July 14, 2009. This is how Benedict XVI started his summer vacation. At noon, the pope arrived at Les Combes, a town in northern Italy near Mont Blanc.
As soon as he got off the plane, he said this would be a time to rest and to work, but mainly to rest.
He was welcomed by the town’s mayor and a group of children who received him with flower bouquets.
The pope will stay in a small house that belongs to the Salesians. He’ll stay there until July 29, and spend the rest of the summer in Castel Gandolfo.
This is the third summer the pope spends in Les Combes, a place that John Paul II also visited on ten occasions.
Everything is ready to assure the pope’s rest. Curiously, there is a piano inside the house and a barbecue outside.
