Making the “August Trip” to the United States has been
something that Benoit and I (and from what I learned, everyone else on the other
side of the Atlantic Ocean) have talked about for months. My bag was packed in about T-3 seconds for I
was so excited to make the “voyage” with Benoit on a much happier and different
occasion than the last time. It was the
first time that we would be traveling every leg of the trip together. All of the other trips to and from France
were unfortunately just simple visits that always ended in tears as did our
last trip in April. But this time
around, it was a whole different story…
We left our humble home (aka renovated tool shed) at 60 rue
du Coudray around 5:30am. Benoit’s
younger brother Tanneguy was nice enough to drive us to the train station in
order to catch our train to Paris. The
CDG airport was swarmed by vacationers of all nationalities running left and
right with suitcases and over-sized carts.
The line to check in wrapped around in front of the US Airways desk at
least 9 times. We only had two hours to
check our bags, get our tickets, wait in the customs line which is just as long
(yes, you have to go through customs in order to leave France as well), go
through security and finally board the plane.
PHEW! We made it! However, we had
to sit on the plane parked at the terminal for over 2 hours because the workers
in baggage “accidently” loaded luggage onto our plane from an incoming flight
from Italy. I’ll let you figure that one
out. So they had to unload ALL of the
luggage from cargo, recheck everything, and then finally reload our baggage…
All in all, the delay made us miss our connecting flight in
Philadelphia but did give us two free drinks on the plane! Although arriving a little later than
planned, the sight of my dad waiting for Benoit and I at the bottom of the
stairs in the airport will be a memory I will never forget. Exhausted, I collapsed into his arms and being
the Trach woman that I am, cried as my noes turned bright red. After blubbering like a baby, my future
husband and I were welcomed by a bottle of real French champagne that my Dad
had chilling in the trunk of his car!
That’s my Dad alright, always full of pleasant and extravagant surprises
J Needless to say, that was the first time I
ever “popped champagne” in a parking lot!
Thursday and Friday were busy days looking for just the
right wedding venue. My Dad had
graciously taken those 2 days off from work in order to join in the
search. Thursday, Willow Room. It was nice, but a little bit too modern, a
little but too much and too American for Benoit and I (specifically
Benoit). The next day, we finally made
it to the long anticipated appointment at the Summit Inn. It had been a long time since my Mom and I
had spoken about how wonderful it would be to have an elegant wedding reception
at this mountain inn. Unfortunately, the
wedding coordinator was not Jennifer Lopez (ref. The Wedding Planner) in any
way whatsoever, leaving us unsure and confused to the point where we had to
drink a mimosa at 9am. Friday afternoon,
still feeling somewhat disappointed in the Summit Inn, we were off the visit
the Greensburg Country Club. Without
hesitation and further ado, that was the place.
So my dear family and friends, Benoit and I will officially be
celebrating our lifetime unity in marriage (holy poop!) at the Greensburg
Country Club on Thursday, April 25, 2013. (Look for my information on the
Wedding website: http://LauraBenoit.ourwedding.com)
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| First stop : The Willow Room |
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| Willow Room : beautiful room; however, Benoit and I found it not to be our kind of style (a little too overwhelming) |
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| Second stop : The Summit Inn |
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| The Summit Inn : charming, but didn't get "the feel" from this one |
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| The Summit Inn : again, beautiful room, but not the one for us! |
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| Feeling somewhat disappointed due to our previous high expectations, we opted for a 10am mimosa on the terrace to clear our heads. |
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| Greensburg Country Club. What's the verdict Benoit? We'll take it! :) |
Saturday. The
Barbeque. What a sincerely lovely time
had by all, except for the roasted pig…poor guy. Benoit and I both were so touched and honored
to have so many of your friends and family gathered to welcome us home. I was so happy to see everyone and have the
opportunity to spend at least a few meaningful moments with the people I care
about most during the short time that I was home.
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| Benoit learning how to play backyard corn hole. |
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| Yes, Benoit that is a hole pig. |
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| It's not a pig roast without the apple! |
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| The winners! |
Sunday. American
brunch after a long day of drinking, playing games, and eating barbequed pig. Much deserved. I can assure you that this time, Benoit was
able to finish all of his bacon, unlike the last time.
Monday, my Dad, Benoit, Melissa, and I were scheduled for
ballroom dancing lessons.
