Hi everyone
This is a great forum - you guys know your stuff!
After reading through many of your suggestions, I%26#39;ve decided to propose to my girlfriend this Friday (8 Dec) on the Pont des Arts. I have a few quick questions that hopefully you all can help me with...
1) Can anyone recommend a good time on Friday evening to pop the question? I%26#39;m hoping for a smallish crowd - definitely not overflowing with people but not abandoned either. I%26#39;d like it to be a romantic atmosphere, but don%26#39;t think she would mind if a small crowd (5 10ish) gathered when I%26#39;m down on one knee...
2) Are there romantic spots nearby that would work in case of rain? Preferably somewhere very close (w/in 5 minutes walking distance)
3) We%26#39;ll be arriving at CDG airport at 1pm, and our hotel is in Montmartre. I%26#39;d like to wander around the city before asking the question...so assuming we get our stuff to the hotel by 3 and we%26#39;re out the door, do you have any suggestions for how to make our way to the Pont des Arts for an evening proposal? I%26#39;m not sure how far Montmartre is or if walking from there to the Seine is out of the question...we%26#39;re pretty athletic and enjoy long walks.
Thanks for your help!
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There%26#39;s never really a bad time for the Pont des Arts....but I suppose for your purposes either at sunset, with the Eiffel Tower silhouetted in the background....or....in the evening, a few moments before the illuminated Eiffel Tower begins to %26#39;..twinkle..%26#39; for several minutes on-the-hour (and if your %26#39;..plan..%26#39; allows for it, the moon is full. You%26#39;ll no doubt have %26#39;..other things..%26#39; on your mind, so write the times down on the back of your watch-hand).
Any of the lamp lit %26#39;stepped%26#39; street of Montmartre. Stroll around until you find a spot that feels %26#39;..just right..%26#39;...then go for it.
SUNRISE / SUNSET / MOON PHASE TIMES--
sunrisesunset.com/custom_srss_calendar.asp
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As in London, it%26#39;s dark pretty early in December inParis: 16h30 / 17h. I think it would be better to do it early evening: 20h00, when it%26#39;ll be totally dark, lights sparkling bla bla bla. A propos lights sparkling, the Eiffel Tower sparkles for 10 mn every hour on the hour, so it might add to the %26quot;magic%26quot;.
The walk from Montmartre to Pont des Arts is doable, but not very %26quot;romantic%26quot;. You%26#39;ll be walking through a busy, business oriented part of town with narrow pavements, heavy traffic and lots of people. I would suggest you take the métro to somewhere near the Seine, preferably the islands, and walk there. Or you can get to the grands magasins (in holiday mood), from there walk to Opéra, down avenue de l%26#39;Opéra, through the Louvre and its Pyramid, and you%26#39;ll be by the river.
A %26quot;romantic%26quot; bad weather Plan B next to Pont des Arts might be the arcade next to the Institut de France on the left bank end of the foot bridge.
Finally, let me utter a word of caution: this proposing business, on your knees, etc. , is something only Americans do, and nobody has gone through such a ceremony in France since WWI. It is hence considered corny Hollywood stuff and you are likely to attract a few smiles, to say the least. The French are very private and the only people who will stop at your scene are likely to be fellow tourists. But whatever, as we say in French: %26quot;Quand on aime, on ne compte pas%26quot;!
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I%26#39;d say the earlier in the evening the better. I think the Pont des Arts is beautiful, but I do think that it can get so over-run with picnic-ers, college students, people playing guitars, etc., that sometimes it%26#39;s hard to even walk. THe crowd tends to thicken as the evening progresses...
The pont des arts is not at all far from the Palais Royal gardens, and there is a covered arcade with little restaurants all around it...that might be a nice plan b.
Les
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Another possible option in bad weather might be the archway between the Cour Carrée and the Cour Napoléon in the Louvre. The Cour Carrée is a magical place when it is illuminated, and the view along the axis of the Louvre with the Pei pyramid and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is splendid.
