Well. First of all, I was a bit of an idiot when planning this trip. In order to economize and pay less for train tickets I cut everything a little fine.
Getting up at 6:00am in Montpellier, I biked to the train station, ready for my train at 7:30. I took the train from Montpellier to Toulouse, waited an hour for my train from Toulouse to Pamiers, and finally arrived in Pamiers at 11:50am. I then had 3 hours to bike 24 kilometers, set up my tent, shower, put on my makeup, bike 9 more kilometers, and arrive at the wedding (which started at 3pm). I arrived at the farm at 2:58pm... shaking (and sweating) from the effort. Took off my yellow reflector vest, and I was already to go.
The day of the wedding was beautiful, and as a group, the wedding party processed up the street in Tréziers to the Mairie, surrounding Dany and Stéphanie, and their family.
There were about 100 of us in attendance, and we all tried to cram into the smallest mayor's office ever . . . which meant that I ended up watching and taking pictures of the people around me rather than the actual marriage, because I couldn't see a thing. However, there was a lot of love in the audience for the family. . . and it was lovely to see.
What a beautiful family!
From there, we mingled around in the street for awhile, then headed back to the farm. It was lovely to catch up with Alan and meet Mélanie, his girlfriend. . . . and of course chat with Louna, Manon, and Dany and Stéphanie when I could steal time with them. The wedding goers were from all walks of life, and the colours to see were beautiful.
On arrival at the farm, was a spectacle to behold. There was a beautiful fabric feature in the air . . .
Activity stands were set up around the property. You could go to the kid's corner were they had a storyteller. . .
There were others napping in their own adult's corner . . .
You could play petanque . . .
Or the game Mölkky . . . I love this game! I was too busy playing when it was going on to take pictures, but these are the pieces for the game . . .
Another area was set up for the French game, Palet. . .
And other things I didn't take pictures of. . . there was an icecream stand set up with organic pear and peach ice cream, inside there was an instructor teaching all of the traditional French dances from this region, and there was even a circus area set up with juggling balls, frisbees, and other fun things to play with. This was my kind of wedding for sure--definitely a family that appreciates games!
As the evening got later, we had amazing organic snacks and a meal.
There were performances for the happy couple, a singing group that performed songs, some original (with words especially for the bride and groom).
There was a talent show including piano pieces, other singers, a guitar piece, and one particularly memorable hula hoop show.
The day became night, and we migrated inside. Manon and a friend did a clarinet/beat poetry session, and one extremely talented friend did a mime performance, bringing participants from the audience in to be his miming orchestra as he conducted. Then we spent the evening dancing traditional french dances (I'm terrible--I never take pictures of the dancing, because I'm too busy participating).
There were also a few nice touches throughout the day/night . . . a well-wishers tree, that you could write poetry or messages to the family on. And a candy jar, where you could take a piece of candy, and a piece of paper, and write a poem, a piece of life advice, a joke, or a game on, wrap it up, for the family to enjoy later on.
Definitely a lot of thought went into this day--by the family, but also by their wonderful friends.
At 1:30am it was time for me to leave the party and the dancing, and cycle in the dark back to where I set up my tent. To bed at 2am, my alarm woke me four and a half hours later to get up and cycle the 24 miles back to Pamiers . . . avoid having a heart attack or falling off of my bicycle when a scary yelling woman came out of the corn fields with a gun (she was following hounds, and hunting foxes, I think?). . . and arrive with a half hour to spare, then begin the train trips back to Montpellier. What a weekend. Thank you to Dany, Stéphanie, Manon, and Louna for a wonderful wonderful day! And congratulations!!!
Getting up at 6:00am in Montpellier, I biked to the train station, ready for my train at 7:30. I took the train from Montpellier to Toulouse, waited an hour for my train from Toulouse to Pamiers, and finally arrived in Pamiers at 11:50am. I then had 3 hours to bike 24 kilometers, set up my tent, shower, put on my makeup, bike 9 more kilometers, and arrive at the wedding (which started at 3pm). I arrived at the farm at 2:58pm... shaking (and sweating) from the effort. Took off my yellow reflector vest, and I was already to go.
The day of the wedding was beautiful, and as a group, the wedding party processed up the street in Tréziers to the Mairie, surrounding Dany and Stéphanie, and their family.
There were about 100 of us in attendance, and we all tried to cram into the smallest mayor's office ever . . . which meant that I ended up watching and taking pictures of the people around me rather than the actual marriage, because I couldn't see a thing. However, there was a lot of love in the audience for the family. . . and it was lovely to see.
What a beautiful family!
From there, we mingled around in the street for awhile, then headed back to the farm. It was lovely to catch up with Alan and meet Mélanie, his girlfriend. . . . and of course chat with Louna, Manon, and Dany and Stéphanie when I could steal time with them. The wedding goers were from all walks of life, and the colours to see were beautiful.
On arrival at the farm, was a spectacle to behold. There was a beautiful fabric feature in the air . . .
Activity stands were set up around the property. You could go to the kid's corner were they had a storyteller. . .
There were others napping in their own adult's corner . . .
You could play petanque . . .
Or the game Mölkky . . . I love this game! I was too busy playing when it was going on to take pictures, but these are the pieces for the game . . .
Another area was set up for the French game, Palet. . .
And other things I didn't take pictures of. . . there was an icecream stand set up with organic pear and peach ice cream, inside there was an instructor teaching all of the traditional French dances from this region, and there was even a circus area set up with juggling balls, frisbees, and other fun things to play with. This was my kind of wedding for sure--definitely a family that appreciates games!
As the evening got later, we had amazing organic snacks and a meal.
There were performances for the happy couple, a singing group that performed songs, some original (with words especially for the bride and groom).
There was a talent show including piano pieces, other singers, a guitar piece, and one particularly memorable hula hoop show.
The day became night, and we migrated inside. Manon and a friend did a clarinet/beat poetry session, and one extremely talented friend did a mime performance, bringing participants from the audience in to be his miming orchestra as he conducted. Then we spent the evening dancing traditional french dances (I'm terrible--I never take pictures of the dancing, because I'm too busy participating).
There were also a few nice touches throughout the day/night . . . a well-wishers tree, that you could write poetry or messages to the family on. And a candy jar, where you could take a piece of candy, and a piece of paper, and write a poem, a piece of life advice, a joke, or a game on, wrap it up, for the family to enjoy later on.
Definitely a lot of thought went into this day--by the family, but also by their wonderful friends.
At 1:30am it was time for me to leave the party and the dancing, and cycle in the dark back to where I set up my tent. To bed at 2am, my alarm woke me four and a half hours later to get up and cycle the 24 miles back to Pamiers . . . avoid having a heart attack or falling off of my bicycle when a scary yelling woman came out of the corn fields with a gun (she was following hounds, and hunting foxes, I think?). . . and arrive with a half hour to spare, then begin the train trips back to Montpellier. What a weekend. Thank you to Dany, Stéphanie, Manon, and Louna for a wonderful wonderful day! And congratulations!!!
