European Excursion

It has been a long time (as usual) since I last blogged, and a lot has happened. Brett and I are currently living out of hotels in New Orleans until our house closes (by the way, it was supposed to close a month ago). My little brother Joshy is down to visit, and we just got back from our first day of church here. It is very different down here: my hair goes poof, it feels like a sauna outside, there are drive through Daquiri shops, lots of fried chicken, and the rain comes in sheets (not droplets) and does not (I mean, DOES NOT) cool things down. The people are so warm and welcoming though, and we are excited for our new adventure.... or will be once we have somewhere to live:-)
Even though our first few days in New Orleans have been a little rough, we had a wonderful time in France. I will give a short run down of our two and a half week vacation. We spent our first day in Paris trying to get over jetlag; we had to stay standing because we discovered that sitting down or even just leaning on something was conducive to falling asleep. I have never been so tired in my entire life! To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about that day, I think I was only half conscious; I do know that we walked around a lot though.
The next day, we drove down (that is Brett drove while I continually failed at any attempt to keep my eyes open) to Geneva to stay with my Aunt Heather and her family. They took us to a beautiful Mideaval castle called Yvoire and gave a little tour of Geneva. Brett and I decided that we couldn't miss out on seeing the Swiss Alps when we were so close, so we spent the next day in the majestic mountains. Our favorite part of the day was spent in a tiny little town called Gimmelwald (it was on the shows Amazing Race and Rick Steve's Europe); this isolated town can only be accessed by cable car or hiking and probably has less than 50 residents. The town had a little stinky cheese store, a tiny gift shop, a few motels, and a few quaint farms. The views were incredible- I now better understand the phrase "heaven on earth."
That weekend, we drove up to Normandy and spent time with some of Brett's amazing friends from his mission. They made us amazing french meals, took us on a scenic tours of Normandy, and shared a lot of laughs. It was so fun to see two grown women (Marie-Sylvie and her sister Elisabeth) jam out to their favorite French singer-Christophe Mae; they even got Brett dancing, which isn't a small feat.
While in Normandy, we also got to visit the American cemetery, the Memorial museum, and Omaha beach; it was a solemn and eye-opening experience.
We spent our last week in Paris visiting the sites and touring the city. We saw Versailles, the Musee Dor'say, the Louvre, Notre Dame, climbed the Eiffel Tower, floated on the Seine, ate lots of delicious French food, and just had fun experiencing the life of a Parisian.
We are now back in reality, but are so grateful we got to experience this vacation. Brett starts residency on Tuesday and we are praying that we will be able to get settled soon. Oh dear....Brett and Josh are wrestling each other, so I better go break it up. A special thanks to our families for all of their help and to our French friends for their hospitality. Loves!

France Slideshow - Slideshow