France: Saturday, Sept 12

Slept in a bit later than usual. Charles went to mail some postcards and take a walk. When he came back we had lunch and then went out for a bit. We didn't stay out too long because we were expecting the arrival of my cousins for a large family dinner. I had never met any of them before to my knowledge. One by one, they started arriving. My uncle has six children

 currently ranging in age from their mid-40s to their mid-50s, some with children of their own. All but one was able to make it for the dinner. (My uncle surprised me with that fact, leading me to believe that perhaps only one or two would show up.) They live scattered around France and the one that did not make it lives in Germany. Her name is Amy and both her and her husband are doctors with a shared practice. Her husband Klaus had just suffered an injury of both a broken arm and broken thumb on the opposite hand. Amy was busy taking on his patients as well as her own and couldn't get away. They are also members of Doctors without Borders. 

I think the first cousin I met was Sylvie. As soon as she arrived, she started making two giant quiches and a huge salad. Slowly, the others arrived: Jean-Paul the oldest, Michel, Alain and Laurent. All but Laurent had children in tow. I was introduced to each one and their children as they arrived, kissing each person on both cheeks. This meeting had been awaited by both sides for a long time. Everyone immediately started working to get things organized for our dinner. The dining room table was expanded and augmented by another patio table brought indoors. Now I knew why they kept a lot of space around the dining room table. Throughout the house there was a flurry of activity.

We had some appetizers on the patio where I figured this was as good a chance as any to get a standing group shot of everyone. I took one with everyone, then kept paring down my subjects by family relation. First cousins, second cousins, separate families, etc. I'm always trying to archive in photographs.

By the time we sat down to dinner, there were 20 people at the table. The dinner was simple: a large green salad and vegetable quiches followed by a platter of 6 different cheeses, plenty of different wines and topped off with chocolate cake (with and without nuts). The point was not necessarily the complexity of the meal as much as the variety of the company. My uncle was slightly concerned that I would be overwhelmed by it all, but I told him that this was exactly what I had expected and, in fact, hoped for: a giant table filled with most of my cousins talking, laughing, eating and generally making a bit of a ruckus. He would look over at me from time to time at dinner, but as he saw me beaming and smiling at the scene of it all, he knew I was content and completely fine with it all. I tried to keep up with the conversations and translate here and there for Charles. Luckily, many of them knew a little English here and there. 

They were all so welcoming and made us feel at home, as if we'd known each other for years. The men opposite Charles were arguing over what wine they should pour for Charles to sample next. I wanted to get a group photo of all of us at the table. As Charles set the timer for me, everyone looked at the camera and they were all whooping and shouting for him to make it back to the table in time for the photo. At one point, a sub-family argument broke out between Michel and his daughter. Not completely understanding what it was all about (although it did not seem very serious), Charles (with a few glasses of wine in him) began to shout and pound his fist on the table as if to join in the commotion. This made everyone laugh and it was explained to us that it was really just a discussion of my second cousin's teen troubles.

After dinner, we adjourned to the patio where after-dinner conversations continued. It was difficult to get to talk to everyone, but at least I talked with a few different cousins trying to get to know what I could of them in one short night. Coffee, chocolate and cigarettes made the rounds as we talked late into the night. I discovered that Michel is a musician; a guitarist and singer, who is something of a free spirit. He was there with his German girlfriend and daughter. I talked with Sylvie's husband, Fred who told us about the years he spent as an olive farmer before he had to give up the farm due to two years of no crops. Now he works in the insurance industry. Their son also works with him, but also does a great deal of kitesurfing as well.

It was already getting late. My cousins had rented a few cabins at a nearby campground. They invited us to visit the next day for lunch. Since we had just barely started to get to know each other, I was glad of this invite and that our meeting was not completely over. One by one, I kissed them goodnight discovering that the southerners kiss three times, not just two. 

Charles and I retired to our bedroom where Charles commented how he wasn't sure just how he was going to describe this dinner with my cousins to his friends back home. Charles thought his own Irish-Italian family was a boisterous bunch, that is, until he met my cousins. It was certainly a memorable evening to say the least.