Paris Wedding

Sunday, June 08, 2014
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Andrew and I landed in London after a 24-hour flight (connections in Los Angeles and Toronto). Two days later we were on our way by car to Paris via the Eurotunnel. We arrived at the entrance to the tunnel at Folkestone, about 100 miles from London. Driving into a train car is much like taking a car ferry only a little more confining. We were packed in with 4 or 5 other vehicles and remained in the car during the 30 minute transit under the English Channel. We exited the tunnel in Calais; 4 hours to Paris, and another hour crawling through heavy city traffic to Gemma and Marie-Helene's flat in the Montmartre district. Nigel and Catherine rented a 2 bedroom flat for the 4 of us within walking distance of the girls’ apartment.

The wedding began on Friday afternoon with a 15-minute official ceremony all in French at the "Mairie de Paris" where French law requires the couple to hold a civil ceremony . Family and close friends witnessed the exchange of vows and signing of documents. Congratulations to Marie-Helene and Gemma Ware!

The merry group made their way afoot to a local pub to give congratulatory toasts. This was followed by dinner at a typical Montemartre restaurant. Well done, everyone!

Saturday’s events began with a photo shoot at Parc des Buttes Chaumont, an idyllic lake setting in the city. Apparently this is a favorite location for outdoor wedding photographs. We observed 4 or 5 other wedding parties posing for their memorable occasion. From lakeside we walked through the park to the main venue.

English “high tea” and all the trimmings greeted us at the entrance, followed by the marriage ceremony. Guests (166) enjoyed cocktails and appetizers before the evening buffet dinner.   A live concert provided after dinner entertainment followed by dancing until the wee hours of the morning. We were told it ended around 4 a.m.   Andrew and I sneaked out “early”… around 1:00 a.m.! What a smashing celebration! So glad we were here to take part. 

for more photos click links below: 
 
https://plus.google.com/photos/104590044281989964656/albums/6025939776163043489?banner=pwa

https://plus.google.com/photos/104590044281989964656/albums/6026380847088969969?banner=pwa

Photos & Videos

Comments

Al Kitchen
2014-06-23

Looks like you 2 are still enjoying the travelling together! Have a great time in Europe. Gaye and I continue to tempt each other with ideas of a trip there in the near future. We just acquired an RV so we'll be turning some tires for a while here. Might get down to PV as well in it. I'm in Summerland at my daughter's place hoping to complete the import procedure today (I bought the rig in Wisconsin) and get back to Victoria to let Gaye and the grand kids play with it too. Great to see your smiling faces again (you need to get Naomi out from behind the camera Andrew. You have a nice smile but...) ; = ) Happy Sails - Al

2025-02-10

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