Love Is In the Air
'Tis the season to get married.
In my church alone there were 5 weddings this summer (including ours). There are actually 2 more coming up in the Fall/Winter too. Guess we're about that age. For me, it was simple; that, I'm not going to be in a long relationship with someone and not be married. Yes it has to do with my spiritual beliefs, but I also have very strong personal convictions about this matter too, so regardless of what I believed spiritually, I would most likely not be in a "common-law" marriage, or a "registered domestic partner". That's just me.
Anyways, my dear friend,Sébastien, who was so kind to take the pictures of our wedding (FREE OF CHARGE!!!), invited us to Bastia, Corsica, France. Of course I said without hesitation that we would be attending, I just hope my wallet agreed. Thank God my paycheck was larger than anticipated and I was able to purchase airline tickets...yayy!!
We only spent the weekend there, but for him, it was definitely worth it. Not to mention Bastia is a gorgeous place. One of Sébastien's friends from high school kindly offered to host us at her place in the village. When we arrived, I was floored, but because it was so late, I really didn't have the mental capacity to fully appreciate the grandeur. That was quickly remedied the next day. The place is gorgeous. Like something I've seen only in magazines and we got to experience it. The terrace was huge, the kitchen magnificent (I'm still drooling over that kitchen), stone floors, heavy wooden doors with rot iron handles, my vernacular is not enough to express how glorious this place is. Aurélia (our hostess) would probably humbly deny everything I've said. Stupidly enough, I forgot my camera in the rush to make our plane and I only had my craptastic phone. Ugh. Aurélia's mom, however graciously offered me her camera to borrow while we were there. So some of the pictures came out better than others for that very reason.
The day of the wedding we had a delicious lunch with food all from their garden. I quickly found myself cursing Finland and not wanting to go back after spending time outside eating and talking and drinking wine and eating cheese. I've missed my French roots. I need to get back in touch with them. The wedding itself was beautiful. The matrimony was held in the courthouse by the mayor, who was Sebastien's neighbor growing up, and the reception was held at a monastery near the villages. Again, gorgeous and again I found myself hating Finland again. It was such a joy to be able to talk openly with people I've never even met before. Everyone was so nice and welcoming...the French that is....what can ya do? Not to mention the party itself, the food....I ate myself sick, literally. I hadn't done that since Thanksgiving 2008 (and one other time when I was a child...again on Thanksgiving). In addition to the gorgeous reception grounds, we stayed there until 4am!! I have to say I was a bit jealous because I would have loved to have something like that for my own wedding but never in Helsinki. I guess I'll have to wait for next year when we're Stateside.
The atmosphere was, for me anyways, something I much prefer, lighthearted, fun, laid-back. There was tons of dancing (which didn't happen at my wedding because Finns suck that way...yeah I said it), tons of drinking...which I'm still ambivalent about because why do you need alcohol to be able to have a good time? Anyways, and both Saija and Sebastien have lovely families. I immediately fell in love with Sebastien's dad and Saija's mom and though I haven't known Saija for very long, I didn't feel awkward at all around her family and friends.
While my stomach and my heart were both bursting at the seams (my stomach literally), my brain quickly came to follow suit. The entire weekend I was speaking THREE, yes 3, languages. I spoke French with the French, Finnish with the Finns, and English to everyone when there was general conversation. By the end of the weekend, I couldn't tell you if I was speaking French, English, Finnish, or Japanese. My first day at work was really something, anyways. All in all, I'm so very happy we were able to attend and I'll definitely remember this experience!
The day after the wedding, we explored Bastia. I found this farking amazing store that sells Corsican goods and even better, ships internationally. Having fallen in love with chestnut crêpes, chestnut jam, and nearly all of the food there, I was very happy to pay the not so cheap shipping charges to Finland. I even bought fig jam that I plan on using on Easter too! Yayy!!
We left Bastia at 6am and fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) had a 10 hour layover in Paris!! I was so excited. It had been over 10 years since I was last there and while the historical buildings hadn't changed that much, nearly everything else had. We stayed in one district because Eero was a bit paranoid, but we managed to visit Notre Dame at least. We also did some shopping where I got the cutest boots for the Fall in addition to some sweet tights, a gorgeous purse, and even some clicky dress shoes for Eero^^ I ordered escargot for us as an appetizer, but Eero refused, well more for me then.
It's most likely not worth it to put pictures of my purchases, even though I'm totes enraptured by my boots. But now it's back to boring, cold and dark Finrand...le sigh.
