Popped over to the train station in the morning to get Saori-chan some coffee from Starbucks (and myself an expresso and a croissant) since most places in Paris roll their eyes at American coffee bean preparations. It made me happy to be walking through Paris in the morning, especially someplace as active and cosmopolitan as the train station.
We spent the morning getting ready and headed over to the city hall for the official ceremony. When Parisians get married, they go to their district city offices first, and then have a religious ceremony after if they are so inclined. We were running a little late (for German standards, but early for French) but it was easy to pick out the crowd waiting outside of the city hall when we arrived. There were about fifty people there, a strange assortment of Japanese, Koreans, and French, exclusively speaking in French and Japanese. There was a guy I thought was a Scott with a kilt and tartan, all black, and a spurren, but apparently he's either French or of English extraction living in Paris and no connection to Scotland other than an affinity for the style. Thibaud's (the groom) brother came too, sporting round glasses, a burgundy suit, with a motorcycle helmet under his arm. There were also some very old people who must have been Thibaud's grandparents or elderly relations, and of course, Tojo's and Thibaud's parents. Since the nuptials are both architects, most of the crowd was, too, and everyone took the definition of "dressing up" in very personal ways. The entire entourage looked like extras from a Wes Anderson film.
Tojo and Thibaud (pronounced like "Tebow", I actually though he was nicknamed "T-Bone" the first few times I heard of him) showed up with their family and we spent about another 45 minutes hanging around outside taking photos and chatting as the nuptials went around greeting everyone. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the front steps were strewn with white rose petals, red rose petals, and salt- a layering of the weddings which proceeded this one today. When we came out later, there was a new layer of fresh lavender which made a light purple carpet and smelled great.
Finally, some coordinator (from the city?) came out and motioned that it was time to go inside, so we all followed Tojo and Thibaud inside up the stairs to a short wait in a waiting hall while another wedding party filed out. We all went into a big sunny hall filled with mirrors and windows, and took seats on plush red velvet benches. At the front of the room was a long judges table, and in the corner, an official reporter with a microphone and book.
The "Deputy Mayor" came out, a talkative and ministerial older gentleman wearing a red, white, and blue sash and we all stood up until he motioned us to sit down. He gave an animated spiel in German with some bits thrown in in English for the benefit of Tojo's parents who were not fluent in French. Some stuff about the ideas of how important Equality is to France, even over Liberty, since a lack of equality led to the French Revolution and the guillotine, which the deputy major illustrated with a chopping motion of his hand. And a lot of blah blah blah about sharing everything, including money and children, and apparently a lot of really stale jokes. Everyone explained later that these guys do many weddings a day, so they have to find their own interest and enjoyment. Eventually he did get to the part about asking Tojo and Thibaud to confirm their intentions and they both said "Oui" and everyone clapped and Saori teared up a bit. Then they went over to the official recorder in the corner and signed the paperwork and people clapped again, and then we all crowded around them at the front of the room while they exchanged rings and people took a ton of photos.
We formed a new line and congratulated them all again, and this time I did do the air kisses on the side of the cheek. It was a bit of a strange experience to air kiss Thibaud, who has the same kind of stubble beard I do, and to for once, be on the receiving end of a fuzzy cheek against my own.
We then went outside ahead of the newlyweds, and formed a circle around the door armed with cameras and paper confetti. They came out shortly after, we tossed the confetti, took more photos, and then there was another informal round of congratulations, chatting and photographs.
It was a bit awkward, actually, to be there. Tojo and Saori are old friends, but the vast majority of the people at the wedding were of course their local friends, and we didn't really know anyone except for the bridge and groom. I was ok with it- I've gotten used to life as the perpetual auslander, but it was a lot of awkward milling around.
Anyway we saw other people splitting away and we took our chance to do so as well. We headed over to a nearby sidewalk cafe, plonked down and ordered two cappuchinos and plates of crepes with ice cream and various fillings. The deputy mayor, sans sash, came in shortly after, and gave me a double take as he went in.
We went back to the nearby Muji store and I bought the shirt I'd been debating and Saori got a new pair of flats for her feet which were dying in her heels, and we took the metro over to the Grand Palais, which I'd seen from the distance. We got tickets at the door, only discovering at the moment that it was an antique book fair, and we went inside anyway, paying the entry fee for the architecture so to speak.