The Institut de France building is also very beautiful, one of the finest pieces of architecture in Paris IMO.
If you are looking for a place for a glass of bubbly after the deed is done you might try l%26#39;Écluse, a charming little wine bar on the Quai des Grands Augustins just a short walk from the Pont des Arts or La Palette on rue de Seine, a very good café.
Good luck!
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;The Cour Carrée is a magical place when it is illuminated%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
This is gross UNDER-statement...and one could easily wax rhapsodic about the wholy un-defineable ambience that this space posseses at night. I%26#39;m not sure if the central fountain in the space will be functioning in December...but if it is, it makes a lovely sight and sound.
It will probably be more %26#39;..organization..%26#39; than you can manage %26#39;on-the-fly%26#39;....but this space also has remarkable %26#39;..accoustics..%26#39; and taped music from a %26#39;boom box%26#39; will reverberate and fill this space with a magnificent sound---Mozart, Vivaldi, Correlli, Boccherini, Haydn, etc.
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Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent fripon
Prudenc%26#39;, prends garde à ton jupon
Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent maraud
Prudent, prends garde à ton chapeau
Les jean-foutre et les gens probes
Médis%26#39;nt du vent furibond
Qui rebrouss%26#39; les bois, détrouss%26#39; les toits, retrouss%26#39; les robes
Des jean-foutre et des gens probes
Le vent, je vous en réponds
S%26#39;en soucie, et c%26#39;est justic%26#39;, comm%26#39; de colin-tampon
Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent fripon
Prudenc%26#39;, prends garde à ton jupon
Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent maraud
Prudent, prends garde à ton chapeau
Bien sûr, si l%26#39;on ne se fonde
Que sur ce qui saute aux yeux
Le vent semble une brut%26#39; raffolant de nuire à tout l%26#39;monde
Mais une attention profonde
Prouv%26#39; que c%26#39;est chez les fâcheux
Qu%26#39;il préfèr%26#39; choisir les victimes de ses petits jeux
Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent fripon
Prudenc%26#39;, prends garde à ton jupon
Si, par hasard
Sur l%26#39;Pont des Arts
Tu croises le vent, le vent maraud
Prudent, prends garde à ton chapeau
As Bob said, your kneeling down will appear outdated and very cliché to most passers by, but whatever, if you wish so, it%26#39;s not something you%26#39;l do very often !
Cheers !
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;As Bob said, your kneeling down will appear outdated and very cliché to most passers by%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
There is one person....and ONLY one...whose opinion will matter in moment....and you can be absolurtely certain that it will be your intended....So with this in mind, include whatever gestures--however out-of-date or cliché--you believe that she will appreciate. Everyone else can go-to-hell-in-a-handbasket.
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Probably, but SHD and I were just putting in a word of caution so that our American bloke friend is not surprised by some likely reactions, that%26#39;s all, no judgment intended. We are only trying to be practical and useful, as usual!
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Sorry for adding to the practical pig party-spoiling. Going down on your knees on the wet pavement in December will most likely ruin your trousers, which can maybe upset your girlfriend so much that she totally fails to hear your romantic proposal. Wear old jeans. if down on your knees you must go.
I suggest - as KDKSAIL ? - somewhere in Montmartre in a little old-world charming cobbledstoned alley, just the two of you under a lamp-post. See if you can arrange for a little snow to fall....
BTW:
La Cour Carrée is one of the most - if not THE most - beautiful courtyards in Paris. No matter how crazy the traffic is outside, once you have entered the courtyard, a strange silence falls on everyone and people lower their voices. I have always found it peaceful in a secret meditative way - quite odd in fact, as it lies in the middle of the most visited museum in the world. Proceeding on to Cour Napoléon with the glass pyramid and thousands of tourists is like waking up from a blissful dream to the harsh commercial reality.
insecula.com/salle/photo_ME0000041466.html
…couleurs-france.fr/v/musee_louvre/cour-carr…
www.davidphenry.com/Paris/paris005_fr.htm
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/32440/
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