Mommy's Trip to Luxembourg: Part 3

 After spending a few days in the north of Luxembourg, we then drove down south.  We stayed one night in a town just on the border of France and Luxembourg called Dudelange.  In the town center they were having a flee market and street faire.  We decided to check it out.  It turned out being a lot of fun.  Mom bought some toys to bring home for her kids, an oil painting and a Villeroy and Boch plate.  Then Oma and Mom shared some frites with Mayo and Ketchup.  It was a fun day.

 The next morning Mom and Oma got up early and drove to Metz, France for church.  It is the stake center for that area.  Mom and Oma didn't understand any of it because it was all in french.  So they took turns reading conference talks in English on mom's phone.  It was fun to sing the hymns in French though.  Oma seemed like she knew how to pronounce the words, but mom was pretty lost so she didn't sing too loud.  Someday Mommy wants to come back to Luxembourg and serve a mission with Dad.  Better start learning Luxembourgish!

After church we drove to the Saint-Étienne de Metz Cathedral.  Mom had heard from a friend that the stained glass by Chagall was beautiful and definitely worth seeing.  They weren't disappointed.  It was beautiful.  Mom and Lily have read the book "Cathedral" many times before her trip and Lily told mom to take lots of pictures for her, so she did!

 Burning bush by Chagall.

 One of the interesting things in the cathedral, was that they had a baptismal font!   Oma even opened it up and looked inside.  Mom was a little nervous they would get kicked out at that point. :)

 Gargoyle for Lily

The streets are so pretty in Metz.

After going to Metz we drove to the little town next to it called Morhange.  We haven't found the link yet, but the rumor is that this is where our family came from.  Oma said that there were 2 brothers that lived here that then left and went north to Luxembourg. We drove around the town and looked for Churches or a cemetery.  We found 2 churches, but couldn't find a cemetery. 

Beautiful Oma!

This was Mom's favorite stained glass.

After a great day visiting lots of Churches that night they drove back up north.

Could this trip get any better?  To be continued...

Mommy's Trip to Luxembourg: Part 2

The next day they visited mom's Opa in the morning.  He was very frail and tired.  He was able to talk with us and we had a nice visit.  The nurse came while Oma and Mom were there and updated them on how he is doing.  Oma calls her dad a lot, but it is hard living on the other side of the world.  She was able to get some better information being there in person.  He was mostly in hospice care at this point and they didn't think he would live much longer.  Mom took some video and pictures of Opa so she could share them with her kids and siblings when she got home.  

Looking at the pictures he has on his wall of his grandchildren.

Opa's dog Zoe. Such a good dog.  Mom even considered bringing him home to her kids, but then remembered all that comes with caring for a dog. He also was a good companion for older people not energetic children.  

Opa's house hasn't changed much.

The countryside along the road that leads to my Opa's house.

They stayed for just a little bit and then he got tired.  They went and got some good groceries and did some shopping in a nice shopping center north of Heinersheid.  Mom loved all of the good bread and cheese.

That night they  visted him again, but he was tired and mostly just slept.

The next day they visited a castle in Clervaux with a big church next to it and had dinner with Mom's Aunt Rene, Uncle Claude, and Cousins Manu and Yan Neck.

 The church in Clervaux.

 Oma ready for some sight seeing.

Pretty mosaic detail on the church.

 Mom has been reading the Old Testament and found this picture very interesting because she had just studied it.

 The castle in Clervaux with the American Tank that defended it from the Nazis.

After some fun sight seeing and shopping in Clervaux they drove over to Rene and Claude's house for a wonderful dinner and conversation.  Mom brought Reeses Peanut Butter cups for them to try an American treat.  They liked them, but we all know where the best chocolate is from and it's not made in Pennsylvania, USA.  

Mommy loves her Aunt Rene and Uncle Claude.  They came to America before they had kids and stayed with her family when she was a teenager.   This was the first time though that she had met her cousins Manu and Yan Neck  and they are both just as nice as their parents. Yan Neck is a police officer in Luxembourg City and Manu is starting at the university in Colonge, Germany this fall to study Physical Therapy.   It was fun to get to know them better.

To be continued...

Mommy's Trip to Luxembourg: Part 1

Mommy and Oma took a trip together to visit her Opa in Luxembourg and visit family.  Her Opa was very sick and so her and her Mom decided they needed to go.  She was grateful she was able to go this year.  It was the first time all 3 kids were in school all day, so she didn't feel too bad about leaving Dad with all of the responsibilities.  He did a great job watching the kids!

Mom first flew to Salt Lake City and met her mom there for their flight together to Paris.  Here is a picture of the Salt Flats looking out the window of the plane.

Once in Paris they had dinner and Mom and Oma shared a croissant.  It was so good.  It made up for the fact that their plane was delayed out of Salt Lake and they missed their second flight.  Luckily they were able to get the same flight together to Luxembourg.

The first day Oma and Mom went to Luxembourg City.  Oma needed to apply for her Luxembourg passport, so mom walked around for a little bit and took pictures.

Afterward, they walked to the Fortuna Bank Building across the river.  The bank building was built by Mom's Great Grandfather and her Opa lived there as a boy. It has very beautiful architecture and details.

 

Mom and Oma also visited the National Archives, by accident.  They saw a really neat building built into the side of a cliff and decided to see what it was.  It happened to be national archives and so they decided to check it out. They were able to get some good leads on microfilms to look for in Salt Lake City for Family History and became card carrying members.  This was one of the many small miracles on this trip.  Mom felt that they were being watched over and directed many times.  It was a nice feeling.

 After they spent some time in Luxembourg City they decided to drive up north to their hotel in Heinerscheid by Mom's Opa's house.  They were about 45 minutes into their drive when this happended...

In the middle of a round-a-bout the clutch on their car stopped working.  Mom and Oma flagged down some nice men to help them push the car out of the way.  They went to a nearby store and called Hertz who sent a tow truck.  We will spare you the rest of the details, but it did take a long time to finally get to their hotel that night.

 To be continued...