Weddings French Style!

We've been privileged to witness some interesting wedding celebrations and customs whilst living in France.
One Saturday the Salle Polyvente, which is just across the field from our house, had its foyer filled with balloons, obviously in preparation for a wedding party...

Each balloon had a message attached..

We heard the sounding of car horns as the wedding party made its way to the reception. This is common in France: the sound of the horns often being accompanied by slower speeds as the wedding convoy winds its way to the venue. The sounding of horns is at its loudest and most insistent in the final few metres.

On the day in question we saw the convoy of cars but unfortunately we missed the sight of the balloons being released!

I would love to know if any of them were returned to the couple with their stories attached!

Another 'custom' we've noticed is that of having tables set out with wine to toast the couple with a glass or two as they leave the church ceremony. We saw this in Richelieu in Les Halles, across the square from the church.

A crowd gathered outside the church as the marriage ceremony came to a close.

And then as soon as the couple emerged from the church the children accompanied the bride as she ran across the square to Les Halles, to be joined by the rest of the party. Everyone was included in the celebrations

Oh I do love a good wedding!!!

Kitchen upgrade continued..

Back in August we blogged about our new sink and the perils of buying it. Last week it was installation time.. First job was disconnection of water and drain. The easy bit given the water was on flexible couplings and the waste pipe had not been glued!! Now large brown chipped double bowl and drainer sinks are NOT light... So improvisation was necessary to lift the sink from its base unit...

 

Yes we jacked it up at little at a time, freeing it from the base unit and Elizabeth then lifted it into the garden... only joking. We both only just managed to lift it to the ground and our sack truck took the strain to its current resting place just outside the garage.

So if you want a brown chipped very heavy sink ---- its yours if you collect it.

Installation of the new sink was a dream, the tap hole was drilled as were two small holes for the plug chains. The waste fittings and the tap fitted and the sink was then secured to the base unit.

The whole base unit was lifted into position and the water and waste connected.

We are delighted with the new sink and what a difference it has made to the kitchen...

Next the new worktops.. as I have never cut them before using a router it should be fun.. I have budgeted to buy an extra worktop... Watch this space.

You can't find a good builder anywhere these days

We kept telling our builder we wanted the fireplace on the inside... I think something went wrong in the translation!!!!

Photographed in Le Grand Pressigny - "Come on baby light my fire" if you can!!!

A fine pair of knockers.

NO door knockers !! We seem to photograph them everywhere we go. These are a couple of recent additions..

Not a lot to say about them; they are door knockers!!  Hope you like them...

The Château du Rivau - Stone Carvings

When we visited the Château du Rivau at the end of August I photographed a couple of the many stone carvings around the top of  the château.

The first one I can understand: a grumpy old man with a bunch of grapes. The carver could not have made him look more grumpy... although he has been through a lot in recent years.

The second is a mermaid. Why a mermaid? If there is an explanation please let me know on the comments. I am not sure whether there is some text under her left arm. At least she looks happier than the chap above....

The other surprising thing about these and the other carvings is that they survived at all. The Château had a major fire on Sunday 11th July 2010 and  it devastated the whole of the roof area where these are located. If you enlarge the photo below you can see some of the detail in the smaller photographs on the information board.

 

The restoration has been both rapid and well done and a credit to the Château owners.. As I said last time it is well worth a visit...

Things don't always go according to plan...

Some weeks back I posted about stone polishing and promised an update once the process was finished.

Five weeks of grinding, followed by a week of polishing and I was eagerly anticipating the result.

However, things don't always go according to plan and when I opened the container it was obvious something wasn't quite as it should be.

During the grinding stages there is always a lot of sludge to dispose of and it is vital that this is done thoroughly otherwise any residue will negate the polishing process. I had been very careful, therefore, to make sure this was the case.

 

However, what I hadn't bargained for was the hardness (or otherwise) of the pebbles I was polishing..

Amongst the harder pebbles were some which were a little softer in composition and this caused them to break up during the processing. The particles which broke off in effect acted in the same way any grinding residue would have done. So, instead of being able to show you beautifully polished pebbles like my previous ones...

These ones were for the most part dull and gritty...

It's a hard lesson to learn when you've waited the best part of six weeks to see the finished product but all is not lost! I will go back one stage; removing the damaged and weak pebbles and repeat the last of the grinding and then the final polishing stages. At that point I hope to be able to show you the finished 'gems'!

Please note: I did say "Hope"!!

Magic Roundabout 5

Just when you thought we had finished with the roundabouts, they are back!

This weeks is located on the D749 between Chatellerault and Chauvigny just on the outskirts of the delightful village of Bonnes.

The interesting feature of this one is the 'ball on a stick' in the middle constantly rotates! You certainly can't miss which village you are in!! We have been past in the dark and the lollipop lights up as well...

We are not sure what the summer theme is this year perhaps children's play - It looks pretty though...

Courtesy of Google street view you can see what it looks like in winter..

Bet you can't wait for next weeks!!