May 2019 – Diary of a PTO Vacationer

The French Wedding

May 15, 2019June 12, 2019Posted in FranceTagged ceremony, dancing, family, food, France, friendship, Les Molières, love, marriage, Paris, party, Travel, vacation, weddingLeave a comment

Saturday was a highly emotional day for me. Filled with complete joy and happiness.

As I’m hoping you’ve read in my previous post, I was in France for a wedding. It was very important for me to attend this wedding. Because this couple means a lot to me.

Mr and Mrs Brack

It was a rainy morning in Paris. We woke up late due to jet lag and our general love for sleep. We had to get ready in a haste in order to check out on time. Somehow we pulled it off and were wedding ready by noon. As I explained, Eliza ingeniously placed us directly across the street from the ceremony venue. We had a little time to kill before the ceremony was set to begin at the Mayor’s Office. So we grabbed a pizza at the cafe downstairs because we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

The invitation said to be at the Mayor’s Office at 1:30, so we headed over at about 1:15. We ended up circling the building in the rain because we couldn’t figure out where to enter. We saw some other folks dressed up doing the same, so Eliza ran to ask them if they were there for the wedding. Thankfully they were, and we ended up waiting in front of 2 large red gates in the front of the building. More people began congregating with us. And a facilities worker from inside reluctantly let us in from the rain. He was stressed. Eliza said he was saying he’s not security so technically he should not have let us in.

Over the next hour more and more people began to come in the foyer of the building. It was apparent we were all there for Karen and Thomas’ wedding. Pretty soon some people started approaching us and introducing themselves. Immediately they knew we were Karen’s American friends.

And then the bride and groom arrived. Karen has never looked more happy to me.

We headed upstairs to a room that resembled a courtroom. It was gorgeous. Very old world, elegant, and classic. Not to mention the room was adorned with giant old paintings. The judge came out and spoke for a while. The whole ceremony was in French (obviously) so Eliza translated at times for context. It was a non-religious ceremony so the judge essentially recited the French laws of marriage. They then exchanged “I do’s”, hugged, signed their marriage license and kissed. Just like that they were married.

We filled into the hallway where we were told to stand on the stairs for a group picture. Before I could head over, I was intercepted by a semi-familiar face. It was Karen’s dad! All these years, and this was my first time meeting him. His English was very good. He gave me the biggest hug. He thanked me wholeheartedly and profusely for mine and my family’s hospitality to Karen. I was fighting back tears. I could really feel his love. I don’t even have all the words to explain this experience. But it was like reconnecting with a long lost family member. It was a very beautiful moment.

We filed back down the the foyer after the group picture. And we waited outside for the newlyweds to make their debut before heading to the reception venue. By then the sun was shining and it had turned into quite a beautiful day.

Karen told us her bridesmaid, Valentine, who Eliza and I already knew from last year, would be the one driving us to the reception venue. We quickly ran to the hotel to grab our luggage and packed up the car and took off. The reception was about an hour outside of Paris in a town called Les Molières. The venue was actually a GORGEOUS farm turned bed and breakfast called La ferme d’armenon.

While we waited for the newlyweds to arrive from their photo op in Paris, we were introduced to more family. We met aunts, cousins, uncles and Karen’s grandma who reminded me a lot of my own. They all knew who I was because one of her aunts translated my blog post explaining why I was going France. They all found it so touching. And I was honored. Eliza also got to flex her French speaking with the family while trying to advert a wardrobe malfunction. Everyone was impressed. But she ended up having to change. What’s a wedding without a wardrobe malfunction?

When Karen and Thomas arrived they pulled up in an antique car. My dad would be surprised that I didn’t take note of the make and model. Anyway, it was so fitting for their entrance. In France they throw lavender on the newlyweds as opposed to rice. So we all greeted them with the lavender shower.

Right after that we were able to steal a couple moments with Karen. Eliza’s a make up artist (on the side) and Karen had asked her in advance to touch up her makeup for the reception. So just the three of us went in to the house and exchanged some laughs and briefly caught up. I was telling Karen how I met all her family and was hoping to meet Marc, who started this all. She told me he unfortunately is battling MS and was unable to attend the wedding. I still hope to meet him one day.

