I try a liqueur he had, something sweet and pear flavored. I normally don’t like pears, but in liqueur form, it went down quite well. I still didn’t sleep much, though.
On the flight from Paris, one of the attendants welcomed me by name as I boarded, having apparently taken notice of the obnoxiously large tags I have on my baggage.
When I arrived at the apartment, I had an errand to take care of right away. Last year, Amazon installed one of its lockers in the train station just down the street. I decided to take advantage of this convenience and have a few needed items waiting for me when I arrived. However, the deliveries arrived earlier than expected, and I was running out of time to retrieve them before they went back to Amazon.
After that, though, I crashed hard. If I hadn’t set an alarm, I would have totally missed Sunday Mass.
Kathryn and I have had this place in Montpellier for over two years now, so we’ve attended quite a number of Masses with this particular Catholic community, but I still feel like an outsider when I’m there. Last year, I reached out to the prior to offer to serve on the altar, but he politely let me know they didn’t need help.
However, something unexpected happened Sunday. An oblate assigned to the apostolate, whom I’d met before when he assisted the priest who blessed our apartment last year, asked me to take the collection. The late Mass on Sunday is in a small chapel — about a couple dozen people were present — so it wasn’t a huge task, but I was a little surprised he trusted a relative stranger with potentially hundreds of euros in cash. Maybe he remembered me from the blessing. Maybe it was just because I was sitting closest to the sacristy door.
Since then, it’s mostly been sleep, work, eat, repeat for me. I’m trying to work a normal Arizona day while I’m here, so I typically start between 2 and 3 pm local time and wrap up around 11 pm. It’s been cold here, certainly compared to Phoenix, but it’s been very sunny, so the afternoons are a lot warmer than the mornings. I typically run my errands in the mornings, but I’ve been trying to get outside after noon at least once a day.
