My son called me recently to ask why I haven’t posted any new travel blogs. The truth is that we are in the middle of moving to Jamaica. My partner, Patrick, likes to be mum on the subject, afraid that talking about it might jinx the process. It’s a good thing he doesn’t read my blogs.

One of the snarkier comments I used to make to my colleagues back while I was still teaching public middle school was, “Be nice to crazy, because you don’t want crazy to come back and kill you.”

Of course, it pays to be nice to all of your students. I have had the great good fortune to have developed friendly relationships with several of my former students over the years and luckily, no one ever tried to kill me.

I was especially lucky to have received an invitation from a former student to attend her 3-day wedding at a castle in the countryside of France outside of Paris.

Iza Feyeux’s extended family live in France, so it is no surprise that she chose it to be the destination for her wedding. Iza was on my yearbook staff once upon a time and I had taught her sister, Emmy, before I met her. Their mother, Angela, would eventually become a very close friend of mine.

My partner was on board to attend. (Who wouldn’t be?) Patrick and I met up with Iza’s mom and her companion, Randy, in Paris and thus began our adventure two days ahead of the wedding - sight-seeing, eating and shopping our way through Paris. It was my first time there and I was initially struck by how much it reminded me of New York City.

Our first meal in Paris was eaten at L’Europeen across from our hotel and conveniently located near the train station. The Courtyard by Marriott Paris Gare de Lyon was modern and accommodating and had a view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room window. A sweet welcome. The pistachio creme brûlée for dessert was amazing.

To get to the wedding venue we took a train from the Gare de Lyon train station to a small town called Dijon, a Unesco World Heritage site, the capital city of the historical Burgundy region of eastern France and home of some tasty mustard. The train was comfortable, on time and not terribly expensive. (We reserved our seats on the train ahead of time.)

From the train station, we had a car take us to the castle at Barbirey-sur-Ouche, a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Iza was able to set that up for us. It is not the kind of commune you might be thinking of, more like a farming cooperative.

Our room was in a very old building overlooking the castle and the amazing gardens surrounding it. The farmhouse kitchen in the castle grew most of the vegetables that were being served to its guests. The food was fresh, rustic and delicious!

Iza and Peter’s friends (some of whom I knew from Montclair) were all very interesting and friendly and gracious. It always surprises me when 30 somethings can afford the things that I could not at their age. Destination weddings themselves are a relatively new phenomenon in my world. I love the idea; I just wonder how many people must send their regrets because the cost of traveling is prohibitive to them.

In any case, I would have begged, borrowed or stolen the money for this trip! In fact, I saved enough to be able to return to Paris after the wedding before continuing onto to Italy. I always figure that if I’m in Europe, I should see as much as possible.