Cheap Date: Recession-Proof Romance
I decided to launch the first blog from the so-called romance capital of the world Paris, even though I had my doubts.
Our first night did not go well. After an amazing dinner, my husband C. and I had a huge blowout. I found myself storming out of a French hipster bar and huffing down cobblestone rues in the Latin Quarter alone. I rolled my eyes at couples with their arms around each other or riding bikes down the street- what a stupid cliché city! The second night it happened again, this time after a carafe of vin. But he held my hand with an iron grip to make sure I didn’t have any more ideas of fleeing into foreign territory. To people sitting outside of brasseries with their chairs facing Montparnasse Blvd, we probably just looked like another couple c‘est la vieing the night away.
The third day, I knew I had to make a change for the sake of my relationship (and this article). We decided to go to the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. We took the RATP (3.20 euros) to the Butte of Montmartre where you must walk flights and flights of stairs to reach the basilica. After the third flight up, my face was damp with sweat, I thought “shit, breath-taking view is literal.” When we reached the top, I’m not sure if it was the light-headedness or the sun’s orangy rays beaming onto thousands of Parisian rooftops, but my LA knees weakened. I grabbed C.’s hand. We walked around dodging the souvenir shops until we found the majestic white Sacre Coeur. It was swarming with tourists- mostly families with children not old enough to be shellacked on Spring Break. For respite, we walked to the Place de Tertre for a drink. We sat at a beautiful historic art nouveau cafe, Le Jardin Cafe (13 euros). We drank, munched on peanuts and talked about Toulese-Lautrec & Picasso. Afterwards, we decided to head back to our hotel for a dinner not under budget.
In the crowded metro, someone played the accordion and C. kept an arm around me until our stop. We walked to our hotel holding hands. He showed me the cafes Hemingway used to hang out at and Montparnasse Cemetery where our favorite philosophic lovers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are buried. This time- I was afraid to let him go.
Paris seizes your heart, a coup de coeur, they would say. You fall in love. Again. And again. There are so many fabulous things you can do in Paris for under 40 euros—whether it’s grabbing street food and sitting in a jardin or going to one of the many incredible museums like Musee d’Orsay or Le Centre Pompidou and sharing a carafe of vin. But, whether you’re in Paris or in LA, most importantly, a cheap date should prove to you that money can’t buy you good company.
Via her monthly column, “Cheap Date,” Anna Badua will give us some ideas on how to stretch our money in this economic recession via her own firsthand experiencea. Her focus will be on presenting options for dates in the LA area budgeted at $40 and under. She will also mix it up every now and then by adding special editions of “Cheap Date” that will include ”Super Cheap Dates” of $20 and “Splurge Dates” with a budget of $60.
Anna Badua has recently published or forthcoming work in Chiron Review, Beggars & Cheeseburgers, and Spot Magazine. She also advises and writes curriculum for a leading west coast design institution.