Eliza had her makeup done in a jiffy. They took some more pictures and we got to speak to Karen’s aunt who was formerly an English teacher. We had a really nice conversation about the benefits of exchanges. And the beauty of those relationships. Then it was time for the ceremony. This was a unique experience. All the guests congregated into a barn styled room. The bride and groom sat on a vintage couch under a wedding arch. Then each member of their bridal party gave a short speech. There were many happy tears. And even a couple musical performances. Of course all of this was in French and Eliza leaned over to translate things throughout the ceremony. Last but not least the bride and groom thanked everyone for their words and attendance. Karen gave Eliza and I a special shoutout in English. Even Eliza, who I don’t think I’ve ever seen cry in 17 years of friendship, shed a tear at Karen’s address to us.

Then it was party time. There was a cocktail hour with MANY food options. And of course more pictures.

During cocktail hour we were approached by a young lady named Inès. She introduced herself as Karen’s cousin and asked if she could practice her English with us. Of course we were happy to oblige. She was only 16 but her English was EXCELLENT. My goodness she reminded me of myself at that age. It turns out we were seated at the same table. So we spoke to her and her younger sister quite extensively. We exchanged emails and I told her to contact me whenever she wants. And also that whenever she wants to come to the States, she’s more than welcome to stay with Eliza and I.

We had a lovely 3 course meal and then it was time to dance and mingle some more with the other guests. They played the shoe game and a music guessing game too.

The party ended around 4:30 am. Yeah. The French go hard.

So that was it. We went to our hotel and rested a bit before heading back for the 12pm brunch later that day.

Cheers!

Hautvillers, Epernay, and Paris

May 15, 2019March 24, 2022Posted in FranceTagged Champagne, Chandon, Epernay, food, France, grapes, group, Hautvillers, hotel, Möet, Paris, tour, Travel, vacation, vineyards, wineLeave a comment

I’m late posting this. But jet lag hit us really hard during this trip. Not to mention we were on the GO the entire time. You’ll see what I mean.

Thursday afternoon’s extended nap lead to a 4am bedtime, since we were so rested and trying to adjust to the local time. We had a 9am meetup time for our day long champagne tour. I booked this tour as a gift to Eliza. This is our last girls trip together before she gets married next month in Italy 🇮🇹.

We met our tour guide Melanie at the tourism information center right outside of the train station. About a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

By the time we got there, our 4 other travel companions were already loaded up in the van. I can’t remember their names but it was a couple from North Carolina and an older couple from Australia.

Our first stop was to a vineyard in Hautvillers. As we were driving there, we observed miles and miles and miles of vineyards. All of these grapes were used to make champagne. Melanie explained how this region has the perfect conditions for champagne grapes. The terrain is full of hills to capture the sunlight and it rains 200 days per year there. Also the earth is full of minerals because chalk naturally grows there. Apparently this these are prime conditions for champagne grapes.

The first thing I noticed was how close the vines are to the ground. They can’t be more than 1ft off the ground.

Melanie explained this is because they don’t want them to grow high and therefore create more shade for the grapes growing closer to the ground. She said they need about 100,000 workers during the harvest season. And this is a very popular summer job for students. She had first hand experience. She said the pickers earn about €1000 per week for about 50 hours of labor. I’d take that.

We took some pictures and headed toward the town where we stopped at Dom Perignon’s church.

For those who don’t know, Dom Perignon is the “father of champagne”. He was a monk and he held the keys to the church’s wine cellar. He developed the unique double fermentation process and the process by which you can press red grapes and only collect white juice. We visited the church where he was buried.

Dom Perignon’s buried in the left

Next we went to Champagne Avenue in Epernay. This is where many of the most successful champagne houses are located. Including Möet & Chandon where we had a tour. We were brought through the cellar tunnels where thousands upon thousands of bottles of champagne are in various stages of maturation. A typical bottle needs to mature for 2-3 years.

They have over 50 miles of underground caves for storage

Over 20,000 bottles stacked in this crevice

Where the store the vintage bottles. Including the very first bottle ever produced in the 1800’s

The process by which they get the sediment to the top of the bottle

I really learned some amazing facts about the champagne making process.

Champagne is a kind of wine.
The cellars in Möet naturally stay at 10 degrees Celsius year round.
Möet uses 3 different grapes in equal quantities to make their champagne.
All of their champagne is a blend of different grapes from different years. This is so the taste remains consistent no matter when or where you drink it.
They make a vintage champagne only when the quality of the grapes from a particular year is highly exceptional. In that case they only use the grapes from that year to make the champagne. And they age it 3-4 times longer than their regular champagne.
There’s a Cellar Master who dictates when to make a vintage. And how much of which grapes to use in the blend.

Very educational tour. They also happen to be the brand that makes Dom Perignon. We learned why it’s so expensive. It’s due the the grapes used and how long it ages.

