Welcome back to the recap of our Summer travels!
Chapter II picks up with us leaving London headed to Paris.
I love the Eurostar. It's quick, well-organized, easy, affordable, and seems to run every hour. In just 2 hours 14 minutes you go from London to Paris. I'm not even freaked out about the train going under the water anymore (it's only under the channel for about 20min or so.) I've used it before and I'll use it again!
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| Time flies by on the train! We had lunch, read our books, I did a little journaling, and the next thing you know we'd arrived in Paris. |
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The next day we had originally planned a day in Saint-Malo, but our daughter changed her mind about seeing it again, and wanted some downtime, so we slept in, then did some shopping. I have to tell you, going to the pharmacy in France is such a nice experience. The pharmacists talk to you, give advice and recommendations. One pharmacist told me more about treating my eczema and spent more time with me than the dermatologist I pay to see at home. The sales girl helped me pick out a moisturizer made locally with seaweed, and I bought a few of my fave French products, which cost about half of what they do in the US. Afterwards we went to the beach in Dinard, and had a light lunch and drinks by the water.
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| Cheers to a lovely lunch at the beach! |
That evening was a dinner/reception for some of the out-of-town family & friends at Corinne & Hervé's, which is always wonderful. We saw people we'd met 2 years earlier at the last wedding! We watched more of the Euro Cup, an ongoing theme in this and many of our European trips. The evening was apéro, charcuterie & cheese boards, and these amazing tiny coconut & lime panna cottas for dessert. Corinne has since sent me the recipe and I'm going to try to recreate it for my family, just like I recreated Christina's chocolate soup from Iceland!
The day of the wedding was upon us, and despite being sick all morning, Charlotte pulled through like a champ and we attended the first ceremony at the mairie/city hall. In France, that's the legal ceremony. It was conducted by the mayor, who was great (and maybe a bit tipsy having come from lunch, according to Scott - I just thought he was jovial.) Their city hall overlooks the water and it's just so scenic!
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| Inside the Mairie for the civil ceremony. |
With a couple of road closures, we got a bit lost getting to the 2nd ceremony, and found ourselves running to get there. Of course I tripped on my long dress running up a hill, but I don't think the wedding guests were looking in my direction, though my laughing at myself on the ground might have given me away!
This was the personal, emotional ceremony, full of sweet moments, tears, and in an original twist, the crafting of cocktail that we all got to raise in their honor. It was so moving and beautiful. The bride had her wedding dress designed just for her, and both she and the groom were stunning. Another special, personal touch was that in the invitations, they requested everyone wear a touch of terracotta. I've never seen that before, but I can tell you it tied everyone together, looked great in photos, and that this morning in putting on a terracotta tank to go to the gym, I immediately thought of Manon & Théo's wedding! They did an amazing job planning and setting up the venue with special vignettes, and their wedding dance was amazing, with a smoke machine and everything.
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| A touch of terracotta and a beautiful blue sky for the ceremony! |
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| The little vials of cocktails passed around during the ceremony. So cute! |
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| The bride & groom reciting their vows. I apologize to them that I didn't see the sign that said no photos. |
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| The cocktail reception in the courtyard..again...see all of the terracotta...people complied with the request! |
The big difference I've noticed in the French weddings we've been to (or at least the 3 I've attended) is that nothing is rushed. It's not like at home where you have the rental venue for 3 hours and everyone has to leave by 10pm. It's much more relaxed. The festivities started at 2:30pm. What we could call cocktail hour was over 3 hours. Dinner was served around 9pm. Dancing started at midnight, and the party ended around 5am. The food was excellent, as were the drinks! We had pintade, which is the French word for guinea fowl, and was a new word I learned on this trip! I remember one of my uncles in Quebec raising them when I was a kid, but had no recollection of the word.
The next day at noon we were invited back to the venue for what we thought would be a brunch, but we misunderstood. After the wedding party finished cleaning up the decorations and glitter and confetti from the room, someone fired up a wood barbecue and cooked sausages, and we had the classic post-wedding "galette saucisse" which is a similar idea to a hot dog - though it's a delicious grilled sausage wrapped in a savory buckwheat crêpe called a galette, to which I added mustard. We drank the rest of the beer, cider, and wine. We sat in the garden and chatted. We nibbled on leftover desserts and crêpes with nutella. We said our goodbyes.
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| Back to the beach for pétanque. |
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| I find this beach so incredibly beautiful. |
One of our traditions visiting there is to get in a game of pétancle by the beach, which Scott & Charlotte did with our friends, while Corinne (mother of the bride) took me to a spa called Emeria Dinard Hôtel Thalasso & Spa overlooking the water where we sat in their Bar Gourmand Horizon. It has just been redone and it's beautiful! She suggested I try their signature hot chocolate, which was possibly the best I've ever had, and then we moved on from tea & cocoa to Rosé.
Back at the house, our friends made a delicious dinner, and we packed to leave the next morning.
After several days of amazing croissants & pain au chocolat, for our last breakfast, our friends had gone out to La Patisserie Briacine to get me an éclair au café, which I've been wanting to try for a few years after watching my fave French/American/Greek Instagram/TikTok girl @condimentclaire and her French dad taste test them at every bakery they visit. It didn't disappoint. It makes my Top 10 foods from our trip list, which perhaps I'll write about another time. Huge thanks to Isabelle & Lucien for making that moment happen for me!
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| Wow, she is not photogenic, but she's delicious! |
It was a sweet ending to another very special visit.
Next stop: A few quiet days in Honfleur.
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