Le Mont Saint Michel

Today we went to an awesome castle in France! It is a huge medieval castle/cathedral on the top of a very tall island of stone. It is so awesome! A must see! I am sorry but the pics will have to wait.....but they are coming soon! Then, we drove to Paris (their roads are so slow!) and we are here for a few days. Tomorrow my Mom gets to celebrate her b-day in Paris!

Saint Quay Portrieux...Mitch's Grandpa's monument

During WWII Mitch's grandpa was a B-17 pilot (they were very high-tech planes that could fly at very high altitudes and they carried bombs) and his mission was to fly from England and bomb the German submarines on the coast of northern France near Brest. Well, unfortunately things went awry and all of the men in his plane had to bail out and parachute down...into German occupied territory. Long story short he ended landing in the city of Saint Quay and his plane crashed near the shore. All of the town saw him coming down and he was rescued by the underground French resistance. He basically escaped death many times. He eventually made it out of France into Spain and then back to England all due to the help of the underground. It all took several months in hiding. So, we went there to meet many of the people that helped him and their families. What an amazing experience! Unfortunately, one of the main rescuers that we were to meet was very ill and we could not meet him. The main rescuer (he was not part of the resistance but a farm boy who first helped Mitch's grandpa when he landed) died a few years ago but Mitch's family is still very close to his kids and grandkids. They showed us around to all of the important sites. There is a monument to Mitch's grandpa and the resistance members (two of which were sent to concentration camps and killed when the resistance networks were found out). The monument is one of the propellers that was still intact and was pulled out of the water. Amazing!

Another thing that is amazing is French food! The daughter made us homemade french food for all the meals! Not only did each meal have about 5 courses but it was all divine and there was so much fresh seafood! Real, homemade French food is amazing!

It was such a special experience and when we left we all cried. The spirit was so strong. I can't wait to go back already! It was truly a tender experience for Mitch. Sadly, Mitch's grandpa died a few years ago so this was great for him to remember his Grandpa.

1st is the tree where my grandpa landed, 2nd, 3rd and 4th are in front on the monument,
5th and 6th are us saying goodbye to Andre and Agnes, and their daughter (Florence), 7th is me standing on the beach overlooking the bay where the plane crashed, 8th is standing in front of the tree that my grandpa and his parachute landed in.

Normandie

We went to Normandie to visit many of the WWII sites. I am sorry I don't have pictures yet. Anyways, it was amazing! We went to the American cemetary, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach (of course we all got a picture there), pointe du Hoc, St. Mere Eglis (a church where a paratrooper got caught on the top when he parachuted down), and St Marie Du Mont. It was amazing! Luckily, my dad knows EVERYTHING about WWII, especially Normandie, so we had our own tour guide. I really can't explain the feelings one feels. You must visit Normandie! Oh, and to top it off of course it is on the coast so the view of the English Channel is beautiful!

1-B-17 bomber painting on the ceiling in a memorial at the US cemetery, 2-US Cemetery, 3-Utahns on Utah beach, 4-St. Mere Eglis, 5-Omaha beach, 6-Bomb crater

More driving...but through four countries!

Today we drove from Germany, through the Netherlands and Belgium and then we ended up in northern France. It was so long but fun to go through four countries. We visited some WWII stuff in the Netherlands (again, my Dad is completely fascinated with WWII). We drove for about 10 hours today! The freeways in the U.S. are a lot faster! Though, we drove through many small towns and it was great to see the French countryside. I have some pics to post but that will have to wait as it is very late here!

We did a lot of driving today but it was worth it

Today we drove to all of the areas my Mom served in and went to the places that she lived. It was really neat to see. As we were driving she talked about her companions, the people she taught and more. It was really great to hear about her life as a missionary. She has told us stories over the years but it all just came to life today as we actually saw her mission. Tomorrow we are off on a 8 hour drive (blah!) to Normandy. We are going to visit some WWII museums and monuments along the way. It should be very interesting. We will be travelling from Germany, then to Belgium and then finally to Normandy in France.

Dusseldorf…a.k.a “Dudo” as the cool people say it

Us in front of the famous Rhine river in Dudo

My Mom served her mission in the Dusseldord, Germany mission 31 years ago. She has not been back until now! This is the real reason we have come to Germany. So, today we went to church at the ward. It was so great for my Mom. She loved it! She also said it was great because after 30 years she could still understand everything they talked about. The rest of us on the other hand, not so much. I know very little. I could only catch the basics. It was great and the members were so awesome to us! The Bishop came and introduced himself to us and so did many other members. They really know how to fellowship. We are terrible in Utah! It was a great time and I know my Mom loved it.

Another interesting fact about Dusseldorf is that most of it was destroyed by WWII. So, it is not the prettiest city. It has a very industrialized look because when they rebuilt the city they just built apartments after apartments. There is no eccentricity like the other cities in Germany.

Koln

Ok, I have been to soooooo many cathedrals. Seriously, from going to Europe last year, spending time in Quito last summer, and going to all of the cathedrals since this time I have seen a lot. The Koln Dom is the most spectacular Cathedral ever! If you go to any cathedral in Europe this is the one! It is all built in the Gothic style and it is massive and so tall! We walked inside to take a tour and Mass just happened to be starting. It was fantastic to hear the acoustics of the building as the choir sang. Though, Mitch was taking pictures with the flash and a priest came over and yelled at him! Too bad it was all in German and so we were like….uh, okay. It was funny though. The picture that we are going to post does not really display how massive and tall this place is. AMAZING!

As we were walking through the city by all of the shops there were the FUNNIEST guys ever! Oh my hanna days! One guy was dressed up like a woman: blonde curly hair in pig-tails, short and plaid skirt, a stuffed bra under a tight t-shirt. I mean it was just funny. Then, there were all of these other guys dressed in the same t-shirts. It turns out after talking to this woman/man that it was part of his bachelor party. It is a tradition there. He had to get 10 male words of advice and 10 from females. I can’t even describe how funny it was. The Germans have such fun traditions! All I can say is Americans are stale. Oh, and the first cologne was made here for the stinky royalty who barely bathed! Hence the name for cologne!