Proposal in Paris... where would you do it?

Joey: I can assure you that you certainly have picked the right city to propose to your love! There's a special spot south of Notre Dame and just west of the west end of Pont St Louis (east side of bridge is good, too), the pedestrian bridge between Ile St Louis and Ile de la Cite. Notre Dame is in the background. At sunset or in the evening will give you more privacy.

Kent is this the bridge you mentioned? http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/3582/3151/1600/Paris%20misc%20194%20ps%20web.jpg

This is a sunset view from just west of the west end of the Pont St Louis:http://www.panoramio.com/photo/678197Another spot would be from the dome of Sacre Coeur, this photo does not do it justice: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/577797However, a problem with some spots is not having the desired degree of privacy, so that you don't have 20 people looking on (unless you want that).

Also the southwest side of Notre Dame at sunset, between Notre Dame and the Seine, where you will have a view of both.Or about 10 or 20 other spots along the Seine, from Ile St Louis to the Eiffel Tower.

Pont Alexandre III (bridge) is the prettiest bridge over the Seine......if you do this at night, facing west, here's what you'll probably see in the background (I found the photo on the web).

View from Pont Alexandre III

I would go to the top of the Eiffel Tower...

Pont des Artes, which is the bridge Kent suggested, at sundown with a bottle of wine. No question.

For a better chance at a private proposal (unless you want lots of tourists in shorts with cameras calling out to each other and snapping pictures around you), I would recommend the following:

Get up early and take the first train out of Paris to Versailles on the premise of a "day trip". Be among the first group of tourists inside the gates, tell her you want to explore the gardens of Versailles first and then tour the inside of the main Palace later in the day.

Follow the signs and take her straight to The Queen's Hamlet/Petit Trianon. There in the gardens is Le Temple de l'Amour (The Temple of Love - you can see photographs in this link and read interesting story behind the Temple):

http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2008/04/le-temple-damour.html

Every tourist that goes through those gates first thing in the morning is pretty much only interested in getting inside the main palace to beat the crowds. If you bypass the Palace and head straight for the Queen's Hamlet and the Temple of Love, you should have the place to yourself for at least an hour. There is also a nice small lake near the Temple in the Hameau which has swans swimming around.

There are loads of other spots on the grounds of Versailles that are very pretty and you can still find places to sneak off from most of the tourists even later in the day, but I think the Temple would be most fitting for a proposal.

The Pont des Arts suggested by Doug would be yet another good choice, another "romantic view" bridge over the Seine at sunset. To see which bridge Doug suggests, with Google Map open the coordinates of Pont des Arts are latitude 48.85849076372537, longitude 2.3375988006591797, the north end of the Pont des Arts is just south of the southeastern section of the Louvre (it's not the Pont St Louis I was referring to in an earlier post but would be another good spot).I also like Ceidleh's suggestion. Joey, you definitely picked the right city in which to propose! Best wishes.

Whoops! Sorry, Kent. I leapt to the conclusion you were talking about the Pont des Arts without fully reading your description.

But my suggestion is the best ;)

At the top of La Grande Roue, of course.

I wouldn't care about the crowds. I think it would be great to be proposed to on the Eiffel Tower with all of Paris at my feet -- how exhilarating! However, the Versailles suggestion and the Loire valley hot air balloon suggestion were both fantastic!

I second Dan's suggestion: in a castle lit with only candles (dinner preceding)

You're so much more romantic than me. If it were me, I would propose to her now. If she refused, you would still have time to find another person to travel with. LOL

I wish I were joking. My wife and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary. I agreed to marry her about the tenth time she proposed by saying, "You promise you will make me a good wife? Okay we'll get married" (she deserved so much better).

OK here is comes the fun:
- On a hot air baloon riding above the Loire castles
- In a castle entirely lit up just by candlelights followed by (or preceded by) the most incredible dinner you have ever imagined
- On a romantic horse and carriage stroll across the Louvre gardens
- On a champagne cruise on the Seine

I can send you a few links if you private message me...

There are some incredibly romantic men on here. Any of you in your 40's and single?

Dan... what you described is amazing... Needs to be in a movie... :o)

I can't wait to find out what Joey ends up doing....

Wow all these great suggestions... I have definitely come to the right place to ask for your valued opinions!

NICE Kent... I think I missed that paragraph in the TERMS & AGREEMENT lol

I second Nancy's comment about the wonderfully romantic men on the helpline, but I want to know about any who are in their 50's and single. I'll leave the 40 something's to Nancy. ; ) Pam

Well, I don't know if this counts, but I decided to propose to my (now) wife while standing in front of the Sacre Coure looking out over the beautiful city of Paris. I proposed the night I got home. I've taken her there twice since we were married. That was all 37 years ago, so I guess it worked.
Best wishes on a happy marriage. I don't think you can go wrong with any place you decide.
Thomas

Top of the Eiffel Tower seemed way too generic to me (and I let my now-fiancee know it). She thought I was going to propose to her at the top of the Arc de Triomphe at night. She also thought I might propose to her in a quiet spot in Bruges.

(Both of those would have been very nice. But I didn't have my act together during last year's trip, so I waited until Xmas time...)

Ladies, Ladies...What is wrong with you???? Romantic men in their 40s and 50s??? Please! Don't waste your time - go COUGAR out with some romantic men in their 20s and early 30s. And even if they aren't that romantic...at least they have killer abs, a full head of hair and the only "baggage" they carry is TSA approved to fit into an overhead bin.

Wow, what a fun thread...romance, humor, romance, humor. Joey, what a charming dilemma!

I would suggest on the top of the Montparnasse Tower at night on a clear day, that way she is looking at the lit up eifel tower, the 360 open air night view of paris is amazing. You could try and time it to be up there on the hour when the tower sparkels for 10 minutes.

As an alternative, Joey, since you did pose the question, I say pop the question in ITALIA, either Venezia or perhaps on Ponte Vecchio in Firenze! Nothing against Paris, but I can't imagine anywhere more romantic than Venice or Florence...then, again, I proposed in an Irish bar on the south side of Chicago...to an Italian girl, in fact...so what do I know?

PS: She did say yes, just the same!

Wow! I would love it if you talked to my boyfriend. We are getting to that point in our relationship and will be in Europe this fall. Besides my "subtle" hints the thought of proposing during such a memorable experience probably hasn't crossed his mind. I love the ideas posted on here, although the Eiffel Tower scene may be overdone. But she will definitely be swept off her feet no matter where you do it or how many people it was done in front off.

I think any site near the Seine would be wonderful -- perhaps on a nice warm evening. During a dinner at a nice bistro could be great also.

Haha- thanks for the offer Kent. I will keep that in mind. But with my collection of travel books and this site being the most frequently visited, my guy already thinks I'm going to leave him for Rick Steves... or his son, who happens to be around my age :-)

I didn't take time to re-read all the previous suggestions, but i would vote for the Tour Montparnasse because from there you can SEE the Eiffel Tower. One of my favorite Paris books is Quiet Corners of Paris by Jean-Christophe Napias and it includes the Musée de la Vie Romantique which i know has a lovely garden and tearoom..but it might not be spectacular enough....so my Other suggestion would be to join the others on one of the bridges. My favorite is Pont Alexandre...best gold statues.

Joey - try to propose earlier rather than later in your trip. My now-brother-in-law proposed to my sister at their hotel in Rothenburg. After she said yes, he mentioned that he was afraid he'd lose the ring. She then smacked him upside the head (probably metaphorically) and said he should have asked earlier... because she wasn't going to lose the ring. :)

Melissa - my fiancee (also Melissa) thinks she's being stalked by Rick Steves. He pops up in the oddest places (so far, only cardboard cutouts and family Christmas cards) pretty much everywhere we go.

Girl opinion: go with Ceidleh's suggestion. I'd say yes to just about anyone there!

So many great choices... great call Sharon as this has turned into a great thread but a huge dilemma :) Ceidleh - luv the cougar comment LOL. Pamela & Nancy, this has turned into a matchmakers dream! LOL Gio, it was a hard decision between Paris & cities throughout Italy, but we have never been to Paris. Again, thanks everyone for taking the time to offer your GREAT thoughts as they are truely appreciated!!

Joey...I know that there alot here who look down their nose at doing it at the Eiffel Tower. I'm not one of them.

Consider taking the Metro to the Trocadero stop and proposing from up there overlooking the ET, Champs de Mars etc. There are few places that can beat that view for a proposal...day or night.