Recent happenings

Le 'Restaurant' Universitaire

Last Wednesday I went to the University canteen for the first time and it was a madhouse (well for a nervous English girl at least, but I think even the French brace themselves for the experience)! It didn’t help that I went at peak time – 12:30. Thankfully I was with some French girls who were happy to look out for me and explain how the system works. You go in and there are a range of names of dishes displayed on posters under different stand names, so you take a look at that on your way up and decide what you’d like to eat. This also tells you how many other items you can take (in terms of starters or desserts). When you get upstairs you can queue up at the stand of your choice, but some being more popular than others, and so increasing the time you wait.

There’s not really enough space to queue so you have to watch out for other people trying to get past, then after you’ve got your main meal on a tray, it’s a free-for-all to grab puddings or starters and get through the till, trying to hold your tray steady and not bump into other people!The till ladies work as fast as they can putting (pre-bought) meal tickets through the till and taking money for any soft drinks or extra bread that people are buying. Once through the till you take cutlery and a glass (for tap water) and more importantly, find somewhere to sit. People must end up waiting for their friends or wandering round the large seating area all the time, as it’s very easy to be split up (either through choice or otherwise!).

Un mariage français

Last weekend I went to a wedding in Lille. It was strange to be back as I hadn’t been there since a brief visit for New Year. It was my friends Laurence and Hugues who got married – Laurence was a teacher at one of the schools I worked in and I often spent time with her and her boyfriend-turned-fiancé during the year there. They’re also linked to the church I used to go to in Lille, so a number of my friends were invited to the wedding too. The wedding was a lot of fun.

At first I went to the Mairie (Town Hall) to see what happens there. The French are obligated to go to the Marie to legalise their marriage, and this has to be done before any kind of religious ceremony. There are a number of marriages every Saturday in quick succession and I managed to go into the wrong marriage ceremony! The couple I know were supposed to be in the ‘wedding hall’ at 11am. I went up to it and there were already people inside so I told the man outside I was there for Laurence and Hugues’ wedding and he said to go in. Except for the fact that when the town hall official asked the married couple to stand up it certainly wasn’t them! So I clapped and waited respectfully until the ceremony was finished and slipped out the back door hoping I hadn’t missed the one I was there to see.

Thankfully I hadn’t – they were just running behind on time and I found the group for my wedding in another smaller room waiting to go in to the bigger one. What was even weirder (and another reason for slipping out quickly and quietly) is that one of my students from Rennes was a guest in the ‘wrong’ marriage ceremony! All that way away, on the same weekend, at the same time! He didn’t see me so I surprised him in class today by saying that I knew where he was on Saturday!

(Outside the Town Hall)

Then there was the church service which was packed out with an overflow projection screen downstairs (there were around 300 guests). There were two pastors from different churches working together to do the ceremony and it went fairly well considering they both had traditions from their own denominations that they wanted to respect. It was an opportunity to share with many people who normally wouldn’t set foot inside a church and the preachy part was good.

Afterwards there was the ‘Vin d’honneur’ (roughly translates as ‘Honouring wine’). All the people from the service are invited to this. It’s basically a time when a selection of drinks and nibbles are served (both sweet and savoury) and people chat and have the opportunity to take pictures with the bride and groom. The nibbles were really lovely – a variety of hot and cold ones for the savoury and neat little French pastries and cakes for the sweet. I took some time to talk with my ex-colleagues from the school I used to work at with Laurence.

I took a break between the Vin d’honneur and the evening celebrations and went home with a family from Church for a bit which was nice. The evening meal included four courses plus coffee (starter (pictured left), main, cheese, dessert). It was delicious and the presentation was top notch! For the main course they came table-by-table with the food covered by one of those bell-shaped covers, they put all the plates on the table at once and then lifted them simultaneously! There was also the grand unveiling of the dessert (many cakes and sparklers!). We felt spoilt.

The French have entertainments between the courses organised by friends and family of the couple, and the entertainments at this wedding were very well done. I was sat with some people from church and we had a great time.

I’m sure there was something else I wanted to tell you about, but I don’t remember, so it’ll have to wait or be forgotten!

Have a good week,

Fiona x