Paris (France) - Time is the longest distance between two places

Paris (France)

26 November 2016

The last time we were in Paris together we were virtually strangers, meeting for only the second time on our first date. That was only two years ago but my, hadn’t we all rung in the changes since then. Up until that point my life had felt static, like I had slowly but surely found a way to sink deeper into the quicksand of complacency and the commonplace. I had all the right  to get me out of the quagmire but I just hadn’t been able to utilise them in the right fashion. It wasn’t for the sake of my own effort either. What it took however was a seismic shift, and when that necessary circuit break of rudimental certainty came, it flipped everything on its head. It also gave me the opportunity to take my life back.

Two years ago in this city I stood in the centre of my life’s own Venn diagram. There’s quote by Graham Greene that says, ‘A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead’ – symbolically or actually, Paris represents the end and start points of where I got to and where I’ve gotten to now.

Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Paris - France

Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Only two days earlier I had asked Inga to marry me. Now he we were, in the city where we’d had our first date only two years ago, standing now on the precipice of a life together.  It was a poignant moment in many ways, filled with impactful, stirring memories. It sought to act as a great way to allow us reminisce but also, plan the way forward.

In these last gasps of Autumn Paris produced another wonderful day. Cold, for sure, but the sun was out, the leaves had reached a deep yellow, amber colour and symbolically underpinned this moment of change in my life.

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Roue de Paris - Place de la Concorde - Paris - France

Jardin de Tuileries - Paris - France

Avenida de Champs Elysees - Paris - France

Jardin de Tuileries - Paris - France

Transit cities for entering/exiting Belgrade to somewhere else is almost an obligation for travel out of Serbia (other than Australia, strangely enough), so Paris was a necessary stop, but one that we were happy to have. Even though our time in the city was short we did spend a bit of time walking around the Jardin de Tuileries, before entering the Place de la Concorde and taking  a turn on the Roue de Paris, a 60mtr tall Ferris wheel that offers some fairly impressive views over Paris.

Late Autumn in Paris

River Seine - Paris - France

River Seine - Paris - France

River Seine - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Pont Neuf - Paris - France

Pont Neuf - Paris - France

Pont Neuf - Paris - France

Pont Neuf - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Cathederale de Notre Dame - Paris - France

Walking in Paris is always a pleasure and we took on a small-ish circuit by heading down to the Seine, and casually strolling to Pont Neuf where we ‘locked ourselves’ into a chained fence, like so many before us.  Strangely, the origin of the ‘love lock’ or pad lock dates back to an old melancholic Serbian tale of World War 1, with an attribution for the bridge of Most Ljubavi, in the spa town of Vrnjacka Banja. Apparently, as the tale goes, a local school mistress named Nada, who was from the town, fell in love with a Serbian Officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went off to war in Greece where he fell for a woman in Corfu (and of course who wouldn’t want to stay in Corfu, I mean the place is gorgeous). Nada was of course devastated, never recovering and died eventually from a heart-attack, literally a broken heart. A young woman from Vrnjacka Banja who knew of the situation wanted to do something to protect their own loved ones and thus came up with the idea of affixing padlocks on the bridge where Nada & Relja used to meet.

Pyramide de Louvre - Paris - France

Pyramide de Louvre - Paris - France

A late night Aperol special - Paris - France

Charles de Gaulle Airport - Paris - France

After locking ourselves into Paris for eternity, or until such time the locks are forcibly removed, we had an afternoon meal before finishing up with evening drinks somewhere in the 1st.

Paris, you are always a pleasure, and so nice to have you take part in this part of our journey. You're a city where we can both reminisce about what was, how we got there, and now also, where our collective futures will take us.

Buenos Aires (Argentina) - The Proposal - part (III)

Buenos Aires (Argentina)

The Proposal - part (III) - 'The day'

24 November 2016

So, how did I propose to my wife you ask?

Let me tell you

The location:

For me there was simply no substitute for the Hotel Panamericano on Carlos Pellegrini. Inga and I have stayed here once before and I knew for a fact that the rooms here are exquisitely appointed, large and that the view from the corner suites with their aspect looing down Avenida 9 de Julio to the Obelisco and the image of Evita further on is breathtaking, iconic, and the epitome of what it was to be in Buenos Aires, or rather, the epitome of what it was to be asking ‘someone to marry you whilst in Buenos Aires’.

Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida 9 de Julio - from the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

The set-up:

Of this I was particularly proud. For that evening I’d arranged for us all to be picked up at 8:30pm and be driven to the Faena Universe Hotel in order to experience the seductive, sultry, ethereal performance of tango in its various guises as interpreted by the Tango Rojo production.

It's a an emotive, fascinating show that conquers all the senses, combining sounds, aromas, colours, movement and flavour, the setting and the mood was going to be perfect for post question celebrations and would be the driver for what I needed to happen prior to asking the question.

The nature of the performance, the location and the atmosphere of the event dictated that we all needed to be extremely smartly dressed, meaning, we all needed to be in good form prior to heading out for the night. It also meant that we needed to be on time for our pick-up. What I known about Inga is that she is always on time. If I set a time for departure then she'll would be ready to go at the exact minute. What this also meant was that I knew the exact time that I would be proposing that evening. Seeing as though I'd set a pick-up time of 8:30pm, but asked everyone to be ready by 8pm (meaning Inga to be ready by 8pm), that meant that at 8:01pm on November 24th, 2016, we'd be out on the balcony of room 1503, overlooking central Buenos Aires and I'd be asking this wonderful person to be my wife.

