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.

Yes, it's a bit 'touristy', but when Le Tour Eiffel makes it hourly sparkles and illumination at night, what a memorable setting that would be for popping the question. Good luck!

Jody, like klondike, that's exactly what I was going to suggest. Not only do I love that bridge but it also seems to be a bridge for lovers.

I like Dick's suggestion as well and, actually, anywhere in the lovely garden behind the Rodin museum be great.

Hey Gardyloo~check out Romantic Paris by Thirza Vallois. I think it is Iliad Books. You and the "intending" might get some great ideas. Ah,love!

You could always carry the ring with you and do it at the moment that just seems right...maybe eating dinner at a small restaurant by candlelight..but i would be careful about carrying the ring around with you

We took the Vedettes du Pont-neuf boat cruise one evening in February. (Brrrr...). One the return trip down the Seine, our tour guide told a story of the next bridge (sorry, can't remember which bridge it was!) where you were to kiss the person you were with and make a wish, then your wish would come true. He could wish to marry her, out-loud, of course... (We've been married 27 years but still found it quite romantic!)

Ah well, time passes, so an update...

He didn't do it in Paris, but waited until her birthday this week, only a few days before he leaves for postgraduate school in NYC, while she remains behind in LA (although numerous transcon flights are booked.)

Not a bridge over the Seine, but at least it was over water. He took her to the restaurant in Santa Monica where they'd had their first meeting, for a candle-lit dinner. Then they walked down to the pier, just at sunset. He winked and nodded to the operator of the big ferris wheel, who dutifully stopped the wheel when they were at the top of the arc, there above the Pacific, the breaking waves, and the stunning view of LA, Malibu, and Catalina Island glowing in the sunset. One knee, ring presented, will you, yes.
((L))

\:D/ ((L))((L))((L))((L))

Thanks for the update. How sweet :)

That sounds absolutely perfect, Gardyloo! Awwwww.

This is charming, but, folks, really, how often these days does one wait for a Male to pop the question? It's an endless negotiation, in my experience. So I expect that together they come to some kind of understanding and a bridge in Paris would be a good place to celebrate this, with "he said, she said, our families will say, let's do it."

Boy, if it was last evening, we had one gorgeous sunset, as the moon felt so close you could touch it in your hand and these little wisps of clouds that turned gold, then pink, then rose. That would have been something!

(What restaurant?!?)

Mazel tov!

So maybe the wedding can be in Paris...

"Endless negotiation"?? Yikes! I am glad that there were no negotiations in our family!
How cold :(

Gardyloo, will the honeymoon be in Paris?
((F)) to the future Mom in law~

Don't know the restaurant. Walkable to the pier I guess.

No date set, so no idea of honeymoon venues. Grad school first. They liked Paris, but <i>loved</i> Provence, so if I had to guess I'd put my money on lavender time.

Aaaaah... romance! This is a good thing. A good way to start a marriage instead of just sorting bumping into a marriage.. I think.

And thank's for updating! So many people ask questions, get loads of opinions and advice and then POOF... I (and I can be nosy) never get to know what happened!