France 2019

Justin and Bridget headed on the trip of a lifetime right after Thanksgiving to France!  Justin planned it all and it was all the fun.

 On the way from the airport Justin saw a new Church of Jesus Christ sign in an area he had served.

 We started the first day at Fontainebleau.

Hardly anyone was there and it definitely got us in the impressive buildings mode right away.  This was the summer palace of the kings and they had a lot of Napoleon's artifacts on display.

 The grounds were gorgeous and we lucked out with blue skies for almost the whole 10 day trip.

 After sleeping in and trying to get over jet lag quickly we headed to Provins to see

 The sun coming through the windows was beautiful.

 We could not get over the medieval walls.  You could walk all along the tops and around the trail.

 See Justin down there?

 The French Nutella game is a strong one.

 The drive the next day was little impressive and Justin's French driving skills were magnifique!

We started our next day at Blandy-Les-Tours with no one there!  It was so fun to explore these towers and halls.

Then it was to Vaux-le-Vicomte . Here was a picture of the forge in the Carriage House for our "Forged in Fire" fans back home.

 We were able to go to the very top of the dome and the view was incredible!

 The decorations, fires in fireplaces, and Christmas music was so fun.  It was the most beautiful place.

 Here is a food model of the castle and grounds that was done for the holidays.

 

 We hiked to the end of the grounds and here is the view back to the palace.

 And our friend Hercules was waiting for us at the end.

We made it to Versailles and Justin got a good sized cut above his eye filling up at the gas station.  After a video-chat back home to a doctor we knew we needed to get him some stitched.  We headed to the hospital around 10:00 for a crazy long night of waiting for medical help.  After about 8 hours of waiting Justin was able to get stitches for the right price (free!) and we had a pretty great story.

And the most beautiful church award goes to Sainte-Chapelle.  The 360 degree windows were incredible.

And the food wasn't half bad either.  We loved the crepes, baguettes, and all the pastries.

The Lourve was massive with lots of gigantic paintings like this one we knew Rachel would think was a "legend."

Bridget got to see one of her favorite sculptures - Winged Victory.

We loved going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was fun to do it on our second day in the city so we could look at all the things we had been able to see.

 On the hour at night the Eiffel Tower would sparkle for a few minutes.

So one thing that made our trip more "exciting" was the transportation strike.  The Metro, buses, and trains were all either closed or very limited access.  We did lots of extra walking and were grateful that Ubers were available to help us on the big stretches.

 A little boxed milk picture to gross Ian out...

This was one of the wards that Justin was able to serve in.  It was fun to have a translated Sacrament meeting and to meeting a missionary from Centerville there that day.

 We couldn't pass up a random creepy doll part picture on a side street for Rachel.

 Walking around in Versaille was so much fun.  The Christmas decorations were beautiful.

 Bridget was in heaven with the incredible Monet collection.

Musee D'Orsay

We were able to go and see the fantastic production of American in Paris.  The sets and dancing were really some of the best either of us had seen on stage.  This was a production that began in Paris, moved to Broadway (where it won several awards), and was then returning home.  The audience loved it!

 And the music was by the amazing Gershwin so you know it's amazing.

Versailles was incredible!

Marie Antoinette's hamlet was just like you'd imagine Belle's village to be.  The gardens were incredible!

 We were able to see the beautiful new Temple in Versailles.

 And these funny graphics were all over.

This was the best cathedral we were able to see in Chartes.  They are renovating this lifeline of Christ and you can see the difference after the cleaning.

 Our little street in Versailles.

We were welcomed home by our little American and his own flag so we could recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was the trip of a lifetime and we can't wait to go back!