Where to Pop the Question in Paris?
 

So our fair son (28) is visiting for the weekend, girlfriend (also 28) arrives tonight, thus Topic A has been before us all day. The courtship is now three years along and everyone is ready to get cracking. His mother is approaching meltdown.

They're vacationing in Paris in June, and he's thinking about using the occasion to do the deed.

But where? They will be traveling on extremly limited budgets, so the Tour d'Argent won't work.

I figured, hey, this is red meat for Paris-loving Fodoristes. Where in the City of Light should he pop the question, what time of day, all that? Okay, GO!

Oh, he's also thinking (based on her input) to go ring shopping there too, with her participation (modern pair) in the choice. Should he? Any reputable, maybe non-traditional choices for ring suppliers?

Merci.

Sunset on the Pont des Artes!

Jody that is exactly what I was going to suggest!

I was going to suggest sunset on Pont Neuf, or getting a romantic picnic and taking it to a gorgeous park and popping the question as the sun sets...sigh, I am jealous.

Like minds....my thought - any bridge over the Seine during or after sunset.

And I was thinking Pont Alexander at sundown. Hey, not only any bridge...but hell, this is Paris....so it's anywhere!

As to the ring...I love all the shops in the Louvre des Antiquaries. You won't get a Tiffany set diamond or anything ordinary, but they do have some lovely shops specializing in antique and unusual jewelry. I love unusual pieces. My engagement ring is a twisted and braided wide gold band set with garnets...we were poor at the time...but I treasure it and have had more people comment on it than on the large diamond I got later on, which I hardly ever wear!

Top of the Eiffel Tower?

A sunny morning on a public bench drinking coffee and eating pastries in Luxembourg Gardens in front of the 'palace'?

In the afternoon at any busy sidewalk cafe over a clay pitcher of house wine in the Latin Quarter?

These are both budget suggestions but very Paris-normal things to do, romantic to boot!

the scare cour (sp?) at sun set you can over look paris and even see the eiffle tower in the distance and on the other side of you their is the amazing church..its breath taking! Now if only i could get my boyfriend to read this :)

I took a similar trip with my now husband. When we were at the top of the Eifel Tower, I keep thinking "Why doesn't he propose now? Wouldn't that be perfect?" (He didn't and I had to remind him of that when we were there a couple of weeks ago, 15 years later, married with our 3 kids with us!)

LOL Missypie! Obviously, things turned out well, though and got you where you are today.

20+ years later, I happended to relate some memories I had experiened with previous significant others in Paris:(otherwise known as life before DH)

...dang! Why didn't I do it sooner! Suddenly he's madly been seeing to it that we "have our own" memories ever since. I really didn't give too many specifics and his imagination has run more and more wild. Now a yearly trip isn't good enough for him; he wants 2 times a year. And he sees to it that every time is as special and romantic as he can make it.

I've decided a little insecurity/jealousy, even if only imagined, maybe isn't such a terrible thing after all!

All good choices so far.

Another alternative, in front of Rodin's, "The Kiss"

Ditto Luxenbourg Garden in the late afternoon. How about Place du Vosges in the Marais or the garden behind the Rodin museum? It is lovely. Then, you can go inside and buy a postcard of "The Kiss" and send it to yourselves with a Paris postmark for the day you became engaged.

I LOVE Dick's suggestion. I would also suggest that he pop the question in the begining of the trip so he's not preoccupied with "the ask" and that way they'll get to relive the moment in all the locale's described above.

illusion, why not do the asking yourself!

Oh, to be in Paris...

There is also something very romantic to me about the Musee d'Orsay...there are two nice restraurants there.

I also vote for the garden at the Rodin museum. The roses should be in bloom in June... how romantic!

For art lovers: what about the circular Monet gallery in the basement of the Musee Marmottan? Surrounded by waterlilies...

Any bridge at night is incredibly romantic too!

Or the steps in Montmarte in the evening...

Or at a really pretty sidewalk cafe...

I agree with the recommendation to pop the question early in the trip because A.) they can spend the rest of the time smooching around Paris, and B.) he won't have to be like my friend's husband, who popped the question at the end of a trip to Germany- he spent the whole trip worried about losing the ring and wondering where and when he should do it.

Thank you all for these great ideas. My own was to do the deed in the Tuileries then celebrate (I presume - yikes) at Angelina's over hot chocolate. Obviously I'm older than them.

Keep 'em coming, and thanks again.

I just read your initial post and have a question.

Does your son know about this post?
Did he ask for advice or are you , perhaps, "pushing" for an engagement?

Yes and no.