The Citadel and More

"Gloriously perched on a rock, with its bastions deployed both in the South and the North, with its covered walkway where the colors of the Sisteron flag float in the almost everpresent wind, it fascinates the traveller passing through the Durance Vale, makes him take a break, and beckons him to visit this fortress which stands across the valley as a barrier." 

If this were all we had glimpsed,

Our Lady of the Castle Chapel

I would still proclaim that the pamphlet did not mislead with its opening statement as quoted above.  But this was not all. 

Exploring the Citadel in Sisteron, France, was one of the highlights of our trip last month.  Upon entering, we made our way past the First and the Second military enclosures. Then we took a short break to listen to some of the history of the Citadel (According to "the pamphlet," on March 5, 1815, Napoleon is worried by the Citadel on his way back from the Isle of Elba.  Short of gunpowder, its twenty guns let the Emperor and his 1200 soldiers go by.) while Bear ran from knight to knight and Patrick snapped a few shots, including the one of the chapel ... our ultimate goal. 

Next, we climbed some stairs up through what was once used as a Cistern, installed in the 16th century to collect the rain water.  This picture shows our return trip through the Cistern!

While we took in all the different views along the way,

our ultimate goal kept calling us upward.

As we topped these stairs, we found ourselves on the Upper Rampart built in the 13th century.  The view did not disappoint.

The pamphlet states (and clarifies for its English readers!), "One hundred fifty kilometers (90 miles) of the French countryside unfold from one end of the skyline to the other..."

Traveling along the rampart, the children climbed a few more stairs up into the Keep and found the Keep Bakery and the Bell.

Finally, Our Lady of the Castle Chapel, originally built in the 15th century, restored around 1935 and equipped with stained-glass windows...

After a morning of exploration, we headed down into the town for a much-needed glace/gelato/eis/ice cream.  This magnificent view was like the cherry on top!

                                                 

Firsts?

Twenty-five weeks ago Patrick, making his bed on a hard tile floor, and I, desiring a little uninterrupted rest, were experiencing our first visit to a German hospital in order to welcome our fifth blessing into our family. 

 Present-day Belle awaiting first bite of cereal while cameras focus and flash



Please note a vital adjective tucked away in that first sentence ... I may have just given it away ... yes, "first" is the word that we will focus on this evening.  

In our almost-eighteen years of marriage and almost-almost-sixteen years of parenting, we could count the number of trips to the hospital on four fingers (this is accurate, of course, if you do not include the birth of babies).  We won't go into detail on the nature of those four visits, but will simply state that they involved the two oldest males in our family, each recording two visits.

Now move this same English-spoken-here family across the world and into a foreign country.  Within seven months and eleven days of leaving Frankfurt International Airport, we have visited three different German hospitals a total of five times.  This number would increase were we to include the consultations with surgeons and the appointments with anesthesiologists that preceded the actual surgeries and "procedures."  

And yet, our Heavenly Father graciously plants and continues to water seeds of gratitude in my sometimes rocky, weary heart.  I am thankful for:

• Skilled doctors and nurses who speak better English than I will ever speak German
• Medical insurance that covers our medical needs ... completely
• The Health Care Finder at the clinic on post -- wonderful lady who speaks fluent German and sets up initial appointment with the German doctor for you
• A work environment and superiors who allow Patrick the time off to take care of his family
• Successful surgeries and speedy recoveries
• An overall lower average for hospital visits than most large families
• Authors like J.I. Packer, who writes in Knowing God,

"We can be sure that the God who made this marvellously complex world-order, and who compassed the great redemption from Egypt, and who later compassed the even greater redemption from sin and Satan, knows what He is doing, and 'doeth all things well', even if for the moment He hides His hand.  We can trust Him and rejoice in Him, even when we cannot discern His path."