Our Final Day in Sete

The wedding reception lasted until 3 in the morning! But in spite of that, Madame Affouard still had an incredibly lovely brunch for all the wedding guests the next morning (or the same morning, actually!) She and some others had been cooking for days, in between all the wedding preparations, and laid out quite a feast. It was delicious and beautiful to look at. This is Coco, a good friend of Axelle, They taught school together in Paris. She is

a lovely woman and we really enjoyed spending time with her, too.

And this wasn't all. There were still a couple more tables loaded with breads and pastries and a few other delectables. It would have been impossible to sample it all.

This is Axelle and Nicolas with Nicolas' family--Dad, Mom, Nicolas' twin sister Emilie, and brother-in-law Jerome.

Here we are with our new Belgian friends, the Mortiers--Jean Marc, Sylvie, and their son, Julian.

Here we are with the Affouard family. Madame Affouard is wearing traditional Provencal clothing.

The bride and groom. It was another incredibly beautiful day on the Mediterranean. We never got tired of the blue sky and soft breezes.

Nicolas and Axelle and the five Odell children

The girl in the green shirt is Axelle's very funny sister, Armelle. She is a pilot for Air France.

At the end of the day, Monsieur Affouard began the champagne ritual. He opened the bottles with a small silver sabre. It was so much fun to watch him slide the sabre quickly away from him along the neck of the bottle. The sabre then hits the bulge in the bottle near the top and takes the entire top off--bottle and cork. The bottle breaks cleanly and he pours out the foaming liquid into the waiting glasses. Nicolas tried too, but he has some practicing to do. Sometimes the cork goes flyiing quite a distance. The little children got non-alcoholic sparkling cider.

We had ANOTHER meal that evening at dusk (delicious leftovers from the brunch) and reminisced. We were going home the next day.

This is Sete at night. The Affouards live on the hill sort of to the right of the blue lights. We were on our way to our hotel after our delightful day.

This is our van on the Affouard's street. A bit of a tight fit all the way down. Somehow they got a moving truck down there when they moved in! There's not much on-street parking.

Mrs. Affouard always served Cameron's favorite breakfast!

Just a view of Sete early on the morning we left for Paris and home. It is sometimes called the Venice of France.

Sete is home to a rather substantial fishing industry. There are all kinds of cafes along these canals all serving seafood--mussels, oysters, fish, and the like.

(Posted by Mom)

The Big Day

The day we'd been waiting for, the reason we came way across the ocean, had finally come--the wedding of Axelle and Nicolas. We spent the morning at the Affouard's, helping them prepare for the brunch the next morning. Various family members and friends began arriving and we enjoyed meeting all of them--especially Axelle's sister Armelle. And Francoise (Axelle's mom) was the quintessential hostess, as usual, providing us all with breakfast and lunch that day. That beautiful lady is amazing!

Axelle came back from the hairdresser and we had lunch together before the wedding. Then we all left the house to get dressed and get to the mayor's office (city hall).

The first part of the wedding was the legal ceremony at the town hall. All the invitees attended this part.


From the town hall, we drove over to the local church. Margaret got to ride with Axelle in the...

...decorated wedding car.

Axelle standing outside the church building, talking to Jean-Marc, one of "The Belgians." The Belgians--Jean-Marc, Sylvie and Julien--were family friends. Julien and Margaret were in the wedding together. The night before the wedding, we had a great time together walking through the streets and along the canals of Sete. We had delicious ice cream at a cute cafe that had seating next to the canal and had a wonderful time getting to know them. Jean-Marc is full of mischief.

The next part of the big day was the church ceremony. The church building--Eglise Notre-Dame Souveraine du Monde--was modern, but had a nice charm and feel to it. The ceremony lasted about an hour.

These are the ribbons that go on the cars in the wedding caravan. When driving through town, everyone beeps and carries on.

Cameron and his toothless grin enjoyed everything.

As is the tradition, when the ceremony was over, everyone left the building before the bride and groom. When they came out, we all threw dried flower petals and beautiful tissue paper hearts. A breeze came up at the perfect moment and scattered the petals and hearts everywhere. It was beautiful.

Next came the drive to the reception. The traffice was horrendous and it took a long time to get there. You should have seen Dad drive across the median when he discovered that all the other wedding guests were going in a different direction! His comment? "When in France, do as the French do!" Appparently, everyone else had done the same thing!

From the church ceremony, we drove to "the golf" (a country club) where the reception and dinner were held. Before the reception, however, lots of pictures were taken. Here is Axelle with her dear sister Armelle.

Axelle with Mrs. Affouard

This is the Affouard family--Armelle, Mr. and Mrs. Affouard, Axelle and Nicolas, and Marielle (a soon-to-be Affouard) and Ameryic who are to be married next summer.

The kids with Axelle (excuse the coloring--this was a print from the photographer that we scanned).

The Belgians--Jean-Marc, Sylvie and Julien with the Affouard parents.

After the pictures and the reception which consisted of hors d'ouerves and drinks came the dinner...a six-course dinner. Between almost every course there was dancing or games, causing the party to go late into the night (or into the early morning!). The food was fabulous! We will post the menu in a subsequent post.

The dance floor was complete with strobe lights and a disco ball.

Between one of the courses, Mrs. Affouard surprised Axelle and Nicolas with a fireworks show that was perfectly choreographed to music. This is not a tradition, but it was certainly beautiful.

This is what we like to call "the grand entrance of the cake." Everyone lights the two sparklers that are on their table, and then the cake comes in...

...with sparklers in it too!

Wondering how to cut it. :-)

The champagne tower

Everyone dance and ate and partied long into the night. We left at about 2 a.m. and they were still going strong. Here is Shannon with Mrs. Affouard.

(Posted by Shannon)

A Dream Come True: A Visit to Carcassonne

This was the day Cameron had been looking forward to for almost a year. When we were thinking about our trip here, we knew that one place we would not miss would be Carcassonne. Andrew and I had visited here with Axelle several years ago. As we walked through the city streets that time, I kept thinking about how much I wished our children could see this. God gave me my heart's desire, and I am very grateful. It was wonderful to go to Carcassonne again, this time as a family experiencing it together.

Just a little note about the history: The city was originally settled by the Romans in the 2nd century. The castle and the cathedral were built in the 1200s. Over the centuries, it has remained remarkably intact. What needed it was restored in the 1900s. It is designated a world heritage site. It also has some colorful history. Sometime, ask Cameron about Dame Carcasse and how she saved the city by throwing a pig over the wall.

This is the main gate into the city. A drawbridge goes over a moat and you must walk under two portcullises because it is a double-walled city. This was a dream come true for an 8-year-old boy who has been fascinated with knights and castles for a long time. When you pass the gates, one very narrow stone road leads uphill a little ways before branching out into other streets to other parts of the city. A big difference between the time we were here years ago and this visit is the amount of people. It was mobbed this time! Last time, there were barely 10 people exploring the place, but of course it was pretty close to winter then.

This is a view of the actual castle within the city walls. The castle is the tall part in the middle of the picture. Carcassonne (the old city) sits on top of a hill. To the right of the picture, across a river you can't see, is the modern city of Carcassonne.

Here we are walking the circumference of the city between the walls.

Of course, the city has a church building. This is a view of part of it. See the gargoyles?

This is a sundial of sorts

Another view of the area between the walls.

This boy is having a GOOD time (even without all his teeth). His most favorite t-shirt was secretly purchased by his sister in a tourist shop in the city, and presented to him for his birthday. I don't think he took it off for two weeks!

(Posted by Mom)