The wedding

So after my late night landing from London Saturday found me like a bear with a sore head trying to make sure everything wes ready for the wedding. My poor wife and kids ! Still they cope very well. Pat took the kids to their club - the last one before the Griffins leave - and then we got ready and drove off to the Chateau-hotel in Martillac.

It was a beautiful setting. We found the room, fiddled with the chairs, chatted with the fiddler, promised to make signs to him when he was to play (I forgot, of course). Then came the time for the wedding. Stephane and Caroline were a lovely couple and the French and Brazilian folk were neck and neck for elegance and charm. We Brits didn't even try - we played the eccentric card by wearing hats in the hot sun.

Following the wedding there were cocktails and grills on the terrace. Beautiful little cuts of beef, chicken, duck, pork and salmon. Salads of melon and cucumber. Canapés of smoked salmon and foie gras.

I was a bit stressed out during the day because I had never seen anything in writing to do with the wedding. My memory is dodgy for practical things so I love it when there's emails to check or letters to look at. I managed to sow doubt in my own mind about the start time of the wedding, but Pat pointed out that if it had started earlier than 5pm they would have phoned to see where I was, and if it started later then we'd be there ready anyway !

My vagueness also caused a bit of doubt about whether we were invited to the meal. (Poor Pat) We had already said goodbye to the violinist. I told Pat to sneak in and look at the tables, but she couldn't see any names. Then we both went in and I found a seating plan which had our names on it. So we returned to talking with the other guests.

The diner was delicious. A granita to begin, which was very welcome, then duck, then cheese, then various desserts that were built up into a pièce montée and cut by the bride and groom. we left just after midnight, planning to eat with Stephane and Caroline in a few weeks' time. I'll pop on some photos of the wedding.

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