It’s a beautiful and sunny afternoon here at Port 80 and all is peaceful and calm. This is in stark contrast to the previous week, which is going take quite some blogging… We’re both really pleased with how the wedding went, and are very grateful to the many people who contributed to its success. We even got lucky with the weather, which was magnificent all week long.
So to resume the story: on Tuesday, Matt and I popped over to Parentheses Imaginaires to drop off a few batches of the desserts Jan had been busy making, and a few other bits and bobs too. That done, Matt headed off to collect Gerald from Angouleme, via Super U for yet more supplies. Upon their return, we took advantage of the sunshine to sit outside and catch up. Gerald was due to sleep at Philippe’s place that night, but we hadn’t been able to get a hold of him, so in the end he stayed at ours instead. That evening, we learned that our friend from London, Iain C, had just gone down with appendicitis, so wasn’t going to be able to make it. We also heard from our friends Emmanuel & Oliver, who had to cancel due to a death in the family. We’re sorry they were all unable to join us.
Wednesday was a big arrival day, kicking off with Matt’s brother Ben who got into Thiviers from Paris in the morning. Matt went to get him, stopping for supplies en route, and then both Mike and Cyril showed up in the afternoon, having hired cars. It was gloriously sunny so we again enjoyed the garden. By early evening, the UK arrivals started showing up. Dave, Amy and Mum got here first from Limoges, at around 5pm. Unfortunately, auntie Tracey, Frank and Nan hadn’t been able to book onto the same flight, so they instead flew into Brive and Dad took his hire car to go and collect them. This meant that it was around 8pm when the last ones finally reached Port 80 – just in time for dinner. We hadn’t originally planned on doing anything on the Wednesday night, but as a number of guests flew in a day early to avoid the threat of strikes the following day, Matt and Jan threw together a BBQ. This was topped off by a spectacular apple cake dessert that drew much praise.
The next day was the day of the official/legal wedding and we were starting to feel the stress. We were also running a sleep deficit that was to spiral out of control over the coming days. I went with Mum & Dad to their house first thing in the morning so we could meet their plumber and go over a few things with him, then we got back to help with preparations. D’Jenny stopped by at 11 with her van so we could transport our oven to the venue. There, we got all the tables set up and appreciated all the decorative touches Françoise had brought to the room.
That done we returned to Port 80 and chilled for a while. Matt headed off to Nontron with Gerald & Mike in the afternoon to collect the beer and white wine, which they then also took to the venue. We then had another hour or so to relax before we headed to the Mairie in Milhac to do the official deed. We all assembled in the main square a little before 7, where we were very touched to see that the mayor had arranged to have a UK and US flag flying on the masts. There were about 25 of us attending the actual marriage, which was a short and sweet affair. It was all conducted in French, barring a lovely and affective speech by Jackie, delivered in English.
Once we’d signed, the mayor presented us with some paperwork and a gift of the pens we used to sign the certificate. We posed for a few photos outside then cracked open the champagne. We nearly had to make an emergency trip to Thiviers to collect my cousin Steph who had made her way from Dusseldorf all the way here by train. Luckily her parents managed to find enough room for her in their car after all. While the champagne was going around, Gerald gave a short and lovely speech. Our friends Marie & Christian showed up for the ceremony too and she also said a few very kind words. As we knew we had the space, we invited them to join us for the meal the next day.
We next made our way to St Pardoux and the Hotel de France where we were to be 35 for dinner. There, we met up with the final few guests we’d not yet seen – Paul & Karmen, Andrew & Tony, and Steve and his friend Alex. The guys had gotten there about an hour before so had had bit of a head start on the gin and tonics and white wine.
We all sat down and proceeded to enjoy a spectacular meal. My aunt Sue and her husband and kids arrived just in the nick of time too. The meal lasted a good few hours and then we hoovered up the stragglers and brought them all back to Port 80 for a nightcap or two. This was a very diverse crowd of friends and family and it made for some entertaining conversations. After what was clearly a glass or two too many of white wine, our friend Andrew went a little weird and seemed like he was either going to flirt with or fight with my brother, but fortunately he was soon poured into a car and taken home. The festivities lasted until around 1am, throughout which my poor nan was trying and no doubt failing to sleep next door. Afterwards, we hit the sack for some truly poor and all-too-short sleep.
Well, I’d hoped to get to the end of the big party in this entry, but it’s already long, so you’ll have to content yourself with this much for now. Part II (and III?) coming soon…