A Wedding in Provence, Part One

Photos by Patricia Relf Hanavan
1) The village of Vergons in High Provence, as seen from the peak of La Chamatte, the mountain overlooking the town.
2) "Sometimes Life acts like it's still living in Paris in the Twenties" (Tom Robbins). Louise and Michael S. played "La Vie en Rose" at the end of the mountain meadow ceremony, and everyone in the crowd spontaneously began to sing along, for chorus after chorus.
3) Walking back from the ceremony; the church was built in the 12th century.
4) Louise, Maureen and Emily try to epater le bourgeoisie, but there were no bourgeoisie to epater.
5) Fabien and I arm wrestling at dinner. There was no clear winner, many reverses, and our decision to place a live scorpion under each hand was vetoed by the rest of the party.
6) Prosper cuts a rug. He and Benoit both had that knack of making every partner-- Pat's shown here-- look magically graceful.
7) Dr. Xenia of Zurich and Dr. Bill of Kalamazoo. Another great dancer (I think she was a Heinlein character in a former life), all the women were jealous and all the men a little in love with her.
8) Beryl and David-- "The Two Bobs"-- here to represent the British Crown and confer with Michael S. I've always wanted a correspondent's summer suit like David's.
9) The back ridge, as seen from the top of La Chamatte. ... and my first experience of altitude sickness. I could walk 35-50 steps, then hit a wall, rest and repeat all the way to the top.