Bon Anniversaire!!

 Happy birthday to me! So it was my birthday Friday the 5th, and everyone was super nice giving me cards and candy and singing to me. Paul came to Nogent and brought me some cards and put a candle in a super yummy piece of chocolate cake. 
  That night, a bunch of the students here wanted to go out to Paris. So we bought some champagne here and jumped on the metro into the city. We ended up sitting by the Canal St. Martin and sipping champagne for a while and listening to one of the guys play his harmonica. 

The girls- Maria, Florentina, me, Laura, Gundula, Annalena

the whole group with the boys-Paul, Romain, Benjeman, Michael

   On Saturday, Paul and I went with his dad to a wedding of a couple in the church in Paris. It was really interesting to be at the ceremony and meet a lot of french people at once. The ceremony was kind of long, but similar to an american one. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen or flower girls or anything. Just the couple up front with the pastor. We sang probably 4 or 5 hymns throughout, all but one in french. They said some vows and exchanged rings, and there was some other stuff after I didn't understand. They had already gone to be officially married, since here a pastor can't do it. After, we had a little to eat and a lot of wine. 

Just a sampling of the wine available

We hung out with this cute couple, Talia and Matt

      To end the festivities, Paul's grandma and some friends from England arrived Saturday night for a visit so we broke out the cake after a cheese fondue dinner. We had a chocolate chocolate cake and a bear shaped coffee cake. Then I opened all my wonderful presents. 

Unfortunately, when I blew out these candles, the chocolate crumbles went all over the table...

No! Don't cut off the bear's head!!