The Parisian Engagement

In Paris on 12 April 2011, the Consultant made me an offer of spending a lifetime together and it was simply too good to refuse. So I (presumably, he is too) am now happily engaged and am very much looking forward to being married to him within this year!

Most people know this since we both updated our Facebook relationship status’ and I have continuously been Facebook-updating about this. If you weren’t aware until now, you were probably 1) dead; 2) too busy checking your Facebook followers; or 3) too busy in the offline world (i.e. with real life, doing real things) to notice.

For those of you who are curious to know how it happened, I will have to admit that it was not entirely a surprise as this is a topic that has been discussed for some time between he and I. However, the moment and location was an unexpected delight.



Day 1: Enjoying le View from le Bateau sur la Seine.

We arrived in Paris Gare du Nord on Monday 11 April 2011 and as we had both been frantically rushing to complete our work prior to taking holiday, we had nothing planned ahead of time save for the Eurostar tickets, hotel and a booking for the show “Désirs” at the Crazy Horse Cabaret. In atypical fashion, our arrival was punctuated by getting lost and a lot of wandering around not knowing where we were going. We did however have a lovely afternoon boat trip on the Seine River which I would recommend to anyone who is going to Paris for the first time.

Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I am, to put it lightly, a control freak about organising every single stop of my journey somewhere. Therefore, for our second day in Paris, we planned our day’s itinerary taking into account the gorgeous sunshine peeking in through the hotel’s curtains, as follows: a simple breakfast near the Louvre, a leisurely stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries, a wander through the Louvre Museum, an afternoon snack at Le Crêperie Josselin in Montparnasse (reputedly one of Paris’ best crêperies), then back to the hotel to get ready for the dinner and show at the Crazy Horse.

So off we went and of course... nothing went as we had originally planned.

First off, breakfast was nowhere to be found in the form of coffee and croissants. Not that this was a real issue because we ended up eating at Le Nôtre on Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The Consultant had an excellent tomato and mozzarella tart and my ‘salade farandole’ consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan cheese shavings and marinated artichokes was satisfyingly delicious and light.



Additional note: Our waiter there was probably one of the best of all the waiters we encountered in Paris, which on the whole, stinks of crappy waiters. Sérieusement, Parisian restaurants have the worst waiters I have ever encountered, worldwide. They seem to just not care whether or not you are in their restaurant.

 At the Jardin des Tuileries, we sat and enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere for approximately 5 minutes before realizing we were both shivering in our sunglasses and winter jackets. Also, have you ever noticed how cold weather makes you need to urinate more often? So then it was time for toilet-hunting.

The temperature was cooler than we looked. How was this possible?

We discovered a discreet entrance from the Jardin des Tuileries into the Carousel du Louvre which led to 1) me queueing for a posh bathroom for 5 minutes, 2) paying €2 for usage thereof, AND then 3) some crazy French woman totally cut the queue as I finally got to the front after 5 minutes! Rude! Ça ne marche pas du tout!

Did you know that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays? We found out while we were THERE on that Tuesday. An admittedly negligent oversight on my part.



The chocolate tart and éclair from Maison du Chocolat (inside Carousel du Louvre) together with my Yellow Moment of pretending to touch le Pyramide did make our journey to the Louvre worthwhile afterall.

 After navigating the map of le Métro and Googlemaps on his Blackberry, we eventually managed to find le Crêperie Josselin in Montparnasse around 3pm. Note to self for future reference, it is closed between lunchtime and dinnertime!

To console myself about the lack of supposedly awesome crêpes, we decided to check out the Cimentière Montparnasse (Montparnasse Cemetary) where I incorrectly recalled that famous figures such as Jim Morrison (of The Doors) and Voltaire were buried. We did see the grave of Jean-Paul Sartre as well as Simone de Beauvoir and were heading to check out the gravestones of noted authors Joseph Kessel and Samuel Beckett when the bells tolled and we were kicked out due to closing hours.

I hope they're resting in peace. Especially after I disturbed them with the click of my Blackberry's camera function.

Our second day in Paris was simply not going according to Miss Banana Nomad’s planned itinerary. I ended up in a total huff despite temporarily being distracted by an extremely savoury hot-dog and melted cheese baguette with a glass of apple cider at a tiny café whose name I’ve forgotten. Oh, and a bolognaise crêpe.

Do not be fooled by the wide smile. I was beyond unimpressed with Paris at this point.

We headed back towards the hotel as I was simply fed up with encountering closed places and just wanted to relax. This relaxation apparently manifested itself in a stream of complaints interjected by moody silences. The Consultant was doing his best to cheer me up and keep me feeling the enthusiasm of being on holiday. Eventually at some point during our conversation, he produced a small brown box to evidence his commitment to always cheer me up whenever I was feeling sad or annoyed.

I stared at this box he had placed in my hand, unopened, until he asked “Well, aren’t you going to open it?”

I opened it and continued to stare silently at its’ contents like a mute person, until he asked, “So? Will you marry me?”

Naturally I threw my arms around him as I screeched a high-pitched “YES”!!!

So there is the story. No bending down on one knee or any tears, just non-stop smiling, hugging and kissing (also champagne... at least until midnight, anyway).

Now that the battle to tame him into submission has been won (just kidding, my lovely Consultant) my next foreseeable battle is with the UK Home Office (the authorities responsible for approving my fiancée and spousal visas). It is a very busy time as I prepare to move back to the U.K. permanently as well as plan our wedding arrangements. So many things to do and write about, and so little time!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned <3