Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Best place to propose in Paris

I did it!

I still have a big smile on my face from one ear to the other...

Here is how it happened?

I left a note for her in her car last Friday before she left for work. I took a flight to Paris a couple hours before her and sent an email to her asking her to walk to her car and check under her passenger seat. This was about 5 hours before her flight. The note said something like ?Shall we meet at this nice café I found out about? I hear it is really good? It?s called Fouquets. The directions are simple, take the next flight to Paris, and tell the taxi driver to take you to George V and Champs Elysees. I will be there waiting for you??

I also left her a package with a mixed CD of ?our songs? that I had prepared, a photo album that I collated with some notes, a couple of magazines, some snacks, a sleep aid, a closed ?in case of emergency? envelope with additional directions in case of flight delays etc.

I got there a few hours before her on Saturday morning, checked into our hotel (Hotel Le A, very much recommended for those who like hotels like the W and like boutique hotels like The Time in NY). Then I met her at Fouquet?s. It was fabulous! She. Me. Meeting in Paris! We had some coffee and tea, then took a walk on the Champs Elysees, climbed the Arc de Triomphe, enjoyed the view and got oriented a bit then took the back streets to walk back to the hotel. If you ever go to Hotel le A, request room 602 for sure! Our room had a view of the Eiffel Tower over rooftops!

Then we walked all the way to the Louvre, then crossed the Seine, and then toured the Orsay museum. She loves impressionist art. Both of us had been there around 15 years ago when we were kids, but this time we were together?

Then walked on the left bank all the way to the Notre Dame, then through the Latin Quarter, down to the Mouffetard district where we had dinner reservations at La Tuffiere. It is in a very cosy romantic basement with curved stone walls? Enjoyed a delicious four and a half hour dinner, I could not count the number of courses? 7 maybe? It was great. San Francisco Bay Area has some nice French restaurants, but we gained a new appreciation of French food, truffles, and French cheeses. Our dinner included a wonderful truffle salad, the best duck leg I ever ate (I normally don?t care much for duck), some really nice fish (forget what it was) in saffron, veal with figs, a custom plate of cheeses, dessert? Very gastronomic as they call it. Tried speaking French at every turn. They really like it, smile and speak back in French slowly, or kindly reply in English. Had no problems that I had had on my visit before where people understood my English but still responded in French? All it take is to try speaking in French. Even if it is a few words?

Then we went to Buddha Bar. We love their world beat music, and have many of their CDs. It was wonderful listening to their DJs? mixes live. Right there. Next to the huge Buddha statue inside. Then went to Bar Fly on Champs Elysees, which was also very nice (1 block from Fouquet?s). My girlfriend (on her last day with that status) liked that place even more? Then walked from there to our hotel (around 5 blocks). It was around 2:30am, and Champs Elysees was packed. Everyone on streets, but an entirely different crowd this time. Local young people going to bars, driving around, sitting in cafes, listening to French music.

Even though we went to bed at around 3:30, we requested a wake up call at 8:30am, and took a taxi to Rue Cler. Absolutely fell in love with that street, especially early in the morning. It was kind of a farmers market type environment, we had breakfast crepes at a café, shopped for éclairs, tarts, got some great chocolate, and walked to Champs de Mars. It was still early, and we were far away from the Eiffel, but had a great view of it. It just felt right. She was dreamy. I was too. And popped the question right there. Not that I planned for it but everything felt right. Everything! And she said yes yes yes!

Then we walked towards north to Pont de Alma, and walked over the seine. And I proposed again! She said yes yes yes again! Then we spent the day walking from the Latin Quarter, to the Marais, into the Modern Art Museum, and up deep into the city to see the real (relatively) city life. Then took a taxi to Montmartre. Passing in front of Moulin Rouge we walked up Rue Lepic to the Café de Deux Moulins. Had some nice cheeses, sausages, etc. there. We stayed there long enough that she figured where she knows that place from, even though she had never been there! It was filled with locals, and felt so nice that I proposed again. And she said yes yes yes again!!!

Then we walked up on Lepic, and took a number of detours (we love walking), and walked for hours until sunset and not saw one tourist because we were away from the Sacre Coeur area. Then eventually walked to Sacre Coeur for the view, and over sunset I proposed again! She said yes yes yes again!! We then walked down the hill past the street painters and touristy area to the restaurant Le Basilic. It was a small restaurant with some great food. Over desert and wine I proposed again. And gave her the ring. It felt so good! To see the smile on her face! Having proposed to her all over Paris. We both have been smiling ever since!!

We flew back to San Francisco yesterday morning. Thanks so much for everyone?s help and tips! Every reply to my post and other similar posts here are greatly appreciated! If I didn?t know what I was doing where we were going, I could not have pulled off so much stuff in just two days. I knew all the streets and places before we even got there. We needed a map only once when we almost got lost walking down to La Truffiere?

Now, more general comments and links:

Fouquet?s: Very nice place with snotty waiters. Coffee was 8 euros and tea was 7 euros. Kind of expected from its location and reputation. http://www.lucienbarriere.com/locali...rest_index.asp

Hotel Le A: Highly recommended as seen above. Very contemporary and modern, excellent service. The hotel is cladded with Fabrice Hybert?s wonderful art. http://www.hotel-le-a.com/anglais/texte.htm
http://www.interiordesign.net/id_art...428/id?stt=001

Buddha Bar: If you like hip world music this is the place. No cover, an apple martini was 12 euros, and a JD was 13 euros. Had a lot of hip arabic clientele, http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/Paris/BuddhaBar.asp

BarFly: Also very nice, more typical underground music, A large glass of Heineken was 9 euros, funny enough Large Budweiser Lite was 11 euros http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/Paris/Barfly.asp

La Truffiere: Very good food. It was filled with English speaking people and felt a little touristy. But the environment with the stone walls and candle lighting was very nice. The service would be 7 over 10, they were not as attentive as they could be, our wine/water glasses were empty at times; food was 9 over 10, only mistake was that the raw salmon palate cleanser had a lemon seed in it. Atmosphere is 8 over 10 due to being a little touristy. Price was around 100 euros per person. Well worth it. http://www.latruffiere.com/us/

Café Des Deux Moulins: It was very nice. Had a more local vibe than I expected after the movie. The food was very good, and excellent for the price. We could hang out there for hours. Very comfortable, laid back, friendly service. http://f.pierrard.free.fr/trmoulins.htm

Le Basilic: It was a medium class restaurant with upper-medium class food. Had nice fish, very limited wine list (only 10-15 wines), very personal service, we were sitting outside and the waitress brought her own sweater for my girlfriend to wear. Quite a non-touristy restaurant (the waiter did not speak much English) with reasonable prices in a very touristy area. And lovely location, painted very well by Caramadre Georges (link below). We sat there probably an hour after everyone had left and they kept telling us to stay as long as we wanted, until around 12:30am! http://www.postershop.com/Caramadre-...c-4700268.html