July - Mom's Big Visit Across the Pond

The last two weeks of July my mom was able to take some vacation to come see our home in Geneva and of course do a little sightseeing in Europe while she was over here. Jeff had to work most of the time she was here so for the most part it was the two of us embarking on adventure together. We spent some time enjoying Geneva. Then we were off exploring and we saw A LOT of great places so be prepared for many pictures!!

First on the list, we arrived in Paris to visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal; a church dedicated to St. Catherine of Laboure. The Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Catherine conveying her mission to create the Miraculous Medal (picture below). The church stands today where one of the apparitions took place. Her incorrupt body also lies in a glass coffin in the church. It was really neat to visit the church and learn more about her life.

This is typically what the front and back of the Miraculous Medal looks like.

Then it was off to see some of the other famous landmarks in one of the most famous cities in Europe! Here's just a few of our many pictures!!

Am not the best at good self portraits, but yes that is Notre Dame Cathedral behind us!!

Mom is a trooper and made the 387 steps to the top of the cathedral tower!!
Check out the great gargoyles behind her!

Here is Sacre Couer. I had missed this on previous trips. You can always see it off in the distance. It always looks like such a magnificent building sitting atop a hill. Well it is a huge church, but the inside was disappointing...not nearly as ornate and detailed as many of the other churches I've seen. The location, though, makes for an amazing view of the city. As you can see in this picture on a Saturday night, the steps of the church were packed with people.

If you are ever in Paris you MUST check out Angelina's Cafe. It started out as formal elegant gourmet tea room. Now they are also known for all their delicious pastries!! They have fruit tarts and traditional eclairs, as well as, all sorts of creations like this bit of chocolate heaven that my mom and I shared one afternoon. 

Why am I including this picture you ask? How good is your knowledge of sporting events? Look closely.... see the men bikes?? Yes, this is the Tour de France. Exciting, right?!?! No! We did not know this was taking place when we booked our trip. In hindsight I wish we had left Paris a day earlier to avoid the masses of people. We were trying to get back to our hotel and just happened to be in place to see the bikers FLY by in all of about 20 seconds. Yes, all these thousands of people cramming the streets for a split second blurry distant shot of who? You definitely can't pick a person out of the crowd. If you are ever considering going to watch it in person.... my advice is to skip the crowds and watch it on TV where you can see the whole thing and not just a few seconds. It was nuts!!

From Paris we made a day trip by train to Lisieux, France. We were headed to visit the home and shrine of my mom's patron saint, St. Therese of the Child Jesus. It was so interesting to learn about her life and see where she was raised. She and all four of her sisters became nuns! St. Therese's life story is really moving. She became a nun at the age of 15 and unfortunately only lived until the age of 24. They referred to her story as "a leap to grandeur," which is poignant considering her short life. 

This is the grandiose and beautiful basilica built to honor St. Theresa of Lisieux.
It is a beautiful inside!

When not in Kansas they give you a blue line to follow instead of a yellow brick road :)
They make it so easy to find your way around in Lisieux so you don't miss anything.

This is where St. Theresa was raised as a young girl.

After a day in Lisieux it was time to fly to Lourdes, France. I grew up learning about the story of St. Bernadette and Mary, the Immaculate Conception, appearing to her in 1858, as well as, the healing waters still there today. It was somewhere my mom had wanted to visit since she was a child and had learned of the story, so I was excited we had the chance to experience it together. They say about five million pilgrims come to visit Lourdes every year!! It is one of the most famous pilgrimage sights in the world. As of today there are 68 healings rated as scientifically inexplicable as a result of praying for healing and in a lot of cases bathing in the healing waters. 

This is the amazing shrine built over the grotto where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette. It's hard to tell from this picture, but there are actually three churches built on top of one another over the years to accommodate more pilgrims.

Here is where Bernadette dug in the ground to find fresh water that is still flowing today.

Here is a side view. If you look closely you can see the grotto under the church on the right.

There is a torchlight procession every night at dusk to say the rosary. It is an awe-inspiring event. There are thousands of pilgrims from all over the world singing and praying together in their own languages. It just gives you goose bumps!  It is such a moving thing to be a part of it!!

We met a wonderful family from Ireland that let us join them for the procession. 

After our travels around the country of France, next up was Italy with a visit to another famous pilgrimage site, the Vatican! Regardless of your faith, it's really an amazing place that everyone should visit if the opportunity arises. We also did some sight seeing across the city to the ruins, the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and of course several stops for delicious gelato (a must do in Italy)!!!

We made the trek to the top of St. Peter's basilica to see the beautiful view of the city.

We are in St. Peter's Square with the basilica and pope's residence behind us.

After Italy we flew back to Geneva to meet Jeff for mom's last weekend with us. We decided on a road trip across Switzerland. We drove around the beautiful Lake Geneva, stopped for a visit at Switzerland's most famous castle, Chateau de Chillon, spent the night in Lugano to enjoy the Swiss Italian atmosphere, and ended our weekend by going up to see Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. It was a crazy weekend, but we wanted to get as much in as we could before she had to head home!!

Stopping along Lake Geneva to enjoy the beautiful scenery and vineyards everywhere!

Chateau de Chillon, Switzerland's most famous castle, dating back to the 12th century

Here's a model to show what the castle grounds look like from above.  

Here's how it looks on the inside.

Mom and I up in the tower

I had been the tour guide for most of the trip, so I enjoyed sitting back and letting Jeff take the reins when we got to Lugano :)

Enjoying some beautiful weather at Lake Lugano.

On our way home from our road trip to Lugano we stopped through France one last time to take mom up to see Mont Blanc. It's snow capped year round; and even though it's summer it is most definitely cold up there!! The clouds kept moving in and out the whole time we were up there. It was pretty neat to literally be standing in the clouds. Here you can see how they lift just enough so you can see Mont Blanc in the background. 

In the next moment though, the clouds are back and you can't see a thing! It was crazy!!

Then the fun was over and it was time to send her back to Kansas.
Had to snap one last pic in the airport!

Thanks Mom for coming to visit!!!! I had a great time and glad we could see so many great places together while you were here!