In my church alone there were 5 weddings this summer (including ours). There are actually 2 more coming up in the Fall/Winter too. Guess we're about that age. For me, it was simple; that, I'm not going to be in a long relationship with someone and not be married. Yes it has to do with my spiritual beliefs, but I also have very strong personal convictions about this matter too, so regardless of what I believed spiritually, I would most likely not be in a "common-law" marriage, or a "registered domestic partner". That's just me.
Anyways, my dear friend,Sébastien, who was so kind to take the pictures of our wedding (FREE OF CHARGE!!!), invited us to Bastia, Corsica, France. Of course I said without hesitation that we would be attending, I just hope my wallet agreed. Thank God my paycheck was larger than anticipated and I was able to purchase airline tickets...yayy!!
We only spent the weekend there, but for him, it was definitely worth it. Not to mention Bastia is a gorgeous place. One of Sébastien's friends from high school kindly offered to host us at her place in the village. When we arrived, I was floored, but because it was so late, I really didn't have the mental capacity to fully appreciate the grandeur. That was quickly remedied the next day. The place is gorgeous. Like something I've seen only in magazines and we got to experience it. The terrace was huge, the kitchen magnificent (I'm still drooling over that kitchen), stone floors, heavy wooden doors with rot iron handles, my vernacular is not enough to express how glorious this place is. Aurélia (our hostess) would probably humbly deny everything I've said. Stupidly enough, I forgot my camera in the rush to make our plane and I only had my craptastic phone. Ugh. Aurélia's mom, however graciously offered me her camera to borrow while we were there. So some of the pictures came out better than others for that very reason.
The day of the wedding we had a delicious lunch with food all from their garden. I quickly found myself cursing Finland and not wanting to go back after spending time outside eating and talking and drinking wine and eating cheese. I've missed my French roots. I need to get back in touch with them. The wedding itself was beautiful. The matrimony was held in the courthouse by the mayor, who was Sebastien's neighbor growing up, and the reception was held at a monastery near the villages. Again, gorgeous and again I found myself hating Finland again. It was such a joy to be able to talk openly with people I've never even met before. Everyone was so nice and welcoming...the French that is....what can ya do? Not to mention the party itself, the food....I ate myself sick, literally. I hadn't done that since Thanksgiving 2008 (and one other time when I was a child...again on Thanksgiving). In addition to the gorgeous reception grounds, we stayed there until 4am!! I have to say I was a bit jealous because I would have loved to have something like that for my own wedding but never in Helsinki. I guess I'll have to wait for next year when we're Stateside.
The atmosphere was, for me anyways, something I much prefer, lighthearted, fun, laid-back. There was tons of dancing (which didn't happen at my wedding because Finns suck that way...yeah I said it), tons of drinking...which I'm still ambivalent about because why do you need alcohol to be able to have a good time? Anyways, and both Saija and Sebastien have lovely families. I immediately fell in love with Sebastien's dad and Saija's mom and though I haven't known Saija for very long, I didn't feel awkward at all around her family and friends.
While my stomach and my heart were both bursting at the seams (my stomach literally), my brain quickly came to follow suit. The entire weekend I was speaking THREE, yes 3, languages. I spoke French with the French, Finnish with the Finns, and English to everyone when there was general conversation. By the end of the weekend, I couldn't tell you if I was speaking French, English, Finnish, or Japanese. My first day at work was really something, anyways. All in all, I'm so very happy we were able to attend and I'll definitely remember this experience!
The day after the wedding, we explored Bastia. I found this farking amazing store that sells Corsican goods and even better, ships internationally. Having fallen in love with chestnut crêpes, chestnut jam, and nearly all of the food there, I was very happy to pay the not so cheap shipping charges to Finland. I even bought fig jam that I plan on using on Easter too! Yayy!!
We left Bastia at 6am and fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) had a 10 hour layover in Paris!! I was so excited. It had been over 10 years since I was last there and while the historical buildings hadn't changed that much, nearly everything else had. We stayed in one district because Eero was a bit paranoid, but we managed to visit Notre Dame at least. We also did some shopping where I got the cutest boots for the Fall in addition to some sweet tights, a gorgeous purse, and even some clicky dress shoes for Eero^^ I ordered escargot for us as an appetizer, but Eero refused, well more for me then.
It's most likely not worth it to put pictures of my purchases, even though I'm totes enraptured by my boots. But now it's back to boring, cold and dark Finrand...le sigh.