To France

On January 4th 2011, my wife, 8-month old daughter and myself set off from our apartment in Ames, Iowa to Tours, France because I was the recipient of a Chateaubriand fellowship. This fellowship award is the result of a collaboration between my supervisor at ISU and a research team at INRA, Tours.

We had packed 3 big bags, two carry-on bags, a diaper change bag and a backpack for computer. We also brought along a sling and car seat for my daughter. We had packed so much that we wondered if we were going to be able to make it from Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris to Tours, France. We flew from Des Moines airport to Chicago O'Hare airport and from there to CDG, Paris. The flight was peaceful and without any incidences. At CDG, we collected our bags and made it to the TGV train station to wait for our train to St Pierres des Corps. From CDG to the train station at CDG, a lovely chap and a policeman helped us at different points with our luggage. Everybody didn't want to speak English even when we explained with much difficulty in the French that we are now learning to speak it. Suffice it to say that we are still wondering how we could have moved all that luggage whilst carrying our daughter in her car seat.

At the CDG TGV station, we encountered French/English-speaking Canadians (Matt & the girlfriend) who were on the same train to the same final destination, Tours. They were also going to be in Tours for 6 months, just like us, but they were going to study at the Francois Rabelais University. They proved helpful in getting our luggage onto the train and during the transfer from the train at St Pierres des Corps to another train that took us to Tours.

We were met at the train station by the person who was going to supervise my work and a student of his. They also helped us with our luggage to our hotel, where we were going to stay temporarily until we found an apartment. To recapitulate, the essence of this somewhat detailed account is to indicate how God was faithful and helped us every step of our journey. He is still being faithful in many ways that we cannot begin to recount.