Weeks one, two, and three in France

Despite still not having our own internet, and thanks to the graciousness of our senior couple neighbors, the Woods, we'll post another blog about our first three weeks in France.

We were picked up at the airport by the Paris Temple recorder, Brother Ridet, who took us directly to the temple where we were greeted by President and Sister Giraud-Carrier.  Wayne's hearing aids had died near the end of the airplane flight, so before we could do much else, he had to dig out some fresh batteries.  We were set apart as temple ordinance workers by President Giraud-Carrier, and after some brief visiting, we were taken to our apartment.

Our apartment is wonderful, with lots of room and modern appliances.  We are 3 minutes by foot from the huge Parly 2 shopping center and 20 minutes by foot from the temple.  We get lots of exercise walking since we don't have a car.  In bad weather, the buses stop 300 feet from our apartment.  Public transportation is really good here and not too expensive.

On our way to the temple we walk right toward the
arched gate to the Versailles gardens near where
Marie-Antoinette lived.

 We often shop at the Hema store.  It's sort of like a really expensive All-A-Dollar store.

We were able to go to a wonderful park called France Miniature on our second preparation day.  The park has 116 one-thirtieth scale models of French heritage sites.  The detail of the models was incredible.

From left to right are Elder and Sister LeSueur, Janet, and Sister Piepgrass.  It was a cold cloudy day with only a few light sprinkles, but we really enjoyed it anyway.

This is a model of the Place de La Concorde, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. The fountains have all the statues around them and the Arc de Triomphe has all the bas relief carvings in amazing detail.  Someone spent a lot of time making these models.









We wanted to take a picture in front of the Paris Temple Christus to match our picture in front of the Salt Lake visitor center Christus, so we had someone take our picture.  We wanted to show you us in our "work clothes" as we serve in the temple, but had to get special permission to take a picture in the visitor waiting room.  We don't leave the temple in our white clothes.  Here we are:

Here are a few pictures of our apartment:
Our bedroom                                                   

One shopping load from our handy

                                                                                   red shopping cart. Everyone in

                                                                             France has a shopping cart!

                                                                                                 

 One of the kitchen pantries with some of the foods we've purchased.

Our dining room/living room.

Our kitchen.  The washer and drier on the left work well, but the drier vents into the room!  To prevent moisture and heat buildup, the drier uses a cooling coil to cool the exit air and remove the moisture.  I have to empty the collected water every other load! We have yet to use the dishwasher next to the washer.  The stove top (dark appliance in the center) only works with ferromagnetic pots and pans.  The nice aluminum fry pan we bought doesn't heat up!

I couldn't live without a piano.  I bought it
white so we could donate it to the temple when
we leave two years from now.

Janet couldn't live without a nativity.  She found these pieces
which had to be purchased separately, but she managed to
put together a very complete set just like at home.
Christmas is already dominating most of the stores here.

It's getting late so we'll close for now.  May the Lord watch over you all.  We love feeling His spirit as we serve in the Paris Temple.