Paris Engagement
Aiday and I recently returned from an engagement trip to Paris and London. Yes, you read that correctly. We are now officially engaged, and I couldn’t be more excited. She is the sweetest, kindest, most caring, beautiful, and warm-hearted woman, whose laugh and smile to light up wherever she is.
As you may know, we first met in October 2016, just a few weeks before my last trip to Europe. At long last, we are now engaged, with the proposal happening around Paris, the city of love. We couldn't be more excited about out future together.
I was able to surprise Aiday a little bit with the proposal on this trip. We had spent some time (OK, a lot, as I tend to research purchases rigorously) looking at diamonds and settings. After getting an idea of her tastes, I spent quite a bit of time evaluating and reviewing diamonds online – lots of videos, reports, etc. – and on phone calls. It was best to get Aiday’s direct opinion to make sure this lifetime purchase would bring maximum joy. Thus, we went together to choose the diamond, after I had the vendors send the “finalist” diamonds to an independent appraiser. I’m glad that Aiday’s top 2 choices (out of the 7 diamonds we saw that day) were the same two that I had chosen. After choosing the diamond and finalizing a setting, we are now in a waiting period, as it takes several weeks for the jeweler to set the stone and make the ring. Aiday knew that the ring was not going to be ready for the trip, so a proposal was not part of the itinerary, or so she thought. (I’ll write a separate post about the diamond shopping process and ring, after it arrives.)
Little did she know that I ordered a cubic zirconia “travel” ring. It’s a tapered baguette design, which is different than the solitaire setting of the diamond ring. I figured the silver/CZ travel ring would be slightly classier than a Cracker Jack box ring or one that I fished out of a vending machine. You can be the judge of that later in the photos.
Our trip to Europe started in Paris, and we landed on Valentine’s Day. The proposal did not happen until Sunday, 17 February. I knew it wasn’t going to happen on Valentine’s Day, as we went to the Eiffel Tower that day and Aiday had pre-emptively nixed a proposal there. I had actually carried the ring with me the next few days, as we explored the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Sacre-Coeur and other sites. I had thought about all of those places as proposal options but didn’t have a specific plan. Aiday had told me that years ago her computer desktop background image was Sacre-Coeur, so I figured that would be a good place. But it was crowded when we went, and I didn’t think I could get a nice picture. It just didn’t feel like the right place.
The proposal finally happened at the Palace of Versailles. We took the train out there, waited in line to enter, did the self-guided tour (including the Hall of Mirrors and Royal Apartments), and then started walking around the gardens. It was a gorgeous and warm day, near 60F (15C), so the grounds were filled with people. I was able to find a quiet spot near the Apollo Fountain, also referred to Lake of the Swans. We took a few photos with the Grand Canal in the background. But then we walked to the other side and found a spot with no one else around, except for two Japanese women taking photos. This was going to be the place, with a view of the fountain and looking back towards the palace in the background. After starting normally, i.e. me taking some photos of Aiday, I asked one of the women to take some pictures of the both of us, making sure to ask her “take a few extra pictures.” We have started off with our standard photos of the two of us together.
Then, I stepped back, got down on a knee, and proposed. It did catch Aiday by surprise, but we were both so thrilled. We did get the moment captured by an amateur photographer, so we’ll have that. She did a decent job with the photos, though she was also surprised by what was happening.
After getting engaged, we took several more photos, including photos of the travel ring with various backgrounds. The CZ does have quite a bit of sparkle. Also, I was much less stressed on the trip with the travel ring, particularly after being pickpocketing the first night in Paris.
When Versailles closed, we took the train back to Paris and made our way to dinner at Le Train Bleu. This was a place recommended to us by a friend, who liked both the beauty of the dining room and the food. It was a fine place to celebrate the engagement, starting with some champagne. The restaurant itself is in the Gare de Lyon, with a grand, ornate interior from the Belle Epoque era. It felt like a fitting place for the occasion. (more about the food in Paris in a separate post).
After that, we went to the Trocadero, to get nice evening views of the Eiffel Tower. Once again, we took some more photos there and just enjoyed being an engaged couple.
It was one of the most satisfying and fulfilling days. Plus, I can now call Aiday my “fiancee.”