The Louder's Visit Europe!

In case you hadn't heard, my parents came to visit us in Europe!! I was so excited because it was my mom's very first time to Europe, and because we were going to visit France for a few days, where my dad served his mission. My parents came for about 12 full days, and we visited England, Switzerland, Italy, and France.  Here's a few of the highlights:


After touring London for a few days, we took my parents on a tour of Southern England stopping off at some of our favorite places.

Salisbury Cathedral is one of our favorite cathedrals. Not going to lie, after a while most cathedrals start looking the same, but Salisbury Cathedral is special. I think we've talked about it before, but it has the largest free-standing tower in the UK, and the best preserved copy of the Magna Carta sits inside.

Bath!! Joe and I have visited this place about 5 times, so we probably don't need to visit anymore for the rest of our life.  But we love it! The depth of history is incredible. At the bottom of the hill, you have the Roman Baths which are thousands of years old, and you work your way up from there to Bath Abbey, and some of the most beautiful architecture at the top that is several hundred years old. We love Bath.

This picture is from part of the Cotswolds called Castle Combe. Joe and I had never visited this area of the Cotswolds before, but someone recommended it and we thought we'd give it a go. Best. Place. Ever. The little village is so picturesque, you can walk through it in about 20 minutes. They've also filmed several movies here, such as Stardust and War Horse. 



 Our last full day in England, we toured our home - Oxford. We got to eat breakfast in the Harry Potter hall at Christ Church College plus a tour of the college, went to the outlets to find some Cath Kidston bags, toured the Bodleian Library, ate at the Eagle & Child, and finally Elder Oaks happened to be in Oxford during our trip, so we got to attend an Oxford Lecture on Religious Freedom and here him speak. The most powerful part of his speech was his introduction. He started by saying "I am an apostle of Jesus Christ", in front of Oxford students and scholars. The spirit was strong, and I knew that it was the truth. I'm grateful for modern day prophets, apostles and revelation.

Next stop on our trip was SWITZERLAND! This is Joe's favorite country (and I believe this was my mom's favorite part of the trip). We toured Chillon Castle to start off with, but Joe and I checked our weather app and realized the clouds were moving in at the top of Swiss Alps, and this would be the only chance my parents would have to see them. So we hopped in the car and Joe (quickly) drove us to Gimmelwald. They made it just in time to see one of our favorite views in the world. We also stayed over night in Murren. Life is good in Switzerland. Ok, life is good everywhere. 

Chateau De Chillon - so neat touring real castles! You don't find this kind of stuff in America.

At the top of the Swiss Alps! I've got the cutest parents. 

Day 2 in Switzerland was equally wonderful. We visited Trummelbach Falls where we walked around a series of waterfalls inside of the mountain, stopped off at our favoriteeeeee chocolate factory and ate unlimited chocolate, and visited the little Swiss village on the hill, Gruyere. 

Rome was a whirlwind! We started off on the wrong foot by missing the first Sacrament Meeting, but once we finally got to the right church everything was good. Sacrament Meeting was wonderful - there are many good saints living in Rome. One of my favorite parts about living outside of Utah is the Church. There is good wherever you go.  After church, we walked around the city taking all of Rome in. This day was extra special because it was my mom's BIRTHDAY! 40 never looked so good. ;) All of my sibling sent me messages of why they love mom, and we played Joe's favorite game of going around the table saying why we love mom. 

We reaaaaalllly love you mama!

Our second day in Rome was devoted to the Colosseum and the Vatican - thank goodness we booked tickets in advance. Maybe it's my competitive nature and love of games, but I loved learning about the Colosseum. Of course, I don't endorse all they did there, but it was fascinating. The Vatican also was a must-see being in Rome. Everyone and their dog was there, but I was excited because one of Joe's most favorite people in the world is Pope Francis. I loved touring the Sistine Chapel, Museums, and St. Peter's Basilica with him.  We also ate LOTS of Gelato, and yummy Italian pizza.  We were exhausted after Rome, walking miles in the heat - my parents are champions. 

Inside the Colosseum and....

.... Outside the Colosseum

St Peter's Basilica 

The last country on our list to visit was France. I had been looking forward to going to France for months because my dad was coming! From the first picture, you can tell we'd done a lot of bonding on the trip. Joe and Dad are besties. We *were going to spend our first day in Versailles, but when we showed up, the whole palace was shut down because the workers were on strike. Let's be honest, France has a lot of struggles going on right now. We decided to drive down to Mont Saint-Michel to get a few hours in. Although things didn't go according to plan, everything turned out perfect. 

On the bus headed to Mont Saint-Michel

My dad took this exact picture of him standing under the fireplace when he was on his mission 36 years ago.

Outside Mont Saint-Michel - absolutely incredible island.

After touring the island, we decided last-minute to drive to Rennes for dinner because this was my dad's first area on his mission. A huge tender mercy is we found the old chapel where my dad used to attend - still standing and now being extended.

We ended our night by staying in this little cottage in the tiniest village in France. In the middle of nowhere. It was awesome.

Day 2 in France was spent in Normandy and at the Palace of Versailles. My favorite was visiting Pointe Du Hoc, this is where the American soldiers invaded the Nazis on D-day. There was a solemn feeling through the entire area. History has a more powerful affect on me when I actually visit the place where history was made. Grateful for the many men who fought and died to protect people and freedoms.

Pointe Du Hoc

The Paris Temple that is being built is located in Versailles, so we stopped by the building site. Exciting to the see the church growing in Europe!

The last stop on our European Adventure was Paris! We visited all of the major sites, but here are a few highlights:

This is my dad in his element :) speaking french in a pastry shop. In my dad's last area, he would buy a large pastry every day for breakfast.  We tried numerous pastries and crepes in the few short days we had, and believe me, they did not disappoint.

The Eiffel Tower is always a sight. My parents got to go the top!

One of our favorite activities was going inside the Fan Zone in front of the Eiffel Tower to watch a Euro 2016 game. We just so happened to be in France at the perfect time for this. Games were played all throughout France, but next to the Eiffel Tower, you can join thousands of fans to watch the games daily. There are about 9 different viewing screens, with the largest right in front of the Eiffel Tower.  We didn't stay for the whole game, but we had quite the experience by going through 3 rounds of security and cheering with thousands of drunk Europeans. 

The catacombs of Paris! I loved it the most out of everyone because of my nursing background I suppose.. So many bones!!

Pastries on pastries on pastries. When Joe and I live in France this fall, I'm really going to have to restrain myself on not buying too many pastries.

I'm so grateful we were able to spend time with my parents in Europe and they could experience a little piece of our lives over here. Although we exhausted them daily, I actually think they would come again. Until next time, mom and dad....