This is the story of my life so far: 68 years and counting.
Prequel: A Brief History of my Family in France
The story starts here
Previous episode: Part 58
In January 1979, I had finally decided to get married
I had taken me a long time to go against the will of my parents, but I finally decided to get married in January 1979.
Geneviève was not sure that I was serious this time, as I already asked her to marry me twice in 1974 and 1977, but I did not follow suit in both cases. However, she said yes.
She had already finished nursing school and was working as a replacement nurse in various hospitals in the Parisian region.
In 1978, I had moved from the Manoir de Lossulien to a house in Guipavas that I shared with the commissaire of the Georges Leygues, Antoine Leroy.
Antoine was a very good cook and knew how to get good food for a party ... or a wedding.
Initially, I wanted the wedding to take place on a Saturday, April 21st. However, I had not realized that it was the birth date of my father, who accused me to have chosen the date on purpose. So, I moved the wedding to a week later, April 28th.
April 28th 1979, we are getting married
Geneviève and myself had been visiting my uncle Étienne, a Jesuit priest and a brother of my father, who initially told us that he would be proceeding to the religious wedding. However, probably under pressure from my father, he later decided to not do it.
In France, there are two kinds of weddings: the civilian wedding at the town hall of the city, and the optional religious wedding at your place of worship. The civilian wedding must always take place before the religious wedding.
Of course, my parents did not come to my wedding.
I had invited my 10 brothers and sisters to the wedding.
Three of them were minors and were living with my parents, so they were forbidden to come.
Two others decided for personal reasons to not come, and I understood very well why.
So, those of my siblings that came were my sister Monique and my brothers Bruno, Antoine, Benoît and Grégoire.
My witness for both weddings was my colleague and friend Dominique.
I followed the tradition for Navy officers: civilian clothes for the civilian wedding and uniform with sword for the religious wedding.
Only close friends and some of my siblings came to the civilian wedding at the town hall in the morning. There were much more people at the church for the religious wedding, including most of the officers of the Georges Leygues in uniform with their swords.
They even did what is called a "voûte d'acier" (a steel vault) outside of the church at the end of the ceremony.
I don't have any picture from this, but it is something similar to this:
Voûte d'acier at a wedding of a French Navy officer
source
The reception after the religious wedding took place in the house that I was sharing with Antoine Leroy.
I believe the wedding only cost me less than 5,000 francs, that is approximatively US$1,000. Not a very expensive wedding.
Geneviève and myself, we left around midnight for three days of honeymoon in southern Brittany.
My next post in the French Navy was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a NATO exchange officer.
So, I had only two months after the wedding to sell my car, and to organize our move to Canada in July 1979.
Continue to Part 60
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Summary
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14
Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21
Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 - Part 26 - Part 27 - Part 28
Part 29 - Part 30 - Part 31 - Part 32 - Part 33 - Part 34 - Part 35
Part 36 - Part 37 - Part 38 - Part 39 - Part 40 - Part 41 - Part 42
Part 43 - Part 44 - Part 45 - Part 46 - Part 47 - Part 48 - Part 49
Part 50 - Part 51 - Part 52 - Part 53 - Part 54 - Part 55 - Part 56
Part 57 - Part 58
It is quite romantic. When I read your very first line it just came to my mind who knows after 40 years I will be telling something like this to my grandchildren living on Mars through advanced form of Hologram when I am visiting any other planet.
So finally you got to get married after proposing her two times before :p
You have a good memory and you did remember some important details.
This could be the prelude of you being in Canada lately.
Keep on steemin'
The Steel vault at the religious wedding, splendid stuff!
Your wife is a lucky woman, she gotta brave man.. n so are you, lucky" you got her" Stay blessed always have great togetherness Sir :)
Happy Wife, Happy Life.... Remember - the grass is not always greener on the other side. It's greener where you water it. #marriage
Well said
Incredible story, I love your story. Well done sire
Very good post.
Wow..great story...i appreciate this life....best of luck.....
your life story is very interesting to read
This kept me on the edge of my sit. Enjoyed every bit of it. Just has you've in the previous chapters you have delivered a masterpiece.
its amazingstory.
thank you for sharing your life story...
This Very good story, which is continuous. Thank you @vcelier. Greetings from Indonesia
Great story
Kisah yang sangat luar biasa, saya suka cerita anda..👍
More grace to you Sir. You will keep making tangible progress.
$1000.... maybe i should look forward to getting married soon... wish you more joy in your marriage
I'm sorry your parents acted that way towards you, but you did the right thing deciding your own destiny. It's still wonderful that you were able to share the day with 5 siblings. I look forward to hearing about your experience as a NATO officer.
an unforgettable history
You are lucky to marry the person you loved. It was obvious that three minor brothers won't come. And I think religious type weddings are the best. I loved the picture I mean if that's the way it's done in navy the I must admit it's awesome. Anyways incredible story dear. Blessings @vcelier
Just caught up with your story. Read the first episode today and will go back and read the other. Great story.
It's sad that your parents didn't come to your wedding, but I'm sure you are over it by now. It is one of those things that happen in life.
📘 pleasing & exuberant!
You're happy after your post.
I want to marry like your poster
Nice work 😊😊
Thanks for your story @vcelier
I'm looking forward to read your previous articles.
I'm sure they will be as interesting as this one!
Quite an interesting story .1979 was a long time man.
it is a pity that her parents and some of her siblings did not attend, I imagine that her absence hurt her a lot, I think that even though she felt a lot of love for her fiancee, the disagreement of her parents would also affect her a lot, I also got married in the April to be exact on the 19th, the date was going to be 22 but we had to advance it so that most of the guests who were in other cities could attend. the weddings of the armies are beautiful, all elegantly dressed, beautiful beautiful!
Please sir what is the significance having both weddings, isnt one enough?
In France, we have real separation between the State and the Church.
The State recognizes only one wedding: the civilian one.
So, yes, if you are not religious, one wedding is enough: the civilian wedding.
But if you are religious, you may also be wed at your church, to follow the prescriptions of your religion.
Im very grateful that you took time to reply my question
starting to like your story :) Followed and Upvote you!
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What this enormous happiness - to love and be to sweet one. Your post pleased me.I wish to blow off you large jackpot.Success and good day
I undearstand why you asked her for marriage not only one, as we know all first steps are the hardest .Additional to that , the right moment and the conditions is important too.Very romantique post I support you for one of best decisions you had take on the whole life in my opinion
What a wonderul story so romantic. I wish our wedding was as cheap as that! Im glad you finally got married - third times a charm :)
Wow! I love this story so much. YOU ARE SO BLESSED TO BE THE PERSON YOU ARE.
While we served for different countries, I can find parallels of my own life in the navy in nearly all of your posts. I would welcome you to visit my blog and discuss your experiences as they compare to mine. - @PatriotsChoice
Thanks for stopping by a recent post that I wrote. I wanted to stop by your blog and support you as well.
I really enjoyed learning about how your wedding ceremony. I can not imagine how hard it was to get married without the support of your parents. I commend for trusting your heart and following your own course in life.
Blessings!
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Please upvote my post @vcelier thanks