It's a beautiful building, a neoclassical facade wrapped around an art-neauvou decorative wrought iron superstructure with an astounding glass vault and dome roof. If I had any shred of interest in antique books, I would have been in paradise at this expo- vendors from all over the world had brought their finest wares, and were priced in the thousands of euros.
We went back to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed out for the cocktail reception at La Dome du Marais, a tea parlour/restaurant which they had taken over for the evening. It was a beautiful and cool place, painted in black with gold accents and curio cabinets. We were precisely two minutes early for the stated starting time, which is entirely German, but we were of course the first guests to arrive, so we chatted with two friends of theirs who had set up the place with decorations- Starbucks and balloons were a recurring theme.
We were immediately presented with flutes of champagne, the first of many, from the bar service, which flowed all night. It's got to be hellaciously expensive, but there is something that is just kind of amazing about endless glasses of champagne at a wedding.
The rest of the guests trickled in and rather than staying in our corner fidgeting awkwardly for the rest of the night, we jumped in and introduced ourselves to the most obviously approachable couple, a loud Japanese boy from New York, and his date, a towering diplomatic attache from the Indonesian Embassy. They were both a lot of fun to talk to, and soon we were joined in conversation with quite a lot of different people. Meanwhile, we drank, and hors d'vours were circulated including a heavier stir fried vegetable dish where our group attempted to name the main fried root vegetable in English. Was it taro? or daikon? Anyway, it was embarrassing that when I mentioned I was from Arizona, the first thing other than the Grand Canyon that people mention was the fact that the state nearly passed a law safeguarding sexual orientation discrimination. Arizona, you are so much better than this.
Anyway, we spent about six hours at the reception, which is a staggering long time but flew by, aided by the canapes, games, cake cutting, dancing, chatting, and of course by the free-flowing champagne. At the end of the night, poor Saori's feet were exploding, so we thanked everyone once more and excused ourselves around 1:30 in the morning. We tried to catch a cab, but it was right around the last metro time, so everyone was taking taxis. I gave Saori my shoes to wear and I socked it over to the metro to catch which turned out to be the last trains of the night on either line back to Gare du l'Est.
It was all in all a very fun wedding, despite the language barrier, and it was quite an experience. It's one of those things in the List of Things If You Get The Chance, so I'm happy I got to attend a French wedding in Paris. And I'm really happy for Tojo and Thibaud both, they are surprising and hospitable people, and I wish them all the best.
We spent the morning getting ready and headed over to the city hall for the official ceremony. When Parisians get married, they go to their district city offices first, and then have a religious ceremony after if they are so inclined. We were running a little late (for German standards, but early for French) but it was easy to pick out the crowd waiting outside of the city hall when we arrived. There were about fifty people there, a strange assortment of Japanese, Koreans, and French, exclusively speaking in French and Japanese. There was a guy I thought was a Scott with a kilt and tartan, all black, and a spurren, but apparently he's either French or of English extraction living in Paris and no connection to Scotland other than an affinity for the style. Thibaud's (the groom) brother came too, sporting round glasses, a burgundy suit, with a motorcycle helmet under his arm. There were also some very old people who must have been Thibaud's grandparents or elderly relations, and of course, Tojo's and Thibaud's parents. Since the nuptials are both architects, most of the crowd was, too, and everyone took the definition of "dressing up" in very personal ways. The entire entourage looked like extras from a Wes Anderson film.
Tojo and Thibaud (pronounced like "Tebow", I actually though he was nicknamed "T-Bone" the first few times I heard of him) showed up with their family and we spent about another 45 minutes hanging around outside taking photos and chatting as the nuptials went around greeting everyone. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the front steps were strewn with white rose petals, red rose petals, and salt- a layering of the weddings which proceeded this one today. When we came out later, there was a new layer of fresh lavender which made a light purple carpet and smelled great.
Finally, some coordinator (from the city?) came out and motioned that it was time to go inside, so we all followed Tojo and Thibaud inside up the stairs to a short wait in a waiting hall while another wedding party filed out. We all went into a big sunny hall filled with mirrors and windows, and took seats on plush red velvet benches. At the front of the room was a long judges table, and in the corner, an official reporter with a microphone and book.
