To France and back

We headed to France for a quick weekend away to attend Kenan's sister, Ayşe's, wedding.

They live in Saint Claude which is about 60kms from Switzerland. The landscape as we flew over Switzerland towards Lyon was stunning with snow capped mountains which looked like fluffy milk floating between blocks of Swiss chocolate. And then flying over France where everything became green and lush. Saint Claude is beautiful and picturesque, surrounded by mountains which are covered in trees with autumn leaves.

The weather was beautiful and mild and the town was very green and lush. What is interesting about Saint Claude is that there are about 2,000 Turks living in this town of about 13,000. We were told that about 35 years ago one or two people from Yozgat in Turkey went there to work and since then many others from Yozgat have followed. Most of them are there for work and there are many Turkish restaurants and cafes. The groom's father told us that he lived there for 15 years without his family while he tried to establish a business and a life for the family there before bringing his wife and three children across about six years ago.

Saint Claude is really beautiful. In summer Europeans go there for walking and hiking in the surrounding mountains. I'd love to again and visit and see more of the town. I learnt that the town is famous for pipes and diamonds (yes, big ones!), not that I came across any myself, but apparently there are diamond factories there. In the town centre there is a large pipe and diamond, see the pic below.

I spent most of Saturday helping the bride prepare with her new sister-in-laws helping out. They helped her prepare her turban and makeup and then one of the sisters husbands came with his car all decked out in flowers and ribbon (and Turkish flag!) and drove the bride, groom, Kenan and myself around town for some pictures. From there it was back to the house to greet the visitors and family.

The wedding took place at the Turkish-France cultural centre that the Turks had built. The area contains some small Turkish shops, cafes, hall and mosque. The wedding reception was basic in order to cater for the 600+ people. It seemed more like a relaxed gathering than a wedding with kids of all ages running around the place and the three Turkish MC's talking too much and no one understanding a word of what they were saying. During the recent Bayram, one of the groom's uncles' passed away which meant that the plan for the wedding had to chang in that there was no dancing and not much music. There were some more low key songs that were sang, but certainly no dancing. The reception started from 4pm, which is apparently common in France and ended around 8.30pm. After the gift giving ceremony took place, where people come to the front of the room and present the bridge and groom with their gift of gold or money, we headed back to the sisters house and prepared supper for the guests. Turkish hospitality requires a lot preparation, food, tea and stamina in order to prepare all the food and eat lots of it too (even when you are full).

There were loads of great photo opportunities in Saint Claude which is why I would love to visit again and take photos in a different season. Below are just some of the lovely buildings with gorgeous flower boxes and shutters. There were also some interesting bridges around the town.