The French Know How to Have a Wedding

After much screaming and stalling and circling the Eiffel Tower, we eventually made it out of Paris early Friday afternoon in our Europcar rental. I mentioned yesterday that I learned a lot about driving in France - most of it I learned Friday. Amazingly, we did not get lost on our 330 mile trip to the central countryside - even though the Google directions looked preposterous, somehow they worked.

We first arrived in a small town called Riom-es-Montagnes - only later did we learn that this was one of the larger towns in that region. The 'Hotel de Ville' in the town also served as the 'Mairie', and this was later to be the spot of the civil service portion of the wedding. From here, we called Anne-Laure's father for help navigating us to the location of the wedding party - next to which we would sleep.

(Background context: Anne-Laure was our exchange student about 9 years ago when we lived in Idaho Falls. We planned the trip to France around her wedding, which took place July 16.)

We certainly did need help navigating, as the Chateau d'Auzers is not exactly on the beaten path. We were to discover that we were staying in a room in a house within view of the castle, in the charming town of Auzers - population maybe 100 or so? We ate that evening at the one hotel/restaurant in the town, where I enjoyed a salad that included all of the local specialties - a certain type of ham (or jambon), blue cheese specific to the region, walnuts (noix), and a few sprinklings of tomato on a bed of very fresh lettuce. We thought at first that the waitress was confused because we didn't speak French, but later learned that she was confused by everyone, French or not, and soon decided that perhaps she had some sort of private issue that interfered with her ability to communicate (ahem!).

We had breakfast served by this very same woman the next morning, which consisted of very toasted bread and coffee. That is all. I understand this is the French tradition, but later on I verified with our French friends that the bread is not typically so toasted it cuts up your mouth.

We were very hungry after breakfast.

So prior to the wedding festivities, we had lunch at a restaurant in Riom (-es-Montagnes) - where I enjoyed a delightful crockery filled with cous cous, vegetables, and some sort of meat around a bone - which I understood to be beef but found out the next day when I had it again was "shep" (pronounced by the French) - also called sheep or mutton. Hmm. Well, I survived.

We were glad to have had this hearty lunch, as the wedding festivities leading up to the actual dinner were quite numerous and took somewhere around 7 hours. They also could include fairly copious quantities of champagne, if you were so inclined. Thus it is wise to have something hearty in your stomach...

The wedding started with the civil ceremony in Riom. The traditions in France are quite different, with the bride and groom greeting people in front of the Hotel de Ville prior to the civil ceremony - none of the bride secrecy rites, as in the US. This was followed by a drive up an amazing hillside to a Romanesque (early middle ages - years 1000-1200) chapel set directly below a hilltop popular with hikers. The setting was almost indescribably perfect. While everything was in French, it was fairly easy to follow - being essentially a Catholic mass with traditional wedding Bible readings probably used commonly throughout the Christian world. After the ceremony, they exited the chapel with a guard of French firemen in full dress - axes and all.

Then we went to yet another town, I think Apschon, to have the celebratory toast. This consisted of champagne either plain, or flavored with chestnut or black currant liquer. Trays of small French desserts were also taken around, much to Lucy's delight, as Lucy partakes of pastries with chantilly (cream) with gusto.

Next we traveled back to Auzers for the celebration and dinner at the chateau. This castle is actually still lived in on the upper floors, but the bottom floor can be used for parties. The castle was built in the 14th century, and still contains some interesting features such as original wall paintings done in a middle ages style. The castle is surrounded by amazing grounds - full of hydrangeas, a pond with lily pads, a fenced in area containing deer, and gorgeous views of the green hillsides. Truly, everything you could dream of a wedding in the French countryside being!

And then of course, we had the meal - which was astounding. Each course was paired with a fantastic wine, with the first part of the meal accompanied by Burgundy wines, and the last half Bordeaux. I will say here that I absolutely prefer the Bordeaux wines - not that it matters much, as it is all fantastic. We ate various starters, then eventually sat for the main meal -

Mise en bouche foie gras with figs chutney
Burbot with Champagne sauce (a cod-like fish)
Trou normand regional drink (passion fruit sorbet and gentiane flower liquor)
Veal escalope with chanterelle sauce served with a potato, broccoli and carrot gratin
Cheese buffet
Dessert - French wedding cake (& Champagne Domaine Pierre Mignon)
Coffee

Now, to understand how long a French celebratory meal takes, note that we started this portion of the meal maybe around 9:30, and Ethan was falling asleep in the veal at about midnight. David and I did not make it to the coffee, which showed up maybe around 6am, so I hear. I did manage to hold strong until the dessert, as Lucy threatened us that if she didn't get cake, horrible things would happen!

There was some dancing after the dessert, and apparently this was the primary activity until the coffee. There was a photo slideshow at one point, some games like on the Newlywed show, etc... but not a ton of the kitschy stuff one might find at an American wedding. The musical selections were... interesting, although much of it was American and recognizable. It is particularly strange to hear very euro-pop sounding music with English lyrics pronounced with accents - I mean, clearly, we don't listen to this music, why not speak in French or German or Dutch or whatever your native language is?

It was very fun, all around, and I am so glad I got to experience something like that!

And we will certainly have pictures to add once I return to the US and can get the pictures off our cell phones.