I awoke Day 4 and pulled out my suit which had traveled the European Continent with me. It looked like crap. What did I expect after 5 weeks of being shoved in the bottom of my bag? Fortunately the front desk lady knew a cleaners right around the corner. I took it over and 10 euros later everything was nicely pressed and ready to go.
(Side note: I had gotten word in Italy that the ceremony was going to be a two-day event. Had a been a woman, this would be a problem. Fortunately, I have a Y-chromosome, so a suit for one day instantly turns into a suit for two days by picking up a fleur de lis tie at a street market in Venice.)
Day 1 of the wedding involves a civil ceremony presided over by the mayor of the district that you live in in Paris. Apparently you can't even have the religious ceremony until this happens. I guess it's to make sure everyone pays their taxes on it. Silly Socialists. Anyway, I headed for the part of town my cousin Mollie lives in and instantly got lost. Fortunately, my male instincts of direction took over and I arrived only 10 minutes late. The room was pretty incredible - gorgeous panelling along oversized doors, a large mirror packing the local magistrate and my cousin and her husband up front. Afterwards we went out into the garden to do photos and then headed to Ludovic mother;s house for a reception. It was great to finally meet up with my cousins that had made the trip out - Chris was doing the typical 5-Star touring with his latest g/f and Lindy was going nuts splitting a room with her mother. We swapped stories for hours - their time in Rome, driving through the French countryside and all my adventures.
We also met Mollie's schoolmates who had come out - Bass, Denny, and Guy (the 3rd name isn't right, but Lindy and I forgot his name a few weeks after we got back. Oops.) Anyway, those three took Lindy, me, and Mette - a former Au Pair for Mollie's three little bros - out for a night on the town. We started at an underground jazz club called the dungeon because it turns out in Europe, a bunch of stuff used to be dungeons! I'll never forget throwing back a beer while some guys lays down a sick funk line on an electric guitar and noticing an inscription on the far wall:
On the way to the next club we came upon a toilet sitting in the middle of the street. Yes, seriously, I'm not clever enough to make that up. We took some hilarious pictures: Denny acting surprised people are invading his private time, Guy doing the "Man contemplating the universe" pose, and Lindy pretending to hold Bass's head into the bowl like he's yakking. High comedy.
The next club was more like the type of dance club you hear about in Europe. They had a lot of electric music going on, glo-sticks, and the entire floor was covered in sand. Not my everyday scene, but hey, you only live once. We were drunk, so we partied up. At some time I can't even remember we ended up at a crepe shop that the guys were raving about. We were hammered and there's no way if i knew they were actually good, but at the time they were delicious. I do remember a hammered Denny being incapable of using a knife to cut his crepe. Bass had to finally just pull the thing away and Denny proceeded to just shovel his food. Good times.
Day 2 of the wedding began a bit hazy (shocking, I know). I was literally down the street from the church and the ceremony was later in the day, so it wasn't a problem to get functional. The front desk lady had gotten the railpass back from Greg, so she had some fun with my dreary state before recommending a place for lunch that fixed me right up. I arrived at the church in my 2nd suit (also known as the same suit from the day before with a new tie) and was blown away. In France, they call it a church. If this building had been in the US, we'd be calling it a cathedral. easily 3 stories high with arched roofs, incredible stained glass windows, spires, spiral staircases, hundred of organ pipes - just incredible. The ceremony was catholic - obviously - but it was much shorter than a US Catholic ceremony. You hear that all my Catholic friends? Stop inviting 500 people and holding 3 hours ceremonies. There's no way you should exceed the time a French Catholic wedding that includes readings in multiple languages.
We went for pictures in a central park in the city and then off to the reception which was held at a very nice restaurant. Good food, great wine, rehashed stories of our travels and the crazy night before, dancing, and more drinking. All around good times.
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