Packers France Paris Mission Blog 63
Packers in Paris Blog 63 – May 20th – May 26th,
2019
TRAVELING WITH THE DUCKWORTHS – PERFECT WEATHER FOR A PERFECT WEEK!
Last Tuesday Steve and I took off for 4
days with our daughter, Camille and her husband 'Duck' Brandon Duckworth! After
they returned from seeing sites in other countries for 5 days prior, we were
grateful for their return to spend more time with us! We were most thankful for
the change of the weather forecast, to be perfect all week long!
Because this could potentially be a very
long blog post, I will do my best to be minimal in my description, and photos,
though forgive me if some of the descriptions or photos are longer than desired! I keep
telling remind myself, that this blog is our record of our memories, and IF it happens
to entertain, inspire or bless others in the process, that’s wonderful!
Camille had a great desire to see where
I lived for 3.5 years in Charleroi, Belgium and the chapel that my dad built!
She also wanted to see the area near where Steve’s sister and her husband (Tom
and Anita Herway) lived in Brussels for 29 years while Tom worked for NATO!
Camille and Duck then let us choose places that we thought they would enjoy
afterwards! So, below will be the brief summary of our travels from Tuesday to
Friday! It wasn’t long enough, and we didn't want them to leave to go home
at the end of the week, but the memories we hold with them will remain very
tender!
CHARLEROI,
BELGIUM
Tuesday morning, we took off for La
Defense (the modern part of Paris) to pick up our rental car! Once we got in
the car, it didn’t take but about 3 hours to get to Charleroi, Belgium where
our Airbnb was located. It was such a lovely Airbnb that it was too bad it was
for only one night!
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| Plaza at La Defense to pick up the rental car - this is the modern pat of Paris! |
Why Charleroi? Our family lived in Charleroi from 1962-1966, where my father was called to be the church building contractor in this industrial town about 45 minutes from Brussels, Belgium. The years in this town are prominent and very dear to us and to share with them family was priceless. We were also able to do this 11 years ago with our two youngest children!
We first took off for Brussels to catch
some of the sites on and near the Grand Place! In my few years of living in
Charleroi, our family would visit there leaving me with many fond memories of going
to Brussels, especially to the Grand Place. I personally have been back many
times also with Steve! When Steve’s sister and family lived in Brussels, we
were grateful to have family to visit and to visit other sites. One of the stores we stopped in was Papabubble
candy making shop! It was so fascinating how they create the designs in each
candy that we’ll send you a couple of videos to see this process! These are
found throughout the world, not sure all where! I think I'm having too much fun sending videos this time around!
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Photo credit-Camille Duckworth
Papabubble candy making store in Brussels! It was magnificent!
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth - Grand Place in Brussels |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth - Camille and Duck |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Very famous chocolate store! They were divine! |
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| One of my favorite lace stores I have been to several times! |
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| Grand Place - forgot to clean the lotion or something off my lens! |
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| True French fries - some of the very best we've eaten so far in the last 15 months! |
69 RUE DES CHEMINOTS AND CHARLEROI CHAPEL
After Brussels we drove to the apartment
that I lived in as a young girl. Each time I pay a visit to this place, the
memories flood my mind with the experiences I personally had and with my
family! They are dear to me and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
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Photo credit-Camille Duckworth
Standing in front of the apartment I lived in for over 3 years as a little girl!
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| Standing with Camille for this sweet chance to share this place with her! |
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| We lived on the first floor above the main floor! |
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| Camille and Duck! |
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| The name of our street! |
We then drove to the chapel and didn’t
expect it to be open, but as we drove to the back by the parking, I noticed
lights on and then tried the door. Sure enough, it was open and we saw the
Elders who serve in the Charleroi 1 Ward. I regret not getting their photo.
Steve was asked if he wouldn’t mind sitting in on an English lesson with the
missionaries, while Camille and Duck and I walked all around inside and out,
taking photos as I shared my memories of this place. Camille is an amazing
photographer and captured many photos! I actually brought my good camera, but
it’ll be after we get back to Utah before I do anything with them. She, on the
other hand, could quickly send them to me through the air waves! So, some of
the photos are from my cell and others from her awesome camera!
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Baptismal font |
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| The church house in Charleroi |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Daniel Porignaux and his wife, Simone and Claude Ypersier - such dear old time friends! |
MARIEMONT
PARK
As we left from Charleroi the next
morning, we took a slight detour before taking off to our next destination, to
visit one of our most favorite parks in Hainaut, Belgium just 30 minutes from
Charleroi. My family would frequently visit this park when I was young, and I have
since gone back many times. It was fun to show them the grandeur and discuss
briefly the history. “Mariemont was a former royal estate and hunting park
created in the 16th century by Mary of Hungary”.
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| Mariemont |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Mariemont - These Lions and Lionesses are watching the entrance to the greenhouses which are under repair |
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| Greenhouses - we loved playing on the steps as a young girl! |
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| Children races |
MONT
SAINT MICHEL
Once we left Mariemont, we took to the
road for a 5-hour drive to Mont Saint Michel. Thankfully Duck was the
designated driver (since we’re not allowed to drive after the first year of our
mission unless we took an expensive test, which isn’t necessary since we don’t
drive otherwise).
Once we arrived at our hotel about a 1.5 miles from Mont Saint Michel, we decided to go straight to Mont Saint Michel and see as much as we could. Steve and I had gone almost a year ago and then I went 41 years ago with BYU Study Abroad while living here in Paris.
Mont Saint Michel never seems to
disappoint. You could spend hours and hours just meandering in and out of all
the small, narrow streets, not to mention taking photos of every possible
captivating flower growing out of the crevasses (that’s for those of us nerdy photographers)
or photographing the beautiful landscapes. The Abby was closed, so we would see
it on Friday morning!
The history of when the Abby first began
to come to fruition started in the 10th Century and finishing in the
21st Century. Below is a link of other facts you may enjoy reading
about and a video at the end of the 10 facts on the same link.
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| These large Saint James chairs were in front of our hotel! |
Coming to Utah Beach and Museum is a
must if you come this way! My emotions could not be held back. When visiting or
living in Europe, you realize that 75 years may not seem significant in history
time frames, but what took place on that day in history almost 75 years ago, is
nothing short of a miracle, from inspired and diligent leaders and valiant
soldiers. The importance of exact obedience was never more exemplified than in
this monumental task! There is so much that I personally can learn from this
powerful lesson of detailed planning, preparation and following orders with
utmost faith and putting ourselves secondary to the ultimate goal. We were left
overwhelmed with gratitude and humility!
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| Duck loves planes and loved this museum! |
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| Utah Beach |
While visiting the museum, I came across
the story of a well-known author, Major Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of
books, but especially one my favorite, Little
Prince. I was inspired by his courage to not only serve, but to write to
inspire and uplift humankind. This short read touched me deeply! You’ll have to
enlarge it to read it more carefully!
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| Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - wrote The Little Prince - don't miss reading the Letter to An American below to the end! It's powerful! |
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ENLARGE THIS IMAGE TO
READ THIS INSPIRING SHORT MESSAGE
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When one walks through the American
Cemetery, there is a solemn and somber mood that permeates throughout. There’s
a feeling of genuine respect for those who bravely fought in our behalf, who
gave their very lives for our freedom. The least we can do is to show them our
greatest respect for their bravery, their heroism, their love of something much
greater than themselves, especially that of their fellow being and their God!
If you’d like to get a taste of it, take a moment to watch the video below that
can express much better than my words or photos can.
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
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| Photo credit-Camille Duckworth |
After returning back
from Normandy, and getting a good rest, we got up for our tour for the Abby at
Mont Saint Michel. This was our first time we’ve done a tour in the Abby and it
was amazing! The history and information she shared brought so much light to
what we would’ve missed otherwise! She took us into places I had never seen
before, and was fascinating! Camille and I were constantly taking photos! I
would take most with my good Nikon and some with my cell phone! Camille has a
Nikon that transmits it wirelessly to her cell phone for quick editing if she
wants to share or post.
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| Final photo before left that I took from my trusty cell home! It was a beautiful day! |
BACK TO PARIS
All good things must come to an end, but
not really! We still are in Paris and have much to do and look forward to our
continued work here on our mission. We will, however, miss dearly our daughter
and her husband. Having travel time, touring time and evening and morning times
makes for lots of wonderful time to visit! Thankfully we have ways to
communicate that are amazing even when living so far apart!
