un baptême à paris

The next day, the house was aflutter with preparations for Jude's baptism.  The Murrays were amazing - they chopped, rolled, baked, sliced, diced, and lugged...all somehow while occupying Aoife and Jude, while Tim and I ran final errands and met with Father Jean Louis, the very man who married us nearly a decade ago, in preparation for the event.  He was kind enough to give us a personal tour of his fascinating parish, the Sainte Marguerite (17th century) of the 11th arrondissement.  It was interesting to see this church through his eyes, and we felt lucky to spend time with him.

Afterwards, Jean-Louis insisted on taking us to his favorite market, the nearby Marché Aligre in the 12th arrondissement.  We followed him around - a local celebrity of sorts, he was stopped and greeted every ten paces by people from the neighborhood - while he bought what seemed to us like the perfect shopping list (a crab, artichokes, fresh figs).  

I now in turn insist that you visit the market (and its neighborhood) if you find yourself in Paris.  It's a terrific mess, the real deal - shouting vendors, wheeling shopping bags, braided scent streams of cool, salty oysters, perfume-y clementines, and buttery croissants...I daresay you need a memory of it in your mind.

On Sunday, another gorgeous autumn day, our Jude was baptized in an engaging ceremony led by Jean-Louis in the Ste. Marguerite.  We were well surrounded by long-missed friends and relatives.  It was particularly poignant to watch (godfather) Stéphane, who grew up with Tim and whose childhood personnage I had heard about endlessly back in Mali, share his thoughts with Jude...and then to hear (godmother) Lis' message, which traveled over an ocean to be spoken aloud in an old Paris church with none other than Debbie's voice.  (Yes!  Debbie, Andy, and Libby were in town, but more on that in another post...)

We only wish that the now-far-away friends and family could have been there.  Such is the plight of the family spread across two continents, I suppose.  Regardless of the setting, a piece of the heart always longs.

Many, many thanks to the talented Églantine for capturing the event with these photos...

Simone!  The robe was perfect.