our day

on tuesday april 22nd we got married!!  and here is a little re-cap...Our wedding time was at 2:30 pm, so Yann's parents arrived in Marseille in the morning and before the ceremony we went out for pizza. to make sure we were on time for the wedding we arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled court time. well, as we entered the office the woman gives us a curious look and asks us why we are here. We tell her, because we are supposed to get married here in 10 minutes.  She tells us, no, we need to go all the way to the other side of the city where we had just come from!! Ahh! we were kinda scared at this point; thinking at least they couldn't start the wedding without the entire 5-person wedding party! 

so, finally we got there, 15 minutes late, and as we ran around this huge, old building trying to find which door to enter, we were getting blown around by this very, very strong wind.  We entered into the court room and it is very quiet and there is the mayor and his notarie.  So, all in French, they began the ceremony.  I hardly understood what they said, but when they asked me something directly I looked at yann like, "What do I say??!" and he whispered, "Say, oui!"  So, I guess that was the moment we became official! 

we signed the marriage papers and exchanged our rings.  The whole thing was very short & sweet; it lasted probably about 15 minutes.  We received our "family book", which we record important family events, such as births, deaths, ect. Then we were on our way to take pictures outside and  have some champagne!  So easy and so not stressful. This was a perfect way to get married if you don't want all the stress of planning a wedding. However, I'm still looking forward to having a bigger wedding in Sarasota next year. I think until i'm married by our pastor, in front of God, and my family & friends, I won't truly feel married. 

His dad brought a bag of rice which was thrown at us as we came out of the building. The wind was blowing so hard, the rice was stinging our skin as it pelted us.!  We took the pictures ourselves and when a guy walked by we asked him to take some photos of all of us.  Talk about a do-it-yourself wedding.  Besides the wind, there was bright warm sun and a BEAUTIFUL view of Marseille from where we were.  We went over to a hotel across the street and his father bought us a bottle of good champagne to celebrate and toast.  

Then, JC and his parents all had to leave to get back to work & home to Paimpol.  So, there we were back in our old, comfortable clothes and having the rest of the afternoon free we went grocery shopping.  We went to this huge asian market and bought things for sushi rolling and we came home and had a big sushi feast to celebrate.

The next morning at 4am, i had to drive Yann to the train station because he had to go to work...sad!! but he will be back on Sunday night, so it's ok.  Nothing about this marriage was traditional, but we liked it that way.  The next day I went over to my friend's pottery studio and threw pots all day.  She showed me around the Panier area, which is an artist's area, and she introduced me to all the local artists.  I think it's a possibility that I may try to get a studio in that area. we'll see...more info on that later. 

Yesterday I went to the French Alliance and had my first French class and my second is today.  There are 5 of us total in the class; it's a total beginner class.  But hopefully in no time i'll be speaking french!  Ok, hope all is good with everybody and talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gehan