Lord and Lady Chassin's chateau bedroom. Complete with antique chandeliers and 17th century paintings.
I always said the man who buys me a castle would sweep me off my feet. Ummm....maybe in the next lifetime or when we win the Lottery!
So here I am in limbo again...back in Singapore waiting, waiting to leave in a few days. Somewhat disconcerting to have no shell to settle in. Wee Keong is in now Madrid, Mark and Wendy somewhere is Spain as well, Rita Ee and Uncle Pat in Holland (I think!) and Mel & Kris back in Aberdeen.
Our France trip was really something else! On the road almost everyday with my family and BFF in tow in rising summer temperatures. Lots of hilarious moments (like when we got lost driving on the narrow one-way streets behind the walls of old Avignon) and ones where tempers flared too (ditto Avignon!). But at the end of the day, we all sat down to a good dinner and had a great a laugh about it. Boy did I get a month long lesson on family dynamics!!
Lots of special memories for sure and the wedding was enjoyable. Wedding dinner food was FANTASTIC, everyone said so. To be honest I had a lot more fun at our Singapore wedding. I just put it down to a totally different wedding experience. The French wedding felt like one big party for JF's mum. Maybe cos most of the invitees were her friends and apart from 1 or 2 couples, I had no idea who they all were.
Anyhoo, I was really happy that my family was there to REPRESENT! THANKS and BIG KISSES to Mel & Kris for making it there for the weekend!! Love U guys! Also BIG HUGS to JF's friends Samuel and Constance and their son (JF's godson) Theophile. They took a 4-hour train ride all the way from Paris just so they could be in Brive for our 45 minute church ceremony and then take the train back to Paris immediately after that again because the couldn't stay for the night. MERCI! On est tres touche.
A funny wedding moment - After the church ceremony, Rita Ee quickly hopped into the car and did an amazing quick change act! She was wearing an amazingly beautiful cocktail dress. It was SO GLAM and I loved it. I mean WEDDINGS ARE SUPPOSED to be GLAM right?? That's the whole point! (Apparently SOME people failed to realise this and turned up wearing sneakers and flip flops!)
Rita Ee felt so "paiseh" bcos the French guests were not as glamourously dressed, so she changed into a "lesser" dress. Though I think it's just as gorgeous.
The Lee Family contingent (Chek Lye and Aunty Maude were wandering around somewhere, Wee Keong was taking the pic)
From left to right: Uncle Pat, Melina, The Bride, Mummy, Kristian, Rita Ee, Daddy, Wendy & Mark,
Daddy escorting two lovely ladies down the aisle in chruch
With my real brother Markie
With my other brother and BFF Wee Keong
No wedding is complete without kiddies (or ducklings as Wee Keong calls them) scampering around! These are JF's cousins' kids - Pierre, brothers Paul and Martin, Remy in the center and the captivating little blonde Julie, who serenaded us with her cover of La Vie en Rose during the dinner!
My chic Mum
With Hugues parents, Joel and Annie Martel. They were so thoughtful to ask Hugues to send them Ang Pow packets so they could give us Ang Pows, which are a traditional Chinese wedding gift. MERCI!
Aunty Maude and Carla - Isn't she a babe in that cute lil pink cheongsam Aunty Maude got for her?
Champagne, champagne for everyone! Aunty Maude and JF's mum, Madeleine getting sozzled!
Us looking on in horror at our choux mountain...errr...wedding cake.
Funny thing is, the first time I went to a French wedding, it was Hugues sister's wedding. During then, the wait staff spent like 15 mins fiddling behind a screen as the DJ built excitement with increasingly loud music. (Think Final Countdown by 80's rocker band Europe!) Suddenly, the screens were flung open and there was this huge mountain of choux with fireworks sizzling away!!! I found it so amusing I laughed myself to tears then. GUESS IT CAME BACK AND BIT ME IN THE ASS COS THE SAME THING essentially occurred during our French wedding! Cake and fireworks anyone?!? Must be a French wedding throwback from the 80's or something.
I HAVE to say tho, the little custard filled, treacle covered choux were damn DELICIOUS!
With Jacques and Christiane Rogie, dear friends of JF's mum. Such a sweet and caring couple! The minute they heard we were getting married, they immediately booked their air tickets to Singapore to be with us for our Singapore wedding. Unfortunately, Jacques fell very ill at the end of Feb and the couldn't come. But we were so happy to see them at our wedding in France.
Around midnight, we all gathered outdoors to light and float our Thai wish lanterns. We got these in Bangkok. These rice paper lanterns are traditionally used during festivals in Northern Thailand. They work much like hot air balloons - lit at the base and released, bringing wishes of the people who float them up to the heavens. Here's a lovely pic of Melina and Kristian floating one. (Taken by William, JF's soon-to-be cousin-in-law who's a damn good lensman)
The next day, the local papers reported sightings of UFOs around the ulu French countryside. Irate farmers were quoted saying their free-range cows were so startled by the UFOs that they produced purple milk. Umm...yes...imagine that...hehe.
The Lovebirds
Ooooh....in case I forget, I've put our SINGAPORE WEDDING photos here in case any of you wanna see:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=9wfuk6d3.6oqrmo0j&x=0&y=-heg0dn
More about the trip and photos coming soon!
