CONTEST: Finalist for romantic travel stories – Celebrating in Quebec City

By Lindsey Evans of Norcross

In 2004, I was studying abroad in Quebec City. As a French major, I was there for 6 weeks for a language-intensive course at Laval University. My 21st birthday happened to fall during this six-week summer trip. As a surprise, my boyfriend, John, came to visit me for a weekend. He came to visit and sightsee but also to celebrate my birthday.

Saturday morning, we got up to see all of the sites in Quebec City. We had fun taking in the sights together. Before he left Atlanta, he had made reservations for dinner at the Chateau Frontenac, a historic hotel overlooking the St. Lawrence River. As we were leaving the hotel to make our way to dinner, he handed me my birthday present to hold. It was a little smaller than a shirt box. I must say I was a little disappointed … we had been dating for about a year and a half, and were talking about marriage. I had hoped that the proposal would happen this weekend … How perfect! However, he quickly assured me the first night he arrived that was not going to happen, as he was planning a holiday proposal.

So, we were off to dinner in his rental car. He quickly became nervous that we were going to miss our reservation because of traffic. I told him it would be no big deal and we could just eat wherever. That, he would not accept. We made it just in time and we were seated at a beautiful table overlooking a statue of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec as well as the St. Lawrence River. How perfect! The waiter brought us our menus and as soon as he left, John insisted that I open my gift. He said he didn’t want to wait until dessert. So, I opened the card, which was really sweet. I open the box to find Wedding Wishes tissue paper. I remarked that it was a cruel joke, and he didn’t even notice it, he just said “it matched perfectly.” When I removed the tissue paper, I saw a beautiful picture frame with a picture of him on one knee holding a ring box. Written on the glass in silver marker was “Seras-tu ma femme?” which means “Will you be my wife?” I was so stunned that I couldn’t speak. He walked around the table to my chair and got down on one knee, with the ring, and said, “Lindsey, will you be my wife?” The best part was that he was so nervous, he had to tilt his head to the side and take a deep breath to get the words out. I quickly said Yes! The ring was beautiful and we had a wonderful, romantic dinner to celebrate.

I will never forget that day as long as I live.