Day 7: What a Wedding + Goodbye Paris

Our final day in Paris was of course the highlight of our trip. Our friend Joyce was getting married, we were thrilled for her and her fiancé Gilles, and of course, it was quite the wedding. The ceremony took place at Our Lady of Lebanon of Paris Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Liban de Paris). It had been build in 1893-94, and naturally featured high domed ceilings with stained glass windows. I failed to take a picture of the space (as I was more interested in the people), but snagged a shot below from the internet. The wedding took place in no less than three languages, and the bride, of course, was absolutely gorgeous. 

(Source: Wikipedia)

After the ceremony was complete, we took a coach bus to the reception. It was interesting along the way to see some of the neighbourhoods that Ian and I had explored on foot. We'd previously compared ourselves to gophers, popping up out of subway stations, getting our bearings, and then making our way above ground. It was interesting to get a different perspective of the same areas, and a better understanding of how they all connected (outside of coloured lines and station dots on a map). 

The reception took place at The Westin Paris - Vendôme, and, wow. Just wow. It felt like the kind of building that Ian and I had been paying entrance fees to visit on our trip, and turns out, that was not far off at all. It had been build in 1873 by Henri Blondel, the son-in-law of Charles Garnier (who built Opera Garnier). Designed to be the most luxurious hotel in Paris, it took up a full city block and was the largest hotel in Paris for many decades. 

The bride and groom made a spectacular entrance with surprise fireworks (which not even the bride had known about), a live drummer, and a live singer. The dance floor opened before the first dance took place as Joyce and Gilles invited everyone to join their grand entrance. The meal was delicious, bread plates were refilled the moment they were emptied (okay, I may have been a bit obsessed with this level of hospitality), and much laughter and dancing was had. 

This would be our last night in Paris, before departing on a trail to London the next morning, and then onward from there to Edinburgh. A few things of Paris to note that did not end up in earlier posts: 

1) I did indeed see two cats! That's it. That's all. Many dogs, but the cats were lacking despite our travels across the city. And the first one I saw wouldn't even deign to look at me. 

2) Of course I ate baguettes and delicious cheese. On more than one occasion delicious baguettes turned into sandwiches were for lunch, and every morning the hotel we stayed at had a delightful selection of cheese, meat, and croissants to start me off on a delicious day. 

3) I started noticing these little tiled pixilated images in our neighbourhood in Paris, and it wasn't long before Ian and I were spotting them around the city. Searching online I found that the trend of creating this art was popularized in the 1990s by a French street artist named Invader. However, I don't know if any of these are Invader's work, if they are meant to be related, or just individual and delightful little works of art.