France Day 7

Aix en Provence

 An old church on the way Aix en Provence

 Had to include this picture of the old Frenchmen hanging out on the park bench.

 These two pictures show one of our most quintessential French memories of the trip. We had just finished buying some lavender satchels from a crazy, but great old lady at the town market when we walked up this alley, listened to someone playing the accordion, and walked into this "place" where the locals were sitting on/around the fountain eating their baguettes for lunch. It's a snapshot I will never forget.

 A really old church

 I loved the tree-lined roads. Supposedly Napoleon thought his troops shouldn't have to march in the sun, so this tradition started. (I don't actually know if it's true.)

 The awesome old mansion we stayed in.

A view of the town

France Day 6

Ironically, we only took these two pictures this day, and they are two that deserve lengthy stories.

 This is Souer Marteaux. (I'm so sad the picture is blurry. The camera was on the wrong setting when it was taken.) When Logan got to France on his mission, she and her husband were in the branch in his first area. They have fed the missionaries there every Sunday for years and years. Logan was in this area for his first 8 months or so. Needless to say, they got to know each other pretty well. (Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm not biased when I say that Logan is quite a memorable guy. Maybe a little biased...) Logan has always talked about the Marteaux family with such love and gratitude. He claims most of the French cooking he learned was from watching her make Sunday meals every week. We had planned our trip so we could attend church at the branch there. It is held on the top floor of an office building. We got there and found out that Brother Marteaux had an accident 7 years ago while he was serving in the Swiss temple and has been semi-comatose since. Neither he nor his wife were at church that day, but their three children and their families were there. A large portion of the branch were Americans, so it was nice for me to be able to communicate with people. The meetings were held in French, but there were plenty of interpreters for me. After church, we were invited to the Marteaux's for Sunday dinner. I will never forget the kindness and love that was shown to us in their home. Each Sunday Sister Marteaux asks her son or son-in-law to give a Priesthood blessing to her husband. This special Sunday she gave that honor to Logan. It was such a special experience for both of us. I will never forget this wonderful family and the love they showed to Logan on his mission and to us while we were there. I hope to live up to their examples.

This man also lived in the branch here. Logan was involved in teaching and baptizing him, which was pretty significant in France, as that process didn't happen very often. He was not at church that day, but his mother was, and she gave us his address to visit him. I figured out that day that addresses in France are a little more... general, then they are in the U.S.. We headed out to the tiny Provencal town, only to find they were having a village fair, packed in food cars, rides, people and all. We wandered around awhile before we found "Place Louis Pasteur" - yes, Louis Pasteur did actually live there at one time or another. Finding his apartment wasn't exactly easy either. Finally, we found someone who knew him, but he wasn't home. We were told, "He's not usually gone long". So, we walked around, ate some fair food (which is fairly similar to American, plus crepes and gyros), then went back. He was there! It was so fun to see these two reconnect, and so meaningful to Logan.

This was probably my favorite day out of the whole two weeks. Nothing could beat seeing the connections Logan made with the people in France.

France Day 5

Cannes to Manosque via the Calanques

 The color of the water was so beautiful.

 Carli wanted us to find Madeline's house and was very detailed how to find it. It had to be covered in vines and have 12 windows. Surprisingly, we found a few matches around France.

 Overlooking the Mediterranean

Yes, these adventurous people were rappelling the calanques. Yikes!

France Day 4

We rented a car in Nice and drove from east to west along the southern coast. Beautiful!

 The Monte Carlo casino in Monaco

 Delicious pizza - with Orangina, of course

France Day 3

Day 3 we went to see Notre Dame one more time. It was conveniently located right across the river from our B&B. We stayed in the top level of a woman's apartment. She is a professional musician and it was fun to see how a (probably fairly well-off) French person lives.

 The "Love Locks" on the bridge - we're sad we didn't put one on while we were there.

On the speed train to Nice

France Day 2 - The Louvre

 Pont Neuff - Bourne Identity, anyone?

 Yep, we're definitely going for touristy here...

 Mary Magdalene's tomb - wait...

 Venus de Milo

 The original Louvre castle walls

 Code of Hammurabi

 The Winged Victory

 The Lady herself - that's as good as that picture was going to get.

 One of my favorite paintings.

France Day 1

After 7 years of dreaming, Logan and I finally made a trip to France - for two whole weeks! It was incredible! We took the kids to Grammie and Papa Tommy's, and they hardly knew we were gone. We are so grateful for them for making it possible for us to go (along with many others who helped make it possible).

 Notre Dame

 Arc de Triomphe

 Tour de Eiffel

Place Vendome Column