On March 16th, the three younger girls and I set off early in the morning for Alençon, France to see my nephew Michael before he headed home after successfully completing a two year mission for our church. We left around 7am and arrived in Alençon around 4pm. It was quite a long drive to do by myself but I discovered that if the girls had their own row, they get along very nicely. Driving through France reminded me of driving through the American MidWest, full of flat farmland as far as the eye can see. The only difference would be the wonderful French chateaus that dotted the landscape and of course, the lack of decent rest stops. We had learned our lesson about the small pullout rest stops many years ago when we discovered that the "toilets" were actually a cut out in the floor, similar to a shower stall, with two spots to put your feet. My girls called them "the squats," because that is what you had to do. The bathrooms at the gas station rest stops are only slightly better, as they provide an actual toilet, just no toilet seat. Maybe these are called "hovers?"
Anyway, about an hour prior to arriving, we stopped at a roadside McDonald's that had wifi and contacted Michael to get his phone number and to arrange a time and place to meet. We were astounded to discover fancy computer ordering machines at this McDonald's in the middle of no where. The girls loved ordering a snack using the touch screen which had an English setting that they appreciated.
We met Michael and his two companions at our little hotel on the outskirts of town. They piled in my van and we proceeded back into town to explore a little before dinner. Alençon was a nice little town with its own "Notre Dame" cathedral. I discovered that there are many cathedrals in France with the name "Notre Dame," the most famous being the one in Paris, of course.
We got to go into this one and it was nice with high ceilings, stained glass windows, statues, candles, etc. It was interesting to find a Mason symbol carved on the main statuary in the church. Michael said that he has seen it carved in other churches as well. It is fun to learn new things.
After walking around for an hour or so, the guys were getting hungry. We tried to go to two different Chinese buffet restaurants, only to find that we were too early for dinner. Europeans don't eat dinner until 7 or 7:30pm at the earliest and it was only 5:30pm. We ended up killing some time at a shopping center similar to Walmart, if Walmart had a mall like area surrounding it. In this mall area, there was a restaurant called Flunch. It is similar to a simple cafeteria style place where you get side dishes and drinks and then order an entree that is cooked to your specifications (if you speak French, that is). It was really good food for a decent price.
After dinner, we delivered the guys back to their apartment and I was able to give Michael a farewell hug.
The next morning, the girls and I had breakfast at our modest hotel. Jessica really enjoyed the French bread with butter and jam. She was so funny. She exclaimed, "Why have you been keeping this from me all my life?!"
We drove through Paris on our way back so the girls could see the Eiffel Tower. We tried to park but discovered that you needed a special card to use the parking meters. So we just got a quick picture from where we were parked and got back in our car before the gendarmes got upset that we were there. We will just have to come back again when we are better prepared.
 |
| Michael, his companions, and the girls in front of the cathedral |
 |
| Inside the cathedral |
 |
| Michael explaining something in French and the girls are ignoring him |
 |
| La Palais de Justice (The palace of Justice!) |
 |
| Kaitlyn and Jessica hanging out waiting for the clock to chime |
 |
| Jessica liked the "lollypop trees" |
 |
In front of the office of tourism. The girls asked if they could take a drink from the fountain.
We had to explain it wasn't that kind of fountain. |
 |
The ordering machine at the roadside McDonald's
More fun than the food itself! |
 |
| My steak dinner at Flunch |
 |
| Michael enjoying his dinner |
 |
| Bon Voyage Michael! |
 |
| Ooh! It's so good! |
 |
| "Can I take one for the road?" |
 |
| The girls, the Eiffel Tower and the Maury bus |
1 comment:
ce qu'est un voyage sur la route! We are proud of you! You and your girls are the only relatives to make the effort to visit him on his mission. He will remember. It's great to get those photos. And of course you add another forever memory for your family
Post a Comment