I took Kate, my girlfriend of between the last five and ten years (depending how you define girlfriend) to Paris this weekend and proposed. She said yes too!
I had a couple of scenarios mapped out, but was playing it by ear as to the right moment.
On Saturday night when we sat down to eat at a restaurant the waiter asked me if I "had got engaged to the lady yet", and then said "if not, I will". I'm sure he does it to every foreign couple where the women isn't wearing a ring but I could not believe it . Of all the Bistros in all of Paris, I have to choose that one - for about five seconds I seriously considered saying "That's a jolly good idea", and proposing on the spot. But I wanted it to be when I wanted it to be. Obviously it being the "anniversary of us meeting weekend away" Kate was a leeetle suspicious as to what might happen, and greatly enjoyed the expressions crossing my face in those few seconds!
That turned out to be Sunday. I had thought about getting her completely hysterical with laughter by picking a water fight with her in the fountains of the Trocodero, and then kneeling IN the fountain, but as it happened there was a little festival on the Champs Du Mars, and some music playing, and we just danced a few steps together spontaneously, and it was the right moment... and I surprised her!
When I moved to the Netherlands for about 45 minutes or more driving East through the UK to Dover to get the ferry, there was a rainbow leading us on the left-hand side of the road. Being the big bad cycnic I am I know perfectly well that this was due to a chance combination of weather and a road taking roughly the same direction for a long distance...
However, having defied the weather forecast and been generally fine all weekend, when we hit the road for home on Sunday, the heavens opened on the way out of Paris. We came around this corner on the autoroute (freeway) and WHAM! there was by far the biggest, brightest, most technicolour full rainbow I have ever seen leading us homewards, with a little shadowy reflection rainbow next to it. It was almost like the end credits of the weekend "This weekend was bought to you by the Glastonbury Fairy!" Dadadadadada-dah-dada! Th-th-th-that's all folks!!
Of course being the big bad cycnic I am I know perfectly well that this was due to a chance combination of weather etc....
Either that or the universe having a very private joke with us... at the expense of my cynicism!
No dates for a while yet but we are both blissed out and loathing we had to go back to work on Monday.