Today was the fourth day of the MFS IL France trip. We spent our first night with our host families and woke up bright and early to have breakfast with the families. The big group then met together in downtown Carcassonne. We began our day with a walk to the famous Cité de Carcassonne. We had free time during the beginning half of our day to roam the windy castle walls, enjoy ice cream, eat some crêpes, and shop in little stores. We then gathered in a park next to the castle to enjoy lunches made for us by our host families before setting off to our next destination.
Our next activity for the day was to begin the service aspect of our trip. We took an hour bus ride to a historical religious pilgrimage site from the sixteenth century. There we met Bernard and were informed of the history of the area and his interest in preserving the exchange of human culture over time through travel. We then began to plant lavender along the walking path to promote the health of the local ecosystem and to create sources of pollen for bees within the area. We worked on landscaping the area for about three hours and finished out the day together by reflecting on each of our personal feelings about the day we had. Some highlights were “fun,” “exciting,” and “collaborative.” We then proceeded to head home to our host families and finish up the day with some dinner.
