dimanche 6 avril 2008
Last Sunday, March 30th, we went to Toulon for Manon's baptism. The whole P. clan arrived in two cars around 11:20 am at Lucie and Nicolas's. I met Nicolas's parents and sister for the first 
time. At around noon, we went over to the church, which was finishing Sunday morning mass. I am surprised sometimes to find that some French people actually still go to church on a regular basis. Alain and I had had a difficult time deciding what to buy Manon for a baptism present. The traditional gifts- gold chain, cross, medallion, pendant, didn't really appeal to us. We spent a half a Saturday at the end of February going to about ten different jewelry stores, trying to decide what to buy. We finally saw some amber jewelry that we liked (Alain really likes amber). There were some pretty small pendant necklaces with different colored amber- I didn't even know there were different colors of amber, but apparently it can be yellow and green as well. The prices for jewelry are quite high in France, so I suggested we look on the internet. I found a white pearl necklace/bracelet/earring set on Ebay from China. I love pearls and thought it would be a good gift. We ordered it, and they said it would take 10-20 days to arrive. Well, the day before it still hadn't arrived, so we went back to the store and bought the amber flower-shaped pendant. The pearls arrived two days after. I guess we will keep them and give them to her later. They aren't the best quality- some defects. Ah well.
We waited for mass to end and for the beggars to disperse- that really annoys me when they are 
in the church at the back. We trooped in, only to be told that the ceremony begins outside the church. We went back out, the priest gave the introduction, then we followed him back in. The ceremony was relatively short- about 30 minutes I guess. I have never (to my knowledge) been to a baptism before, so it was interesting. Alain, the godfather or parrain held a candle. Manon got held over the basin and the water was poured on her- not just a little bit either- her head was quite soaked.
in the church at the back. We trooped in, only to be told that the ceremony begins outside the church. We went back out, the priest gave the introduction, then we followed him back in. The ceremony was relatively short- about 30 minutes I guess. I have never (to my knowledge) been to a baptism before, so it was interesting. Alain, the godfather or parrain held a candle. Manon got held over the basin and the water was poured on her- not just a little bit either- her head was quite soaked. Afterwards we went back to Lucie and Nicolas's for appetizers and a piece montee. The piece montee, like we had at our wedding, was wonderful. Only this time I was able to appreciate it more and had four small choux- cream filled caramel balls. At the end of the night of our wedding I was so exhausted I couldn't even eat the dessert.
Champagne was drunk and good times were had.
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1 commentaires:
Not only can I not believe people still go to church (especially Catholic church) but I find it ludicrous that anyone would have a child baptized in a Catholic church. I suppose no one reads the papers or watches the news; or if they dom they don't want to believe what they're seeing. I guess Americans aren't the only dummies in the world.