Buenos Aires - Argentina

The calm before the excitement

Roof top pool at the Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Back track a few hours to a little earlier in the day.  Davis had come up to our room whilst Inga up on the top floor terrace, taking in the southern rays whilst occupying a lounger at the pool. I decided to utilise this opportunity to fill him in on what I planned for that evening. From memory I believe the conversation went something like this;

Henry:  ‘Ok, so tonight we’re getting picked up at 8:30pm, can you be here at around 8:10pm ?’

Davis: ‘Okaaay….’...

Obviously wondering why I'd become so anal about time.

Henry: Pulling a box out of his suitcase

 'The reason that I’d like you to be here is because I’m going to be doing this’ ­­ - showing him the box and then opening it to display the ring.

Davis: Recognising what was happening, with a smile appearing on his face.

 ‘Oh, nice….and it's about time!’

We both kind of laughed, and then Davis said something that completely threw me of my game.

Davis: ‘Well, I hope she says ‘yes’

ALERT….ALERT….WHAT THE HELL!?!…
It was in that precise moment that my mind felt like it had gone on its own little magical mystery tour. Up until that point in time I'd never even contemplated that ‘No’ might be a viable response, and of course it could have been, in this scenario ‘I’ was a 50% chance of happening. Why the hell hadn’t I considered that? What would happen that was the final result? On what had I really based my assumptions? Why had I not conducted a valid risk assessment of the situation prior to this moment? Could this potentially be the biggest disaster of my life? 

Thank you Davis, the pressure gauge on my internal dial just went offline due to unbelievable readings.

Cometh the hour:

Throughout the day I had planned what I was going to do. How I intended on leading Inga out onto the balcony, what I would say and how the  ‘presentation’ of the ring would take place.

I had a large ring box and also smaller ring box that contained the ring. My idea was to reveal the large  box first, and  then, when she realised what was happening but before I started the  actual question, to enter into an epic fumble of the empty box over the balcony and into the abyss – I figured I'd go for that as my lead option. Why not? Create some drama, step onto that roller coaster of oscillating emotions, throw in some comic relief and  imbue the situation with some tensions and anticipation. Pretty much I thought this would be an amusing move, if not somewhat alarming in the exact moment.

Go time – asking the question!

As the afternoon hours ticked down to the single hours and then to minutes, the moment of truth fast approached. When Inga went into the shower and started to get ready I knew right then that I had 20-30 mins to put everything in place for preparation of that moment. 

In actual fact it too me just 5 mins to get set.

For the remaining 25 mins  that I'd given back to myself I rehearsed in my own mine what I wanted to say. I think I constructed akin to being in the city I love, with the woman I love and wanting for them to be in my life forever. Those words, the way they melded in my mind, however eloquent and genuine, didn’t quite make it onto the stage of reality in the critical moment.

When Inga came out and I knew she was ready to go, I invited her onto the balcony. I started with my rehearsed lines, but I fumbled almost immediately. I could feel the sounds of my voice quivering and the words starting to drain down the good ‘ole tunnel of oblivion.

Waiting for the answer - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

The balcony – the moment – the rehearsed fumble

I had placed two boxes in separate locations, hidden on the balcony, not obvious to a person that wasn’t looking or expecting them to be there. I think at that point in time I managed to say, ‘Well, I’ve brought you out here for a reason….’,  I turned around picked up the larger box and started on my faux presentation. As I started to open the box I deliberately instigated a clumsy looking fumble that inserted two desperate grabs that looked like I was attempting to save the situation from disaster. In fact what I did was quite deliberately set the box sailing out over the edge of the balcony, through the early Buenos Aires evening, perhaps out onto unsuspecting crowds below. A dream, a hope, all vanishing in one moment of idiocy.

Her face was priceless…it was amazement, horror and desperation all rolled into one look.

I stood in front of her, frozen, extending the moment for the reality to dawn. I wanted to make it look like that all the epic fails of humanity at somehow be distilled and existed solely within me, like I was the personification of human failure.

Inga  looking at me, asking incredulously and with a certain degree of anxiety 

“You’re kidding?’

Holding that moment for a little longer than I needed to, looking desperately out over the balcony, I responded by saying ‘

Yes, of course I’m kidding’.

In that moment I swung around, picked up the smaller box with the ring, dropped to one knee and asked her the question that I had been waiting to ask for such a long time.

Inga: ‘YES’

It's a thumbs up!!!! - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

It's a thumbs up!!!! - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

OH YEAH – BUENOS AIRES, YOU DELIVERED!!!!!

In that moment it felt like everything that I’d wanted to happen, all the elements of where I wanted to be, with the person that I wanted to be with came together, and hey, didn’t we have the right city and the right backdrop to set off the party.

A night out with my fiancée and future brother in-law:

That night in BA was just the best. Heading down to Tango Rojo at the Faena Universe just completed the day and the situation so beautifully. Music, elegance, fun, happiness, it couldn’t have been better.

Making our way back to the Panamericano later that evening we slipped into the hotel Cigar Bar and set about on a few Montecristo’s as we spoke of what had transpired that day, and in fact, everything that had led up to that moment in the prior months.

 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cigar bar - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Cigar bar - Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

 Hotel Panamericano - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Avenida 9 de Julio  - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Tres medias lunas y una cortado - Plaza Dorrego mid morning breakfast - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Early evening in San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Buen Viaje - 'absolutely' - thank you Buenos Aires!

Leaving now for a short time, we'll be back - Aeropuerto Ezeiza - Buenos Aires - Argentina

-Sometimes you’re lucky enough that the things that you want and desire all meet at that point in time that becomes reality. This was one of those moments and boy, didn’t I feel like a lucky man.