We had a slow morning because Géraldine came back home late from her university reunion (not High School as I had initially thought). However, by 11:15 am we headed toward the birthday party, which was to take place in a bistro owned by one of the cousins in a small town near Orléans. It was a big affair because Aunt Dany was celebrating her 75th birthday, and her husband Uncle Michel was celebrating his 80th birthday. This is Géraldine's mom side of the family, and just by chance when Maya and I were in France, in 2015, we had attended the Father's Day celebration with the same large family! There were lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandchildren, and many of them remembered me from 11 years ago and welcomed me warmly. They also remembered Maya, to whom they send many greetings.
Turns out there were 50 guests, plus the celebrating couple, and the voices of so many people chatting and laughing loudly in French was a sort of impromptu concert about French life.
After a suitable coming together time, out came the punch and the hors d'oeuvres and it became pretty apparent that the AC of the bistro was going to have to work extra hard to keep the temperature comfortable. The main dining area had been fitted with three long rows of tables, cleverly decorated with grape leaves and photographs of the celebrating couple from the time they were babies, through adolescence, courtship, and many years of happy marriage.
We then sat down for the first course. Me and Marcel sat together because I can understand much of what he says. This astounded Lucas, who tells me his grandfather speaks very fast. Maybe it is because we are both older and share a lot of the same ideas and concerns. The first course was fruit, salad, and a seafood and cream dish. Very yummy. Then came the main course of roasted piglet (a specialty of the area) with a side of roasted finger potatoes and zucchinis. I had a piece of the head, with an ear attached, and enjoyed it very much. Needless to say, there was good wine and lots of cool water to keep the party in good spirits.
Then Dany and Michel distributed presents, but in a very interesting way. They had looked carefully at the list of guests (me included), and had gotten a present to suit everyone's peculiarities. They then attached a clue to every present to indicate to who it belonged, and wrapped it in newspaper so there was no outside indication of the intended person. The presents were then distributed among the 52 people present, and everyone had to guess from the clue to whom it had to be delivered. For example, Marcel likes to go to the dances organized by the city on weekends, and has the reputation of being a good dancer, so he got a couple of CD's of tangos and other ballroom dancing music. Géraldine got a graphic novel about Finance Secrets because she works as a Finance Adviser. I got a mat of Orléans and a jar of the local specialty of chocolate-covered berries, on the clue of "having recently debarked in the region as a visitor". It was great fun and tested the knowledge the family had on each of its numerous members.
In very French fashion the next course was a big round of Brie cheese and another of the local firm cheese. I believe the idea is that a bit of cheese at the end helps with the digestion.
Then came the start of the birthday ceremony, with a game where Dany and Michel had to guess what the common denominator was between different people. For example, the lead of the game asked the crowd to look at clue number 5 (all grandparents), and stand up if it applied to you. Dany was really good at figuring things out, which gave the crowd an opportunity to rib Michel for letting Dany do all the work. Other clues included having a beard, or being over 50, or having been in Martinique, or being under 1.70 meters in height.
After much laughter came time for the cake, the blowing of the candles, and the singing of Happy Birthday, followed by photographs on the patio (it was hot!), and back to the inside to partake of cake and enjoy one last toast with champagne to the everlasting happiness of the celebrating couple. During the many hugs and kisses with which the family said goodbye, one of the aunts said to me “Goodbye Horacio. I will see you at the next family reunion.”
Altogether it was a 5-hour celebration, and after dropping Marcel off at his house in Orléans, we still had the drive to Paris, where we arrived around 9 pm, still with the sun shining and the heat shimmering off the streets. But what a good time we had!
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