Spring in the Air

The trees on The Square really come out during the week we were in France.  It is so nice to see so much green.

I have been thinking that a bulletin board in the temple for  temple worthy YSA to exchange email addresses would be a good idea.  It won't happen, but I have passed on a couple of email addresses and one of the couples met in the temple today.  The group over 30 have the hardest time meeting outside their area.  One in this couple is from Northern Jutland and the other from Germany via Sweden.

Kristi himmelfartsdag

Today is a national holiday in Denmark and Germany and maybe other European coutries, Kristi himmelfartsday. It celebrates Christ's ascension.  Have I mentioned before how strange it is that everyone here celebrates religious holidays and are not religious...
  It was great for us as we had 12 sisters come from Aalborg on their annual trip. They did get the guest home ready so they are not quite camping out.
  This darling couple came from Germany to be sealed.  They were married yesterday in Germany where you  have to be married civilly first.  Copenhagen was closer and less busy than Frankfurt for them, but they did have to get permission from the First Presidency because we have marriage authority here in Denmark in the temple.

Tourist Season

The tourist season has officially started.  Tonight we had seven couple from the US at the temple.  Three couples had just come on a cruise ship relocating from the US to Europe for the summer.  A young couple came celebrating completion of their first year of graduate school. A family came to pick up their son from his mission here in Denmark and this darling couple from Logan came just to go to the temple.  Their goal is to visit all the temples.  This was their 125th!  Very impressive.  They have been camping and seeing a lot of the country on their way. He came to a session and she came the next session and did initiatories.

Ready to Go

The temple is ready for business even if the Guesthouse isn't.  We have 16 sisters coming tomorrow to stay there.  It will be interesting to see how they work it all out.  The work on the reflecting pool will take several months but inside the temple we are ready to go.
   The Frederiksberg and Roskilde Wards came for their special monthly session tonight.  We had 23, several men to help, but only one sister besides myself that is a temple worker.  We made it work, as always.
   Afterward we went to the Nitivej Chapel for a little snack.  Very nice.  Lis Andersen had made some interesting cookies: beaten egg white, ground nuts, figs, bananas and chocolate - no flour, oil or sugar.  I have come to like bread, cheese and jam together.
 

 Steve and Marian Clawson have come back for the summer.   She is Danish and he is American and they split their year.  Marian actually has to be in Denmark 8 months of the year to maintain her benefits I think.

 

Back To Work

We spent the day in the temple putting things back in order. We worked around the cleaners and finally had to let some things go until tomorrow.  Sis. Densley from American Fork finished putting the mural in the baptistry back up.  We had to take it down as there were several folds showing up.  It was because of the backing they put it up with.  But there were a couple of cracks in the wall that were repaired and it looks perfect again.  We were not here to actually see it off the wall.  Just as well, we were both nervous about it.
   I did get a chance for a bike ride down by The Lakes today and checked on the  mother swan sitting on her eggs. We found her last week while biking with Brian and Elizabeth. Wonder if it is the same one from last year, just moved to the next lake.

Paris

We spent Friday and Saturday in Paris and enjoyed the city more than we ever have on our previous visits.  Again Brian had found a great little hotel, in the Latin Section.  We had a delightful walk to Notre Dame. The trees and blossoms were out and it was so fun to look in the windows and realize it is much the same as in Copenhage: lots of places to eat, little clothing shops, hairdressers, green -grocers, bakeries.  We tried out several of these during our stay...

 Notre Dame - Brian and Elizabeth went to the top while we tended Molly and Kate.

 Brian finally made it to the Louvre, it only took him three times in Paris to find it open.  It was a wonderful surprise when they took us to the front of the line because we had a stroller.  They really gave us special attention through the whole museum.

 We saw the famous "Winged Victory", "Mona Lisa", " Venus De Milo", but our favorite was a suggestion from our son-in-law, Randy, to see the "Code of Hamurabi"  It is the first known written laws- from the Persian/Babylonian Era.

These came from the palace of Darius, think Daniel of the Old Testament.  Fascinating.

 We did the Eiffel Tower to the Second Level..

 And had a grand finish at Laduree a famous restaurant/bakery on the Champs Elysee.
We went for their famous meringue cookies but ended up with a delightful Mother's Day lunch.

 This was just my order and it also included scrambled eggs and hot chocolate thick enough to be pudding plus fruit.

A great ending to a great trip.

Disneyland - Paris

Tuesday night we drove back into Paris, dropped off the van, and took a taxi to our BanB apartment within walking distance of Disneyland.  Brian had done a great job with all the accommodation.

It is owned by a couple who work for Disney from Bolivia.  He is in the Wild West Show and she dances in the parades.  They use it as an investment.  It had three bedrooms and was about a 15 minute walk.

 It was fun to have all the familiar things of Disney, but in different places which made it a new adventure. The only down side, cleanliness and upkeep wasn't up to the Disney standards you expect.

 The landscaping was beautiful

The Alice In Wonderland Maze was unique.

 Interesting Skull Rock with lots of caves to wander in.

New Ratatouille Ride was fun and we loved Cush's Coaster.

 

Don't know the lady, but a good shot of Walt and Micky and the Hollywood sign in the Walt Disney Studio Park.

Loved the Story Book Cruise.  It included "Peter and the Wolf", "Wizard of Oz", "Beauty and the Beast," "Little Mermaid", "Hansel and Gretel", Night on Bald Mountain", and "Repunzel" among others.

The fireworks/water/World of Color Show on the castle was fabulous and a perfect ending to a fun time.