Next we went to lunch at a local bed and breakfast. We had a traditional French lunch. Eliza told me when our chef stepped out of the kitchen to greet us, her immediate reaction was “we’re in good hands”. And we were. The food was VISIONARY. Clean, simple, decadent and rich but not heavy.

Main course: Turkey in a mushroom cream sauce, potato and cheese quiche, bacon wrapped green beans

Our last stop was a family winery. They’ve had 6 generations of wine making. We toured the pressing area, the massive fermentation vats, and of course the maturation cellar.

The owner explained that they’re a midsize winery. They produce about 60,000 bottles per year. It was here where we learned about how highly regulated this industry is.

For each hectare you own, you can only harvest a certain number of grapes. So that means once you reach your capacity, the rest have to be wasted. Literally picked and thrown on the grounds of the Vineyards. This is to ensure the quality of the wine and champagne produce from the region. And they have regulators who come and monitor your production to make sure you are not over producing. They keep a record and compare it to your previous years of production. They also test the sugar and acidity of your grapes.

Clearly the French take their wine very seriously.

We got back to Reims in time to catch our 6:45pm train to Paris. That night we checked into Palma Hôtel. Eliza chose that hotel because it was conveniently located directly across the street from where the wedding ceremony would be taking place the next day. It was a rainy day and we were quite tired. But we learned from our previous mistake and did not take a nap. We researched some restaurants for dinner in the area and we decided to go to Ober Mamma. They had great reviews and good prices. We arrived and there was a line outside the door, but luckily only a 20 minute wait. It was an Italian restaurant. We had the most beautiful meal. A bit of a preview for our trip next month I guess. Because who goes to Paris and eats Italian food?

Burrata pesto pizza

The food was as good as it looks. And again, very well priced. We split the meal and paid around €20 each. We took an Uber pool back to the hotel since it was kind of late and raining. Normally we take the metro everywhere, but this was a cheaper and safer option.

So that was our eventful Friday. We pretty much passed out when we got back to the hotel because the next day was the wedding.

I’ll tell you all about the wedding adventure next.

Cheers!

Récapitulation du Reims

May 9, 2019June 15, 2023Posted in FranceTagged Champagne, food, France, hotel, Paris, Reims, tour, train, Travel, vacationLeave a comment

That first day always hits you the hardest.

We arrived in Paris around 10:30 this morning. The wedding isn’t until Saturday. So we thought this would be a good opportunity to explore a new part of France. Since we’ve already been to Paris.

Eliza selected this city for us months ago. I didn’t do much research about it until a couple days before we left.

Reims is about 45 minutes by train outside of Paris. We actually considered going to the UK or Belgium for these couple days before the wedding, but ultimately decided the closer to Paris the better.

The train from the airport got us to Reims pretty quickly. On the way we crossed paths with a gentleman from Texas who was trying to ascertain that he was on the correct train. “This train going to Reims?”, he asked. His cowboy boots and thick accent gave his state of origin away. We struck up a conversation. He explained he was 2 days behind his travel companions. His passport was set to expire in 90 days, so he was prohibited from traveling here with the rest of his group. He told us his wife went on ahead with his brother and sister in law. But he got all the passport drama squared away within a day. A few hours and $175 later, he had a new passport and a new flight. Never got his name, but he was kind and thankful that we helped guide him.

We arrived at our hotel Novotel Suites Reims Centre Hôtel around 1:30. It’s about a 7 minute walk from the city center. Which is exactly where we headed after checking in. Like most European cities, lunch service stops at 2pm. So our lunch options were pretty limited. We decided on 3 Brasseurs. It’s a pub type restaurant. So the menu wasn’t anything extravagant. Neither of us really enjoyed the food. But the menu consisted of salads, burgers, flatbreads/pizza, and other French pub type dishes. I can’t remember how to spell what I ordered. But it was almost like a pot roast with gravy and a side of fries. I almost wished we tried one of the other restaurants.

Thankfully this place was right in the city center. Which meant we were just steps away from some of the key landmarks in Reims. We immediately went to Place Drouet d’Erlon. Which was gorgeous. I love a nice fountain/monument.

Place Drouet d’Erlon

By this time it was about 4:30/5pm. There are a few places we wanted to see. But had to prioritize since most of the tourist spots close between 6-7. We both enjoy a good museum. But I like to take my time with the artwork. So we had to scratch Musée des Beaux-Arts off the list. But I did snap this photo of the sculpture in the courtyard.

When I finally researched Reims, the main thing I HAD to visit was the church. The big old churches in Europe are what made me fall in love with traveling here. The architecture, designs, and elegance of these establishments are the epitome of beauty to me. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims did not disappoint. I don’t even have the words to describe it. I’m just so thankful I got to experience its beauty.