FRENCH WEDDING FACT:
The first dance to start off the dancing part of the reception after
dinner is NOT a slow dance by the married couple. It is a Viennese Waltz danced by my Dad and
I. After everyone has finished their
dessert, the Viennese Waltz of our choice invites my Dad and I to take the
dance floor. During the first song, the
floor is ours. The dance is followed by
a second waltz where the groom and his mother join in. This is a very special
and awaited moment by many guests. This
dance signifies in a way the “handing over of the bride.” During the second song, the father is to give
his daughter to her husband to dance with and then he is left to invite the
groom’s mother to dance. A third waltz
follows where the married couple continues to dance joined my both sets of
parents and eventually the rest of the wedding guests.
My Dad has chosen Melissa, my maid of honor, to be his dance
partner J
In between all of the entertaining and running around, Benoit, my Dad, and I were able to find a few moments to share in the joy of French wining and dining in the comfort of our own backyard.
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| Gotta love that 2005 Bordeaux Saint-Emillion accompanied with barbecue ribs. |
Tuesday and Wednesday were WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING DAY! On the menu: Exquisite Bride, MB Bride,
Sister’s II, and McKaysha’s. Like every
bride, I was waiting for that overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness
accompanied by tears of some kind of strange emotion whenever I found The
Dress. I am very blessed to say that I
had that feeling twice. With both of my
dresses, my Mom’s and my own. On
Tuesday, something very moving and magical happened. After having some luck at Exquisite Bride but
finally not buying anything because they were a little bit out (what I call)
“Daddy’s price range” even though we perfectly all know (without trying to
sound bratty) that my Dad would probably buy me any dress that I wanted; we
were off to MB Bride.
NOTE: First time in
my life that I spent the majority of the day half-naked and putting hundreds of
dollars in material on my body (sounds so glamorous right?)
At MB Bride, we were greeted by a bridal consultant as
before, and invited to pick out some dresses to start. Found some I liked, found some that I
didn’t. After about the 8th
dress, Molly and I said Stop, let’s give Mom’s dress another try-on. Before I knew, I was once again on cloud 9 in
my Mom’s wedding dress in front of the three tiered full-length mirrors. Silence in the store. Our bridal consultant was so moved by the
beauty of this dress that she called all of her fellow colleagues to join in
this moment. And there, standing on the
podium in my mother’s wedding dress, I began to tell my story…
Needless to say, it was there at MB Bride where I found the
perfect veil. Thank you Molly. I honestly could not have picture my “quest
for the dress” more wonderful, more magical.
It was perfect. And yes, she was
there too J.
So while Molly and I were out on the town shopping for wedding dresses, and my Dad at the office in Pittsburgh, here is how Benoit spent his days...
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| Benoit : Can we cook it up and eat it? Dad : Umm...I don't think so Benoit. |
Tuesday evening was also cake tasting day! My Aunt Karen was in charge of this wedding
task (thank you so much mom for distributing “the work” for the wedding amongst
so many loving and caring members of the family and friends—Dad and I still
marvel over the fact about how organized you left things here, it’s
incredible). She chose Pastor’s Bakery
in downtown Greensburg and I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many venues
this “master baker” works with.
Obviously, it would not be the first time he would bake a cake for a
wedding at the Greensburg Country Club.
I am glad.
Now, our cake tasting adventure was obviously a brand new
concept for Benoit for two reasons: 1) At French weddings, there is no large,
oversizer, 7 layer cake. Everyone,
receives the same individual dessert displayed on the menu at the end of the
meal. 2) Benoît strongly dislikes
America’s version of “le gateau”. He
says that he finds it extremely processed, way too sweet, and strangely
spongy. Which is true. However, like a true sport, he supported this
bizarre American tradition and agreed to taste every flavor of cake, filling,
and icing in order to find the perfect combination for our wedding that would
agree with both French AND American palettes.
I have to admit that although my tastes buds have changed ever since I
moved to France, they are not as well developed as Benoit’s. Therefore, he had the final call: white cake,
chocolate mousse filling, and butter cream icing. Not bad, Benoit, not bad at all J
By this time, the trip was going way too fast for both
Benoît and I. We both admit that this
vacation to the United States was one of the best vacations that we have ever
taken individually or together (except for maybe that romantic trip to Venice,
Italy we took together 2 summers ago—that was also quite lovely he he no
comment). Thursday afternoon, thanks to
Mrs. Knox (thank you so much again!!!), we had 8 tickets in the best seats of
the house: first two center rows behind home plate (lunch at the Lexus Club
included). It was definitely the most
VIP experience that either Benoît or I have ever had. Obviously, we gave Benoît the TV seat and
throughout the game, I received so many text messages with people saying that
they saw Benoit on TV! …and my right arm!
