I‘ve just returned from a fantastic wedding in Normandy, France for which Alex, my York Place Films compatriot and I were creating the wedding film. From the moment we arrived we knew it was going to be very special, and having never been to that area of France before I was blown away by what a beautiful place it is.
Destination weddings are always fun, but it’s particularly special when the bride and groom have a genuine connection with the area they’re getting married, and in this case we found ourselves in the town where the bride’s grandparents lived enjoying a pre-wedding garden party in their beautiful 17th century chateau. It was a beautiful house full of history and character and had been the planned venue for the wedding itself until logistics got in the way, though I have to say the alternative venue they found (a 17th Century thatched roof barn) was, if anything, even more spectacular! But still, this was not jut a wedding somewhere sunny, it was a place that had incredible memories for the bride and her family, memories gathered over years of visiting this magical place for holidays and family visits. It was also a place that was easy enough to get to for all their friends and family, being just a quick trip through the channel tunnel away for most, and so the place was filled with their incredible guests, and a friendlier bunch you couldn’t hope to meet. All in all the whole wedding was just perfect and the setting magnificent, a perfect advert for choosing to hold your wedding abroad. There was one detail though that clearly hadn’t been thought about in choosing France as their location…
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Why is it that no-one in Europe knows how to make a decent cup of tea?? What’s with this jug of hot water and separate rubbish Lipton tea-bag malarkey? And how the heck did Lipton, get such a stranglehold on the European market in the first place when other tea manufacturers exist? It is my firm belief that all European countries should send their kids on an exchange program to Yorkshire to learn the art of making a proper cuppa and to taste proper Yorkshire Tea. Whilst we’re at it though we could probably send back some students to learn another language – an art I should apparently have paid far more attention to as it turns out…
For the last few days, in an effort to fit in, communicate and respect the local culture I’ve been using the odd word of French. It’s not a language I’ve ever learned so I was only going for the basics… “one of these please, thankyou, hello, goodbye… could I have a proper tea please, no not that Lipton crap, PROPER TEA!!” You know, just the key phrases. It wasn’t until after receiving more strange looks than even my measly attempts deserved that I realised the problem: I was in fact mostly speaking Spanish.
It seems that in the absence of words I truly understand I naturally revert to my nearest alternative: an alternative language that I also don’t really understand. Presumably my subconscious is working on the double negative principal that if both parties don’t understand what it is I’m blabbering on about then somehow it will work out to be a fluent conversation, possibly with a great deal of wit and humour thrown in on my part as a nice bonus. I’m not sure if this was truly achieved, although I did notice some of the staff at the Italian laughing and pointing at me from the kitchen. Apparently my Franglish attempt to pronounce Italian words was so perfectly delivered that I must have subconsciously thrown in a knock-knock joke that they found greatly amusing.
So what have I learnt from this trip? Well if you’re going to get married abroad make sure you bring a kettle and some of Yorkshire’s finest. Oh… and see if you can find a beautiful French Chateau and 17th Century barn in Spain apparently!
You see… helpful, common sense advice.
You’re welcome!
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