Last Days in France

Our next day in Lyon, the Lepores showed us around their city. The first place we visited had a church, a cathedral, and the ruins of an ancient church all in the same area. The ruins were from the apostle Paul's time and included a baptismal font--right outside the church with a statue of John the Baptist sprinkling Jesus with water. It was very interesting to think about the contrast in the manners of baptism. We then went to lunch where I finally found the French onion soup I'd been hoping to try the whole trip, went shopping, and got some ice cream. Lyon is a beautiful city, but the best part was being with our friends. When we got back to the mission home, we got to meet some of the missionaries that were heading home (who we ran into again at the airport) and said goodbye to the Lepores. We were so sad to be going home and to say goodbye, but so grateful we were able to go! We took a train back to Paris and flew out the next morning. 

 

Lyon

From Paris we took a train down to Lyon. I LOVED the train ride! The kids had fun with each other and Nate and I loved seeing France out the huge windows of the train.  It was beautiful! It was late when we arrived, but Roland and Amie were so nice to meet us at the train station. They took Lia and Laura back to their house with Emilie and Lydie. Josh and Megan stayed in a hotel with Nate and me. The next morning we rented a huge van (which was no small thing to maneuver and park--thank you Nate!) and picked up the girls and Charlie to drive to Annecy. Annecy is a beautiful little town in the mountains a couple hours from Lyon. We had a great time there! We wandered around the town, had lunch (which included Raclette that the Lepores told us about and I was dying to try), did a little shopping, got some ice cream, and went peddle boating on the lake. After that the kids were spent, but Nate and I wanted to go see the church there. So we hiked up a huge hill to get to it and caught the end of a service while the kids went to the car. On our way home, we stopped at a grocery store to get a few things (which was an experience--they are serious about their closing times there) and picked up pizza to take back to the mission home. The kids ate quickly so they could go swimming. They had so much fun together in the pool! The next morning we went to church and were able to meet up with our old neighbor Isaac Pfunder who was serving in the Lyon mission. It was fun to see him and give him a hug (and a little package) from his mom. Afterward we went back to the mission home to play games and have lunch while we waited for Roland and Amie to get home. They were speaking at a stake conference in another city. We had dinner together and spent the evening with them. It was so nice to see them and hear about their experiences. They are so busy so we were grateful to be able to spend some time with them!