Day 12, July 28; Lunch and Dinner

LUNCH

And excellent bottle of wine which we were given at the wedding, very rich and deep

Delicious syrups to add to the sorbet

DINNER

In the afternoon we visited a monastery in Belgium (called Orval, pictured below) and bought some of their cheese and beer!

Other Belgian beers...

And what better to go with monastery cheese and beer than.... hotdogs? 

Hotdogs (knacks) accompanied with gratin de pomme de terre

Dessert

Day 11, July 26: French Wedding

French Weddings are a very elaborate and drawn-out affair.  Many courses of food are spread out until the wee hours of the morning, and a wedding where people start leaving before 2 am is considered to be a disaster.  This particular wedding was small and "simple" as food is concerned, but we still spent 5 hours at the table.

3:30 PM

The Ceremony always starts with the wedding party at the town hall, where the marriage is officiated.  This may or may not be followed by a ceremony in a church.  This particular wedding included a "civil baptism."  Yes, you heard right.

Pictures in front of the town hall

5:00 pm

Cars are decorated with "good omens"...

Once arriving at the venue, a "vin d'honneur" is served to all the guests, even those not staying for the feast.  This consists of drinks and snacks, and can last for several hours depending on the size of the group.  

 

Meanwhile, more pictures...

8:00 pm

After 3 hours of vin d'honneur, people started getting restless and ready for dinner, which wouldn't start until 9 pm

The Feast was in a cool renovated farmhouse

Everyone is assigned a seat.... I found mine, finally.  Most "unusual" names in France come from North Africa, and the groom's family had never met me.  So hearing "Caleb," this is the result, and not for the first time. 

Always keep track of the menu!  You can't leave until the dessert is served.  

Every guest is given a small gift, in this case a wooden horse

9:15 

First course.  Often weddings are catered and plates are served whether you want them or not, so the buffet style is appreciated.

9:45

Between courses, more pictures

Wine and champaign are always flowing.  The previous wedding I attended (with a party of 180) had a bottle of champaign and a bottle of wine for each guest.  This one was (thankfully) tamer, but there was beer on tap!


11:00 PM

There are usually funny games organized between courses

 11:30

1:00 AM

Bring on the Cheese!

Between courses there are games, dancing, and drinking.  Still I think everyone was relieved when...

2:00 AM

Dessert!

 2:45 AM

We have two more French weddings this summer!  Until next time!  

Day 9, July 24; Dinner

Céline spent hours in the kitchen today, and the results were, like any good piece of art, creative, bold, and delicious

Finish-the-bottle day!

A delicious dish of orange slices and avocato, with roasted nuts and basil.  Tell me in the comments if you want the full recipe and I'll get Céline to add it here 

With the addition of sundried tomatoes this was a wonderfully refreshing summer dinner

Gingerbread-apricot cake made from scratch!

Day 10, July 25; Lunch and Dinner

Fresh Mussels!  Not my forte but still tasty.

A very smooth riesling from Alsace 

Filling in the corners

Dinner was a light affair, mainly a mix of meat and pâté

A very nice rose from the local area, from the bank of the Meuse river.  It was quite sour but in a good way, for me, as it complimented the spiced meat nicely 

Called "charcuterie," a collection of cold cuts - from ham to sausage - is often served in place of the cheese plate  

Tonight we're going to a wedding.  French weddings usually consist of hours of eating endless courses of fancy food, so you might want to loosen your belt now in preparation for the next post!