Summer of 08
The best thing that ever happened to me in france (besides 1 month summer vacation) is finding the love of my life, the one i wanna spend the rest of my days and grow old with....
Heeehee i am getting mushy i know...i just wanted to share with you the news... I am enaged with frenchie!
Frenchie (super unshaven and squinty eyed) and me, outside our hotel room on our terrace with my new bling :)
It happened this morning after breakfast. Firstly we were on a surprise trip that I planned (frenchie didn't know where we were going, i planned this last minute weekend trip before the end of summer), in a cute little garden hotel that I picked, so i was totally not expecting him to pop the question on MY surprise trip for him! I knew he went to the jewellerer sometime in june-july (he told me so, i guess to hint to me to be patient and trust him), he also told me that he would do it sometime in august (i was expecting it to be on my birthday or something)....
So we were in Honfleur, this charming little town in Normandy, north of france. I just finished this humongous breakfast on our cute little terrace and the fantastic duo of coffee + yoghurt was taking effect...i went into the room and was on my way to do the No. 2 when frenchie gave me this big long hug and the following happenned (i write it down word for word so that i can remember!):
Frenchie: "Est-ce que tu m'aimes'' (do you love me)
Me : "Oui..." (thinking, something is up, this is the FIRST TIME he used the word LOVE 'aimer' with me, till now he has never said those three words I LOVE YOU)
Frenchie: "Moi je t'aime tres fort...." (I love you very much)
Then he gets down on his knees, holds my hand and i start tearing...
Frenchie: "Est-ce que tu veut t'engager a rester la reste de ta vie avec moi, ensemble?" (Do want want to spend the rest of your life with me, together? - Or something like that, i can't really remember)
So he takes out this box, opens it and shows me ze ring
Me: '''Oui!"
And so that was it! Short and sweet, no drama, i like....
My first thought was that...this ring is too huge for my skinny finger...it was not a design i would have chosen for myself...not the classique diamond engagement ring. Then he said he designed it himself, he wanted to have an X for my name, xiang, with a diamond in the middle. I was really really touched...it is such a meaningful thing to do, it makes the ring really unique and so special to me. He showed me the drawings he did to show the jewellerer, and it was really nice. He also said he wanted something bi-colored, but the jewellerer advised against it (thank god). It is a big tight on my finger though, so i will get it resized bigger. I am really not used to wearing it yet...i don't wear much jewellery, and never wear rings...being the clumsy person i am so scared i will
- lose it
- scratch it
- be so rough with it that the diamond will drop out.
He actually told me that he carried it throughout the Pyrenees trip in the mountains with my friends last week....but he did not find a good opportunity to do it.
This is by far the most expensive thing he ever bought his whole life, and i know he spent a lot on us this year (vacations etc etc)...i feel really bad...so i told him no need for birthday or even christmas present this year...save money =P
So yup that's what happened! We have already been living together for 8 months...and we talked a lot about it, so it was not really a huge surprise..but i am still truly truly happy and yup, he is the best thing that ever happened to me in France. I am not sure where we will be settling down, in Asia, in Switzerland...probably not Paris...but wherever we may be i am looking forward to being on this adventure called life together.
Meanwhile i have no idea whether we will get married in Paris or Sessenheim (his parent's village in Alsace, western france). Whatever it is i want something really really small, and in Singapore just the tea ceromony for my family...that's what my mum says anyway..she is quite modern in that sense. I wanna get married quickly, but summer is almost over and i don't want to wear a big winter coat for my wedding...so vain right...so maybe have to wait till spring???? That's so far away! Sigh...we'll see
Anyway, this was not the ONLY highlight of my summer...for the first week i went to Sessenheim to chill out and do nothing besides cycling, hiking and barbecue (his dad is a fantastic cook). The second week was spent with some friends and frenchie in the Pyrenees mountains that separate france and spain. We went from the meditaranean sea all the way to the atlantic ocean...Mountains, sea, charming villages, good company, food... Frenchie was probably a bit stressed though cuz he was carrying this ring everywhere (on hikes, at the beach....), plus he was the driver, plus he was the only french so he was acting like a tour guide most of the time....
So here are some photos of the trip...the highlight for me was
i)Hiking in the mountains....gorgeous Pyrenees...so many different landscapes to see. We only did one hike so i have to go back again, maybe to ski.
Spain is behind those mountains! We wanted to make a trip there but didn't...long story due to some new traffic rules...next time...
ii) Staying in our ''gite'', where we had this whole house to ourselves, so we had bbqs, played games etc. The only downside, humongous MOSQUITOS that attacked at night making it near impossible to sleep...sianz
Playing Petanque at night...some french old man's game.
iii) Attending the Fete de Bayonne (Bayonne festival). In summer, all of france is ''en fete'', celebrating summer, and every village has it's own festival. The Bayonne one is one of the most famous on the Basque side. The basque people is one of the oldest in Europe, and their language is also one of the oldest. Totally different from the latin or gemanic languages of Europe. Sadly the language is hardly spoken anymore. I hope they keep it alive. The Basque colors are red and white, like the Singapore flag. I must say they take these colors VERY SERIOUSLY as almost ALL the houses in the villages that we went were painted red and white. At the 4 day festival, the dress code was also red and white and EVERYONE followed it, everyday. We stood out like sore thumbs already being asians, so we bought red scarfs to wear. I loved the atmosphere a lot, very old school, casual, good old fun. It's not the Ibiza techno high society clubbing festival for sure!!! The only downside, guys peeing EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE...but that's really european i think =P
Check out this video of the fun crowd!
Typical Basque house
iv) Moving from the Meditaranean sea with Catalan villages (near Barcelona) to the other end of the mountains with the Atlantic sea and Basque villages, so differerent culturally from each other and even more different from the french (there are many separatist movements). So much to see!!
Spot the asians! At some amazing rock formation place...looks like church organs right? The place is called ''Organ''
Castle at Pau, where Henry IV was born...
Biarritz beach, famous for its huge waves for surfers. Sighted on all the beaches i went to this summer - dried prunes aka topless old women tanned to a crisp dark brown, and totally dried out and stick thin looking thus like a dried prune or raisin. As all the girls in my group work for the same beauty company as me, we were horrified by the lack of sun protection resulting in DEEPLY ENTRENCHED WRINKLES and super dehydrated flaky skin - Never heard of SPF iszzzit !!!
Phew that's my long post! Summer is not over...still 1 week left...till next time....