Rebuilding a french monastery helps FLC student grow

In this personal reflection, Fort Lewis College student Nicholas Prestifilippo shares his experiences during a Summer 2025 study abroad trip to France, where he helped restore an 800-year-old monastery while building friendships, gaining new perspectives, and creating lasting memories. This story is part of an occasional series on Fort Lewis College students' experiences beyond the classroom, written by students for students. Apart from correcting typos, it has not been edited to preserve the author's voice.
 

Although this was not my first time in France nor in the countryside of this wonderful country, it was my first time ever working on an 800-year-old monastery. To say that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity would be an understatement. I made friendships that I hope will last a lifetime, I made memories that will make me laugh decades from now, and I learned so much more than any classroom could have. As a transfer student I never thought something like this would be available to me especially at such a small college like Fort Lewis. However, after this trip this is exactly the type of experience I wanted when I decided to go back to school.

My journey started in my home town of Chicago at O’hare airport in terminal three. After an hour delay we finally boarded and luckily for me I got a whole row to myself. After a connection at London Heathrow I finally arrived in the city of lights, Paris. Unlike most of my cohorts I was very familiar with the city. A few years back I studied in Germany for a year and took weekend trips to Paris pretty frequently.

Navigating from the airport to the Gare d’est went off without a hitch. Walking along the Parisian streets reminded me of all those years ago except I was carrying everything I needed for a month on my shoulders. After stopping for a bite to eat I arrived at the train station with plenty of time and soon after boarding I was whisked away on a high speed train to Angouleme. Due to the fact that I would be arriving so late I had to spend the night in the city before being picked up by Dr Martin the next morning. I barely made it to my room and passed out after nearly twenty four hours of travelling and jet lag. The next morning the adventure of a lifetime would start.

I met Dr. (Michael) Martin and most of the others at the train station in the morning. We all packed into the van like sardines with all of our bags. Although I would say that I packed a lot of stuff, compared to everyone else I barely packed anything. I guess not many people have had to live out of a backpack for a few months. We drove for maybe an hour from Angouleme to the monastery but the suspense made it feel like hours went by. The town was something out of a disney movie, there were maybe only seven or eight farm houses and one intersection where two country roads meet. We would be staying in the barn that the farmer built some time in the 1600s. It felt more like a bunkhouse from summer camp in northern Wisconsin. I stayed in a small room on the first floor with Zach. Needless to say we raised some hell from that room and on several occasions were told to quiet down. There were only two showers so half of us used one which made showering a bit of a debacle. After settling in we were split into three groups to take care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner on our assigned days. Breakfast was simple and was much more relaxed than the other meals. Some bread and croissants with jam and juice. Lunch was typically made by Dr. Martin, his lasagna was one of the best meals I think I had on the trip. Finally dinner which was much more of an event than the other meals. We had a real French chef cook for us every night. The food was fantastic and we were served wine. Most of the others did not drink much so I pretty much got a whole bottle to myself which I certainly did not complain about. If there was one thing I could have brought home with me it would have been the chef. The food was just amazing and the only problem was that there was never enough for thirds. The first day was a simple introduction day and getting us familiar with the property. The real work would begin at eight o’clock sharp the next day.

Growing up in Chicago the day felt like any other scorching hot summer day. A lot of the others had grown up in Colorado and had not experienced a real hot summer. The coldest day was maybe seventy five degrees and overcast which we all profusely thanked the big man upstairs. Most days were about ninety with no cloud cover and nearly fifty percent humidity. A far cry from the cool dry summers of the Rocky Mountains but an average summer in the plains of the midwest. There were several areas that we had to work on. First there was some basic upkeep or gardening. We had to pull weeds and scrap off moss growing all over the foundational ruins of the old monastery. Secondly there was the ten foot by ten foot mound that we had to excavate. We found all sorts of items from medieval glass to modern farm equipment. Lastly there was the museum that needed to be updated. Updated sort of implies there was a museum but it was actually a storage room that we transformed into the museum. I mainly worked on the mound partially because it was the most fun, in my opinion, and partially because most of the others did not want to be outside in the furnace that was Southern France during the summer. I personally found a paleolithic tool head that I was unfortunately not allowed to keep. So six days a week for three weeks we worked ourselves to the bone practically passing out after dinner. But we also got three excursion days.

Our first excursion was to another monastery. It was from a different monastic order but built during the same time as the one we were working on. The biggest difference was this monastery was built into the side of a hill. The main room was nearly five stories tall and belonged in one of the Lord of the Rings books rather than the South of France. Our lunch was a little picnic by our van with a quick stop at an ice cream shop before we got time to explore the town. The second excursion was to Angouleme. There we went to a cartoon museum, which was actually super interesting. Then we walked up to the cathedral built by knights to guide religious pilgrims to Jerusalem during the Crusades. Again we were given time to explore the city and me and a few others stopped for some ice cold drinks before returning to the agonizing heat. Our last excursion, my favorite, was to the town of Jarnec to visit the courvoisier cognac distillery. There we got to see how they make cognac and visit one of their store houses. At the end we got to try a few of their cognacs which were just devine, pun intended.

There are so many other stories, so many moments of pure laughter that had us on the floor on the verge of tears from laughing too hard, so many memories that are hard to put into words. It was a real learning experience and not just in the academic sense. I think all of us learned something about one another and learned something about ourselves. I certainly had a few moments of self-reflection that I continue to reflect on months after the trip. Not everything was laughter and joy, me and a few others formed a pretty solid friendship and we all opened up to each other in a very deep emotional way. I hope the friendship we forged in the heat of France will be a bond that lasts a long time. There are so many highlights from the food to the night that we slept in the 800 year old church. However, for me the highlight of the trip was the friends and memories I made along the way. This really was a summer to remember.

I really can not thank you enough for this scholarship that made this all possible. To be able to have the opportunity really is a dream come true. I hope that this program continues and that others will have the chance to experience what I did for those short three weeks.