You gotta fight for your right to...get in the Word

My time in the Alps is coming to an end. My ear is fine now, and things seem to be going okay with the family ("seem" being the operative word - heh - trying to be optimistic). I've had some great fellowship with the Lord these past few days, but not without a fight. Because we are on vacation, I have a lot of free time (and since I'm not "home," I can't busy myself with all the stuff there is to do there), and I was really looking forward to having extra time to get in the Word more, read, etc. But anytime I try to be alone to get in the Word or pray or whatever, it's like something just magically comes up to choke it. In fact, my whole time in France has been so annoying with respect to just trying to get time alone. First of all, the family sees my wanting time to myself as not liking them and not wanting to spend time with them (not true). Plus, they think that my time would be better spent reading French newspapers or watching TV (and I agree that those things are good for my French - but they are not the priority. If I have to make a choice, it's going to be the Word.). Secondly, when I DO try to go somewhere (because if people are home, it's hard to really be in the prayer closet), there is NOWHERE to go! If I was in the U.S., I'd just go and hide in the corner of a coffee shop or even a Perkins. Or I'd go to my parents' house or the basement of the frat house. Or a library. But here, they don't really have coffee shops. They have smoky cafés, which double as bars. They don't have restaurants that stay open all night. And everywhere is crowded. And their libraries are open at odd times and close for 2 or 3 hours over lunch. And nothing is open on Sunday. Here at the ski station, there is a chapel that is open pretty much all day and into the evening, and it's empty, for the most part. However, every time I try to go, something happens. Someone in the family asks me to do something, and I don't want to be rude, etc. Tonight, I couldn't believe it. I got there at 5:45, sure that I would have a good 45 minutes before the evening mass. What do I find inside? A fairy-tale story-telling event for kids, starting at 5:45 pm. I realized that it's probably always going to be a fight to get that daily bread. It has to be a priority, and you have to realize that it's not always going to be easy to get time alone with the Lord. I wonder how people with kids do it. I guess they get up early. This just must be practice.