Too bad it wasn’t my left to show off my ring J
There at the game, Benoit had his first American hot dog,
soft pretzel (and yes he even tried the runny yellow nacho cheese), and box of
cracker jacks. He also was extremely
amused about the fact that he could throw is peanut shells on the ground! “Are you sure I can do this?” he asked
quietly. “Benoit, please. This is AMERICA! Land of the free!”
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| Lexus Club before the game. |
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| Pretty much sums up the how much Benoit enjoyed and embraced his first baseball game. |
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| Yay brother you finally made it and officially announced as Benoit's Best Man! :) |
Friday morning was spent recuperating from the day and the
night. We were scheduled to take Benoit
to Kennywood that day; however, luckily the rain gave us a few extra hours to
sleep and “get back to our normal selves” so to speak. We went to lunch at Rock Bottom, where Aaron,
my Dad, Benoit and I all enjoyed a good ‘ol American burger. Fortunately, the rain stopped around 3pm and
we were free to spend the rest of the afternoon at Kennywood Park where the
rain had scared away many vacationers and played to our favor. Most of the family was there at the park that
day as well because Andrew and Kara were both playing in the parade with the
Hempfield band while Bethany was performing with the Pine Richland dance
team.
It was a fun, but somewhat tiring afternoon; especially
carrying around an enormous chili pepper, neon green snake, and huge
rasta-penguin that Benoit, Aaron, my aunt Renée, and I won at the ping-pong
toss. It was certainly a challenge to
get “everyone” home in the KIA…
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| I am so lucky to have these three wonderful men in my life :) |
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| Go Benoit! |
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| On the Racers! |
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| Benoit and his giant pepper...Benoit! Try and behave yourself! |
SATURDAY. THE
BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE PARTIES. Although
it may not be so much of a big deal in the traditional French cultures
(although these types of events are becoming more and more popular in the
younger generations due to something called the “Americanization of Europe”),
bachelor and bachelorette parties in America are pretty big thing. Why is that?
Are we celebrating that one last night of so-called “freedom”? Are we celebrating the fact that he or she
found someone to spend the rest of his or her life with? Is it to give the bachelor or bachelorette
one last chance to “let go” as an individual before he or she must provide for
his or her significant other, and eventually a family? Maybe it’s “yes” to all of the above. In my case, I would say that we were
celebrating the “Thank God I found him and I plan to hold on to this one but I
am going to party it up with my girls anyway.”
Here I would like to dedicate a special thank you to my
cousin, maid of honor, and one of my best friends. Melissa, thank you so much for making my
bachelorette party the classiest and honestly the best time I have ever had
going out. The time we picked out the
bridesmaid’s dresses to the 4am domino’s pizza delivery to our 5-star hotel
room, I had THE TIME OF MY LIFE. Thank
you from the bottom of my heart. You are
the best. I love you so much.
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| At the William Penn Hotel, Melissa you're crazy and the best maid of honor ever!!! |
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| And to make the night ever more special, a surprise wine and cheese platter was sent up to the room! |
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| In the lobby heading out for a wonderful and unforgettable night! |
Like every good bridesmaid, Melissa made sure that my bachelorette party would be in good taste. Five-star hotel, champagne bar with all of the most important women in my life, fully equipped party bus, girly drinks, and dancing. "Any restrictions?" she asked on the phone a night before I came home in August. "Yes, just one. Please, no male strippers...."
And just like Melissa, she pulled some strings and yes, hired a transvestite for her cousin's bachelorette party...haha...but it was perfect and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
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| Oh Benoit, you were on all of our hearts that night :) |
She was there when I woke up that morning (still in my party dress from the night before) singing what she would always sing to get me out of bed, "Good morning, good morning! You slept the whole night through. Good morning, good morning to you!. Seeing that we were all dragging a bit the next day after a late night of partying, she chose the first reading at church that morning, "Do not let the wine lead to debauchery..."when she saw that I didn't quite make it that day. She was there when I put on my light blue dress that she made for my 23rd birthday.
She was there when Grandma pinned the corsage onto my sweater and when I opened up that sexy red nightgown (thanks again Aunt Veronica ;) -- Benoit also says "merci beaucoup!").
She was there with all of the correct responses when we were playing the games because she is the one that new me best :) She too had a piece of the "non-traditional" chocolate bridal shower cake and loved it!
