The One Where I Said YES in Paris!

I’ve been meaning to write this blog post (along with a few others) for a while now, but I have been so busy with other things, (you’ll understand why by the end of this post) I just haven’t had the time. But I’m here, I’m back and I’m ready to catch you up with what’s been happening these past 13 months and where my adventures have taken me!

Rewind to September 9th 2021. COVID restrictions had started to ease up and we had finally booked a trip to Paris to celebrate mine and Raj’s four year Anniversary! Paris will always be a special place to us, we have had so many amazing memories there (and I actually spent two years living and working there when I was eighteen - but that’s for another blog post).

We were SO excited to be going abroad. Yes, we had to wear face coverings on the Eurostar and yes we needed to make sure our COVID passports were valid, and of course we had to fill out the correct declaration forms that nobody ever checked - but we were finally going on our first international holiday since March 2020 and what better place to choose than Paris!

We got the Eurostar at 8am from London St. Pancras. I always like to get on an early train and sleep throughout the journey so we have more of the day to explore once we arrive. As soon as we got there we checked into our hotel (Le 123 Sébastopol - Astotel). We try to stay in a different area in Paris each time we visit and this location was a 20 minutes walk from Gare du Nord which was handy! The hotel is cinema and film themed with each room designed around a director or film and we had a lovely small balcony overlooking a park.

Once we checked out the room and dropped our bags off, we headed for a long walk through Paris exploring the local area and we walked along the river. 17,000 steps later we had visited Le Marais, Châtelet–Les Halles, The Louvre and had an ice cream on the banks of the Seine. We went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening and got the metro to Bastille and went to a Mexican restaurant/bar called La Fonderie. Here we drank cocktails and were entertained by an all rounder performer (he sang, played the piano and broke out into the occasional TAP DANCE!) It was great! Once it passed midnight, we were invited downstairs into ‘The Cave’ where there was a full-on band performing. There were only around ten seats for guests so we felt like we had stumbled across some kind of ‘secret gig’. A few more cocktails later, we were dancing and singing, our hearts were full and we were so grateful for the trip so far.

The next day we woke up with fuzzy brains, but that was nothing that a picnic breakfast at the Sacré Coeur couldn’t fix. We discovered a great patisserie in Montmartre which was recommended by a local to us - and we were not disappointed! In fact, we have been sure to go back again when we revisit Paris.

The views from the Sacré Coeur will never get old. The land in Montmartre stands eighty three metres high and is the highest point in Paris. The Eiffel tower can be seen in the distance and looks like a toy figure placed amongst the other buildings that make up the city of Paris.

The day was also our anniversary and we had decided to get each other a low budget gift to celebrate. My gift to Raj was an engraved padlock that we could leave somewhere in Paris. I knew they had banned people from leaving them on Pont des Arts (the love lock bridge) as they were weighing it down, so instead we found a perfect spot at the Sacré Coeur with the Eiffel tower in the distance.

We went back to the hotel, got ready for dinner and packed some champagne for our planned champagne picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower afterwards. Raj had booked an Italian restaurant called Il Sorrentino. They have tables outside which I would highly recommend as you have stunning views of The Eiffel Tower right at the end of the street and you can see it sparkle on the hour each evening. The food was delicious, the service was amazing and the red wine was INCREDIBLE!

Next stop, we took our picnic blanket and champagne to the Champ de Mars. For some reason Raj wanted us to sit in the section away from the crowds (it gets busy) but I wanted to sit in the prime location with the best view. We had a ‘cheers!’ and timed it perfectly to see the magical sparkle of the tower. FYI this is my favourite thing to see in the world (fireworks are a close second!). I got my phone out and started to record a video and then as I turned around I saw Raj on his left knee, holding the most beautiful engagement ring in his hands. He said a few words which I had to ask him to repeat later in the evening because it was such a blur and I was in so much shock. I started screaming ‘OMG OMG OMG’, began crying and then Raj had to ask me again if that was a yes! I shouted ‘of course it’s a yes!’ and we were met with a huge cheer from the onlookers nearby (this explains why he wanted to be away from the crowds!).

A street seller came up to us, congratulated us on our news and gave us a bottle of cheap champagne so he could film us doing a ‘Champagne shower’. After this he instantly said, ‘that will be thirty five euros please’! He only accepted cash so Raj had to walk over fifteen minutes to the nearest cash point. TOP TIP - don’t be fooled and think these guys are just being nice. It’s also a rip off so you’re best to take your own booze (which we did!). Anyway, while Raj was away I was still in so much shock, shaking and overwhelmed with happiness and wanting to tell my family. But I also wanted us to tell them together so I waited for him to return. Once we had video-called our nearest and dearest, we walked the streets of Paris for hours and finally made it back to our hotel (via a pit stop at a late night bar for one last celebratory drink of the evening).

The next day, we spent the morning telling more of our friends our good news and then went to a pub to watch Tottenham lose another match (shock!). We had an afternoon nap and then went to Port de l'Arsenal to get on the evening boat trip we had booked. We contemplated a dinner cruise but had heard mixed reviews so we opted for this one which included some champagne and the music pumping while we glided along the Seine seeing Paris from a new perspective.

We finished the trip off by seeing a couple of friends in a bar in Bastille where we ate pizza and drank more wine, and then uber-ed back to the hotel as we were pretty drained. We also had to be up early the next morning for our 9.15am Eurostar back to London.

Soppy concluding sentence alert! :

Paris already had my heart but this trip secured it as my ‘Happy Place’ forever, where my dreams came true and where I said goodbye to being a girlfriend and hello to being a fiancée. Let the wedding planning commence!

Laura-Ann

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