The "Deputy Mayor" came out, a talkative and ministerial older gentleman wearing a red, white, and blue sash and we all stood up until he motioned us to sit down. He gave an animated spiel in German with some bits thrown in in English for the benefit of Tojo's parents who were not fluent in French. Some stuff about the ideas of how important Equality is to France, even over Liberty, since a lack of equality led to the French Revolution and the guillotine, which the deputy major illustrated with a chopping motion of his hand. And a lot of blah blah blah about sharing everything, including money and children, and apparently a lot of really stale jokes. Everyone explained later that these guys do many weddings a day, so they have to find their own interest and enjoyment. Eventually he did get to the part about asking Tojo and Thibaud to confirm their intentions and they both said "Oui" and everyone clapped and Saori teared up a bit. Then they went over to the official recorder in the corner and signed the paperwork and people clapped again, and then we all crowded around them at the front of the room while they exchanged rings and people took a ton of photos.
We formed a new line and congratulated them all again, and this time I did do the air kisses on the side of the cheek. It was a bit of a strange experience to air kiss Thibaud, who has the same kind of stubble beard I do, and to for once, be on the receiving end of a fuzzy cheek against my own.
We then went outside ahead of the newlyweds, and formed a circle around the door armed with cameras and paper confetti. They came out shortly after, we tossed the confetti, took more photos, and then there was another informal round of congratulations, chatting and photographs.
It was a bit awkward, actually, to be there. Tojo and Saori are old friends, but the vast majority of the people at the wedding were of course their local friends, and we didn't really know anyone except for the bridge and groom. I was ok with it- I've gotten used to life as the perpetual auslander, but it was a lot of awkward milling around.
Anyway we saw other people splitting away and we took our chance to do so as well. We headed over to a nearby sidewalk cafe, plonked down and ordered two cappuchinos and plates of crepes with ice cream and various fillings. The deputy mayor, sans sash, came in shortly after, and gave me a double take as he went in.
We went back to the nearby Muji store and I bought the shirt I'd been debating and Saori got a new pair of flats for her feet which were dying in her heels, and we took the metro over to the Grand Palais, which I'd seen from the distance. We got tickets at the door, only discovering at the moment that it was an antique book fair, and we went inside anyway, paying the entry fee for the architecture so to speak.
It's a beautiful building, a neoclassical facade wrapped around an art-neauvou decorative wrought iron superstructure with an astounding glass vault and dome roof. If I had any shred of interest in antique books, I would have been in paradise at this expo- vendors from all over the world had brought their finest wares, and were priced in the thousands of euros.
We went back to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed out for the cocktail reception at La Dome du Marais, a tea parlour/restaurant which they had taken over for the evening. It was a beautiful and cool place, painted in black with gold accents and curio cabinets. We were precisely two minutes early for the stated starting time, which is entirely German, but we were of course the first guests to arrive, so we chatted with two friends of theirs who had set up the place with decorations- Starbucks and balloons were a recurring theme.
We were immediately presented with flutes of champagne, the first of many, from the bar service, which flowed all night. It's got to be hellaciously expensive, but there is something that is just kind of amazing about endless glasses of champagne at a wedding.
The rest of the guests trickled in and rather than staying in our corner fidgeting awkwardly for the rest of the night, we jumped in and introduced ourselves to the most obviously approachable couple, a loud Japanese boy from New York, and his date, a towering diplomatic attache from the Indonesian Embassy. They were both a lot of fun to talk to, and soon we were joined in conversation with quite a lot of different people. Meanwhile, we drank, and hors d'vours were circulated including a heavier stir fried vegetable dish where our group attempted to name the main fried root vegetable in English. Was it taro? or daikon? Anyway, it was embarrassing that when I mentioned I was from Arizona, the first thing other than the Grand Canyon that people mention was the fact that the state nearly passed a law safeguarding sexual orientation discrimination. Arizona, you are so much better than this.
Anyway, we spent about six hours at the reception, which is a staggering long time but flew by, aided by the canapes, games, cake cutting, dancing, chatting, and of course by the free-flowing champagne. At the end of the night, poor Saori's feet were exploding, so we thanked everyone once more and excused ourselves around 1:30 in the morning. We tried to catch a cab, but it was right around the last metro time, so everyone was taking taxis. I gave Saori my shoes to wear and I socked it over to the metro to catch which turned out to be the last trains of the night on either line back to Gare du l'Est.
It was all in all a very fun wedding, despite the language barrier, and it was quite an experience. It's one of those things in the List of Things If You Get The Chance, so I'm happy I got to attend a French wedding in Paris. And I'm really happy for Tojo and Thibaud both, they are surprising and hospitable people, and I wish them all the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment