Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Monday 7 February 2011

Corsica, the morning after

Continuing the Monday gap filling...

The Prof and I never ended up having our conversation on the night that we went to the U Mulinu Restaurant. We had it the next day, when I awoke with a minor headache and the Prof awoke with a mark on his face from where I'd accidentally hit him.

I started running a bath in the bathroom (which was brightly coloured and gigantic for France) and the Prof turned on the tiny, low-reception television that had been secured on a platform and raised into one of the corners of the room.

We both sat, thinking -- me, on the corner of the bathtub with one hand in the water and the Prof stretched out on the bed.

"I think..." the Prof said from the bedroom without moving from his TV-watching position. "I think I might..."

Slowly, I turned off the tap and walked back into the bedroom. Actually, slowly and with apprehension. I'd expected to be the one to start this conversation and I was doubtful that the morning after -- at 8 a.m., with a mini hangover and a ferry to catch in a few hours (ugh, those two don't mix) -- was quite the romantic moment I would have chosen.

"I think I might be okay with something symbolic," the Prof. said with a slightly nervous look on his face. He was talking about the PACS, the French equivalent to a common-law marriage, which had so far been presented to me as an opportunity to do paperwork.

"You think?" I asked, worried that he'd felt pressured by me and was choosing something he didn't actually want. I had tried to explain that I wasn't requesting more of a commitment, but that if I were asked to do paperwork of any sort, I'd like it to have something symbolic behind it. I didn't really see any sense in getting more serious administratively if we weren't more serious in another sense. "I was going to bring this up ... last night ... before we broke into the breakfast room in the middle of the night and I punched you in the face."

"I mean that I'd like to do something symbolic. There's no reason it shouldn't be. If we plan to be crazy in love forever anyway ... why not?" he answered back, smiling through his cut lip.

"Is that our plan?" I'd asked, looking up at the flickering TV image -- two at once, in fact -- and then back at the Prof's poor, accidentally smacked face.

"Is it?" the Prof. asked -- half wince, half grin.

---

Like I said, not the most romantic moment... but that's not the only moment we had.

Anyone else want to share their first-broaching-the-subject conversation? Plan vs. what really happened?

Next up: Love and Paperwork: How a smoking security guard fixed everything.

5 comments:

  1. Haha! You have no idea how thick it can get...

    How are your leap plans coming for the move to Germany?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anxiously awaiting "la suite" then!!

    Oh dear, things have changed quicker than imagined! My dear Liebling actually got an amazing job offer in London, so I'll be moving there instead! At first I was a bit disappointed because I really wanted to learn German, but then I realized that I would be closer to France (LOVE!)!!

    I quit "le job" and will be finishing up in June. :-) Haven't tackled any of the paperwork/visa stuff though... Not looking forward to it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You know it's funny, I can't seem to remember any conversations about what we were going to do (ie; marriage) with my husband. I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. Must have a think...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sara Louise: I'm sure that's a good thing -- if getting married was just a part of the natural flow. If you'd punched him in the face, however, the conversation might have been harder to forget...

    Oneika: London is exciting, too, although different. Maybe you can take a German course there so you're ready for the next leap??

    ReplyDelete