Love in Paris...
 The most romantic places in Paris....    Facts about love and marriage....

It is not easy to get married in Paris, but if you want a place to propose to your loved one, here are a few suggestions :

  • A cruise on the "Bateaux Mouches" (or, better, a dinner cruise)
  • A walk on Ile Saint Louis (and an ice-cream at Berthillon...)
  • A visit of the Musée Rodin and lunch in the garden
  • A concert in the Sainte Chapelle
  • A visit of the garden of Impressionist painter Claude Monet in Giverny (20 miles NW of Paris) : any season but even Winter is spectacular
  • A dinner in one of the (expensive but beautiful) restaurants in a park : Pavillon Montsouris 20 rue Gazan 75014 (Parc Montsouris), Pré Catelan Route de Suresnes (Bois de Boulogne) : an unforgettable experience !
  • A cruise on the Grand Canal (in the park of Versailles Castle) : read a charming letter from a visitor from Australia
  • Read : Thierry SOUFFLARD, The Best Places to Kiss in Paris, Parigramme, 2002
  • More to come

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW THAT.....? On Valentine's Day (Saint-Valentin, February 14), the city's 3,600 electronic billboards post love poems that lovers send to each other (submit yours at 01 42 76 47 47) sometimes with a surprising message (by American standards). On 12 lines of the city's buses, comedians read love poems to commuters.

  

  •  Names : When Mr.Frog marries Miss Jolie, according to a law passed in 2005, they can choose the name of their children between Kid Frog (most frequent), Kid Frog-Jolie (already traditional in certain regions), Kid Jolie or Kid Jolie-Frog (both still very unusual). When Mr Frog-Toad marries Miss Jolie-Mignonne, they give a headache to city clerks....

  • Marriage : more and more couples are not married (more than a half of children have un-married parents). The religious ceremony has no legal value and is not always associated with the marriage (only one religious ceremony out of three marriages). The civil marriage takes place in the City Hall, is pronounced by the Mayor or his/her deputy. The ceremony is brief and quite unspectacular by American standards. The young couple receives a "Livret de Famille" that they will have to keep for the duration of their common life and which will bear the names and information on birth and death of their children. Since 2014, people of same sex have the same rights and the same ceremony.

  • The "PACS" (Pacte Civil de Solidarité) is a contract between two persons (men and/or women) which has the legal effects of marriage in many matters (common property, tax effects, social protection, etc...) but can be terminated like any contract. It was created in 1998, it has developed very fast and it is rather largely used among homosexual couples. The number of PACS in 2007 was 103,012 (to compare to 266,500 marriages) with 13,000 terminations (to compare to 140,000 divorces). Marriage between people of the same sex is legal since 2013.

  • Inheritance : in France you cannot (by law) desinherit your children : read about it.

  • Gender : since 2015, marriage applies equally to persons of the same sex.

  • More to come

Useful tips if you have (or consider having) a French boyfriend or girlfriend

  • French men grumble and raise their voice much more than any American man would do ; this (what most American women call) "verbal violence" does not have the same meaning in both cultures.

  • French women do not express themselves as openly as most American women would do : it does not mean that they do not have their own personal opinions but they do not express them the same way.

  • To understand more : read French Toast or Joie de Vivre

 

More about the French woman...

  

Getting married in Paris !!!

Can you think of anything more romantic than getting married in Paris ?

  • Check with the nearest French Consulate
  • You need to have stayed in France for a minimum of 3 months
  • No religious constraint whatsoever
Any question (where, how, what, how much, ....)? For more details, read AAWE book (in bibliography) and why not ask a Wedding Planning agency ? (Harriet and Philippe Rochefort at the City Hall of the 5th Arrondissement of Paris, on their wedding in 197??)

 Required documents (less than 3 months old) :

  • French residence permit or U.S. passport
  • Birth certificate
  • Certificate of celibacy (from : American consulate)
  • Affidavit of law (from : Attorney licensed in both countries)
  • Medical certificate (from : any doctor)
  • Proof of domicile (check with consulate)   

In fact, it is much more difficult than in the USA : if you absolutely want do do something in Paris, why not check with one of the American churches in Paris ? Among them, the American Church in Paris has a Wedding Ministry.

To related pages : the French and sex, life in Paris, French attitudes, etc...

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Harriet Welty Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books :

  • "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012
  • "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
  • "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001

More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)

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