The front from inside

Stained glass windows

Massive organ

I almost didn’t want to leave.

For those who are unfamiliar with Reims, its claim to fame is champagne. There are many champagne houses (producers) located in the city. This area is known to produce some of the best champagne in the world. Eliza knew this. Which is one of the reasons why she selected this city. I’m not a drinker. But I can respect the tradition, labor, science, and intense process behind producing the champagne. Our next stop was Vranken Pommery. We got there 30 minutes before they closed. Therefore we were unable to take a tour. But we were able to chill and walk around the area open to the public.

Elephants happen to be my favorite animal

By this time the jet lag was hitting us pretty hard. We decided to head back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. What was only supposed to be 90 minutes of rest, turned into 3 hours. We didn’t think to set alarms. So by the time we woke up at 10:30pm, we were hard pressed to find a restaurant still serving dinner. We had to resort to some fast food in the city center. KFC. We ordered a bucket and fries. And it hit the spot.

Paper straws!

So that was it. We took some night photos at Place Drouet d’Erlon. And walked past some thriving night clubs back to our hotel.

Long day ahead of us tomorrow. We have a full day tour planned and then we’ll be taking the train back into Paris.

Cheers!

The French Connection

May 7, 2019October 30, 2019Posted in France, TravelTagged foreign exchange, France, friendship, high school, New York City, Paris, spring, Travel, vacation, weddingLeave a comment

On the eve of my second trip to France, it makes sense to explain why I’m going.

Back when my dad and aunt were in high school (in the 80’s) they hosted a French exchange student, Marc. I think my dad was too busy with his extracurriculars senior year. So my aunt Carol is the one who had the stronger relationship with Marc. She explained that he initially was staying with a different host family. But then one of his grandparents passed away. And the initial host family couldn’t handle his grief. I’m not sure why the school then reached out to my family, neither my dad or aunt took French. But my grandparents being the kindhearted people they are, were happy to take him in. My aunt has a funny story about Marc’s reaction to Halloween. He really thought the whole thing was stupid. And kept asking what was the point of it all. Overall they enjoyed hosting him for the remainder of his time in the states.

Over the years they kept in touch via mail, email, and eventually social media. I remember my aunt taking me to the post office to send his children toys for their birthday one year. She always cherished that relationship.

Fast forward 20+ years. Marc reached out to my aunt telling her about his younger cousin. Her name was Karen and she was 19. I didn’t know this at the time but she was battling an illness. And one of her dreams was to come to the US. So her dad was happy to send her over, but wanted her to be safe. Marc explained the situation. He said he didn’t want to “send her to the wolves.” My aunt gladly agreed to host Karen. She was going to come for 2 weeks in the spring.

Since I was close to her age, my aunt thought it’d be a good idea for her to stay with my parents and I for the second week. We were super excited.

Thankfully I had a great relationship with my school’s Principal, and he was happy to allow Karen to shadow me for the week. And coincidentally my homeroom teacher was the only French teacher in the school. She and Karen connected immediately.

Karen was so sweet and polite. I was super impressed with her English speaking. She went with me to all my classes and softball practice after school. She went to church with us on Sunday. And she, Auntie Carol, and I spent a Saturday in NYC. She and my bestie Eliza even became fast friends. My parents were her parents for the week. And she from then on has been my French sister.

Karen and I at the Statue of Liberty 2009

One day I remember Karen being very sad. Not because she was homesick. But because she had just gone through a break up prior to her trip. That guy hurt her quite badly. I tried to comfort her as best I could. But as kind, intelligent, and beautiful as she, I knew she’d find someone who’d treat her like a queen. And she did!

A few years later she met Thomas, and the rest was history. They’ve been together for 7 years. And this weekend Eliza and I will be attending their wedding!

In 2012 Karen and Thomas came to NYC and we were able to meet up again for the first time in 3 years. We liked Thomas. He was a gentleman and we could tell our girl Karen was happy. He was a bit shy that first time we met. But over the years we have spent more time with them. And learned many good things about him. He’s a good man. And I’m so happy for my Frenchies!

Me, mom, Karen, Thomas and Eliza NYC 2012

10 years of friendship and I am honored to witness this very special moment in my French sister’s life.

Eliza, me, Karen, and Valentine NYC 2018

Foreign exchange programs can be a very beautiful thing. In my opinion, the good that comes from them far outweighs the potential risks. The relationships born from them can transcend time, space, and generations. And they make for an extremely unique human experience.