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| Our favorite waitresses from our favorite Vietnamese restaurants! |
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| Sunset on our way home from the restaurant was glorious! |
FAREWELL TO THE DUCKWORTHS!
Camille and Duck left early Saturday
morning with their souvenirs, memories and 13 baguettes! Read below how to
travel home with 13 baguettes! Their children were so happy to see them, as were
they in seeing their children!
HOW
TO BRING PARIS BAGUETTES BACK HOME?
Half jokingly, one of Camille and Duck’s
neighbors asked for a baguette for a souvenir. Little did they know that she is
one to make this happen. So, we helped her figure out the best way to do it!
Friday night we went and 13 baguettes. We brought them home and wrapped them in
plastic wrap and froze them. Then Saturday morning, the last thing they did was
to put the frozen covered baguettes wrapped also in a garbage bag and placed
them in their large suitcase. Once they got home, they unwrapped them and put
them in a foil wrapper and put them in the oven for a few minutes and it was
magnificent! The baguettes survived amazingly well and still had the crunch and
fresh insides! The neighbors were thrilled and so were the children when they
got to taste them. Mostly fresh, from Paris!
HOW TO SURVIVE AFTER A BRIEF VACATION!
As it’s been said, vacationing is
exhausting and one needs rest afterwards, but there never seems to be enough
time to do so! We went into the center this afternoon and had some great
experiences with visitors and are ready to get back to work!
AUDREY
PACKER’S 96TH BIRTHDAY
Steve’s mother this last Saturday turned 96 years old! I am not
consistent in remembering and honoring all birthdays, but this woman is
remarkable, not only because she is 96, but it’s what she still does at 96. She
goes to church every Sunday, she still cares for herself, she mows her own
lawn, and she loves when family comes and still insists on fixing them dinner!
She may be very hard of hearing, so she never hears the phone when we call, but
Steve sends her updates on our mission and we pray that she will still hang in
there for when we return. Happy Birthday Audrey!
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| Audrey Taylor Packer - 96 years old (this photo is 3 years old) |
SUNDAY
WORSHIP – FRENCH MOTHER’S DAY!
Since we honored Mother’s Day two weeks ago, we didn’t do anything out of
the ordinary this day, but the French did! We are so blessed to both have our
beloved mothers here on earth and thankful that we were taught so much by them!
Our English Sacrament meeting went wonderful and we were so blessed to
meet others that came to visit! We always come away so much better from what we
learn from them and the friendships we make!
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| Anne Essogo - Young Single Adult who has the most amazing testimony of Christ and the Gospel! |
Just as we were ready to leave, a dear woman came inside and began to ask
questions. Rachele is her name and she lives in Southern France, but once a
month comes this way to check up on her store she owns. She is from Jewish
ancestry but has converted to Christianity. She became emotional as she spoke
of her love for Jesus Christ. She and I had a special bond as we visited with
each other and the missionaries. She was very interested in wanting to know
more and we told her that we would stay in touch with her and if possible, send
missionaries her way. She seemed very open to that idea and took a copy of the
Book of Mormon and was quite intrigued by it’s content!
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| Rachele |
We are so indebted to the Lord for all of our blessings, all of our joys
and all of our loved ones. We know that the Savior, Jesus Christ, loves us,
cares deeply for us and that His Father, our Heavenly Father, also loves us
profoundly. We can with this love, be propelled to do more, be more and give a
little bit more to bless others as we are blessed!
We pray each of you feel of our love and that of our Father in Heaven’s
love for you!
Nous sommes reconnaissants pour chacun de vous (We are grateful for each
of you),
Elder et
Soeur Packer
Grandpère et Mémé Packer (Please be sure and use the last name on any mail, or it will get returned)
Our Address:
4 quai du Marché Neuf
75004 PARIS
FRANCE
Email address:
Renée: srpacker10@gmail.com
Steve: wf-packer@hotmail.com
You may still text or FaceTime Renée at 801-564-1332
We are 8 hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time
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