.....And miles to go before we sleep; Lyon and Moustiers

Our Church Week—This week and next we are putting lots of miles (in the hundreds of miles) under belt. After saying good-bye to Elder Wolfgramm, we packed and drove to Lyon—a 7-hour drive to the Mission Home, if you drive it straight without a stop. We took the scenic route to avoid Toulouse rush-hour traffic and to enjoy more of France. And France being France, there’s always something scenic, historic, or cultural en-route in any direction and ALL along the way, whichever way you go.

We got home Saturday night around 8pm. We are the farthest missionaries from the mission home in Lyon. It's probably ok to say we are a bit tired coming into our trip to Switzerland this week, but with the breath-taking scenery en-route and the spiritual food yet to come, we are a "good tired."

We met with the new, just-arrived in-coming Senior Missionaries. Wow, have we ever got a talented bunch of devoted people. There were 11 couples, including the Mission President and his wife. A few more will come over the next few months. And somehow—we’re not sure how—we are half way through our mission. We suddenly felt “old” in comparison to those coming in….even though everyone calls us the “youngsters” for the average Senior Couple age we guess. The next Senior Missionary conference will be in 6 months; we’ll really be on the downward slide by then. Not that we’re counting; we’re only realizing that 18 months moves uncontrollably fast!!

Five were lawyers, another a Lear Jet pilot, a Mental Health Professional, several Teachers, a Computer Science Professor, a retired Police Chief, a Nurse and a retired Navy Officer. Six of the brethren were returned-missionaries from their youth and in France. One missionary taught our Mission President’s family during his mission in his 20s. He brought and read to the group a journal entry from several decades ago. He had noted in his journal this very unique family. Years and decades earlier, this family was showing noticeable strengths. Clearly they were being trained up by the Lord for future Church assignments, that includes the parent Giraud-Carriers who are now the Temple President and Matron of the recently built Paris, France Temple and with their son, who was is now the Mission President of the Lyon, France Mission (all of southern France, Corsica and French-speaking Switzerland). To beat, both are serving simultaneously. That is very unique, if not unprecedented.

Several in the group were serving their second, third and one couple their fourth mission. Others have spent time abroad in various countries throughout their careers: England, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Japan, French Africa and a few more countries and careers represented; but we’ve forgotten them….already, embarrassingly so.

Then there are all the Church leadership positions many have served in over the years and decades including Bishops, Primary and Relief Society Presidents, Scouting, Youth Leaders and everything in between. All have children, most grand-children and several great grand-children. For some, numbers were in the 20s. In and of itself, that’s a lot of experience if it was their only accomplishment. We also have a couple who are marathon runners (that consistently win 1st and 2nd place in their age groups of 69 and 72). They’ve participated in the Boston Marathon 8 times, the New York Marathon and a few others. They run 8-10 miles a day when they’re not training for a marathon. Hats off to them!!

The crème de la crème was sitting in that living room and we sat in awe.

Naturally there were Administrative details to go over, questions to be answered during the Conference. Two apartments need to be found. Being that our Mission President and his wife are French, we had multi-coursed meals—for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! We savored some traditional meals, cheeses and yummy traditional French desserts. Marc's favorite was a pear pie, which was one of the best desserts that he ever had was made by Sister Giraud-Carrier herself. Needless to say, France is not a good place to start a diet, finish a diet…..or even think about a diet.

After a scrumptious meal and visiting at the table, French style (2 hrs), we had a fun getting-to-know-you game (2 truths and a lie). You’ll be interested to know we teach The Truth, but have some very “creative” liars J for the game's sake. Then that first evening was finished off with a spiritual and uplifting Fireside to top off the night. The following day we had more instruction after a breakfast of every kind of fruit, croissants, pastries and breads, home-made jams and honeys, juices and hot chocolate for we non-coffee/tea-drinking Latter-Day Saints. There was some morning instruction….and lunch—quiche, salad, pastries and cookies. We barely finished breakfast it seemed before wafts of a yummy-smelling lunch was coming from the kitchen.

After lunch, our Mission President and wife gave us a 5-hour tour by of old Lyon and the 18th century Basilica overlooking all of Lyon. What a spectacular view! They showed us a 10th century Cathedral in old-town and the earliest sections of Lyon. Early in the week, showers and overcasts days were predicted; but we had two unexpected and unbeatable warm, balmy fall days. It was perfect weather. After such a wet spring where it rained cats and dogs for months on end, we enjoyed every sunny moment we had. We know soon fall with reveal its hidden snap in the air and rain to come so we are savoring every extra day of unseasonably warm weather.

It was nice to experience the camaraderie and feel a part of the greater whole. There are a range of challenges, including the language, on a mission so it’s nice to feel the strength in numbers and know we are in it all together. It’s a team effort—one person’s success is everyone’s success. It was clear we all had different backgrounds, experiences and talents. But we share so much more than any of our differences combined—love of and for the Lord, true and correct principles, commitment to a great cause greater than ourselves and a desire to help grow the Kingdom. In that we know no cultural, career or age boundaries.

Lyon—This is France’s third largest city with about 2.2 million people in the metropolitan area. The Rhône and Saône Rivers converge in Lyon and Lyon is known as the Gastronomic Capital boasting many gastronomic restaurants (Bouchon Lyonnais) and world-famous culinary schools. For its historical and architectural contributions from Pre-Roman, Roman (Lugdunum=Lyon) and Medieval times, Lyon is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. There is a Roman amphitheater and early Roman Roads in Lyon that quickly connected it as a thriving hub. During the Middle Ages, Italian fairs and merchants made the area economically sound. In more modern times Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk advancing it during the Pre-Industrial and Industrial Age.

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie—We took a southerly route en-route through Province to go by the charming town of Moustiers, one the “Most Beautiful Villages of France.” Several towns in France have this acclaimed title added to the entrance of their towns so we did not want to pass by this village without experiencing it.