In honor of Le Saint Valentin, Valentine’s Day, we thought a love story would make the perfect February read. Today, we chatted with Dina, an American living in France, whose life took a turn when she braved a solo trip to Paris. After finding the courage to move across the Atlantic, solo travel, once again, led to a life-changing moment. On a random trip from Paris to a remote Normandy town, she met the love of her life. I know it sounds like a Netflix, special right?! The two recently wed and today share with us how they met.  Allons-y! (Let’s go).

L+V: Ok, let’s start from the top. The American-Living-in-Paris vibe is everyone’s dream! You have been living in France for seven years. What brought you to France initially?

D: I ran my own business throughout my 20s in New York City. It was hard work, amazing, and fulfilling, but I never actually had a proper vacation in all those years! Kind of sad, come to think of it. So, I decided to take one. I knew nothing about France except the typical clichéd knowledge of berets, baguettes, and cigarettes. 

I decided to hop on a flight entirely on a whim for a week-long solo trip. I planned nothing and knew even less French, which wasn’t a good idea (I lived in NYC but could not for the life of me find my way out of Châtelet metro station…). During that week, I remember wandering through Montmartre and stumbled upon Musée de la Vie Romantique. It was not as well-known as it is now (thanks Emily in Paris!). I fell in love with the city and this short vacation extended into three months, then into a few years, and now, I’m living in Brittany, France – my forever home. 

L+V: What led you to a solo adventure to Normandy?

D: When Covid-19 hit, France went under total lockdown for three months. As soon as everyone was finally allowed out of their homes, I thought of planning a trip with friends in the south of France. But it was a very, very hot summer, and there’s no air conditioning in Paris. It was so hot – I was taking three showers a day, it was awful. I honestly thought it was crazy to go lay on an even hotter beach, side-by-side with other people like sardines, and have to wear masks to boot. So, instead, I changed my plans for a solo road trip through Normandy. A bit of rain? Probably. A bit cooler? Definitely. Less people? Absolutely.  I decided upon Bayeux, a small town in Normandy, where I stayed a week at La Colline. A great B&B, perfect for a solo female traveler.

L+V: You met Mat, your now husband, on a dating app? What app was it called? Please tell me it was Adopt a Dude (Yes, Adopte Un Mec, is a real dating app in France). Who messaged who first?

D: The dating app we met on was worse than Adopt a Dude, it’s an app called Happn, a location-based app. Matches only happen with people in actual proximity. I mean, how creepy is that?! I’d only had the app for a week, and I got matched with my neighbor so many times then realized why, it was because he lived across the hall from me. It’s not the best idea to use this app if you’re not in a highly populated area. So, on my trip, I had turned off the app and had zero data available at my location.

I visited Étretat, which is incredibly beautiful, and of course, Mont St. Michel. Normally, Mont St. Michel is one of the most visited places in France. I chose to visit because it was virtually empty with the borders being closed, so there were no tourists. I walked up to the top of the Abbey and even took a nap up there. I think that’s when Happn caught a signal and sent me Mathieu. Mathieu was working in Dinard reconstructing their natural seaside swimming pool (check it out- it’s so nice!), about an hour’s drive from where I was. We were nowhere near each other and Happn gave me a very random buffet of men, probably because I shut off their sneaky algorithm. But I’m glad we matched since we’re married now, haha. 

He messaged me first (of course). Probably something standard like, “How’s your day?” I wish I had our conversations saved, come to think of it. We conversed in French, and I liked how polite and friendly his messages were, they matched his big smile in his photos. 

L+V: I love the detail that both of you had firm restrictions of not dating someone who lived far away. How did Mat eventually lure you to Brittany?

D: I remember Mat asking me if I lived in Paris. I said yes, and he responded, “Zut!” I thought that was cute. My first question to him wasn’t, “How’s your day?” It was actually, “Do you have air conditioning?” He answered, “No, but I live in Brittany and it’s near the ocean, so it’s not hot.” Tantalizing! 

Remember how I said it was an extremely hot summer that year? Well, a few weeks into our chats, he said he was going to pass through Paris to go on a solo hiking trip in the Alps and asked me if I’d like to grab a coffee with him. I told him that I had a better idea – I would come visit him in Brittany before his trip instead. Really daring of me, I know, but it was first off, just so extremely hot in my apartment, and secondly, my long talks with him gave me confidence that he was worth my time. 

When I took the 3 1/2 hour train to his town in Brittany, he met me at the train station with his golden retriever puppy, Plum. I was almost sold. Good move on his part. He had also booked me my own Airbnb to give me a comfortable space to stay in (what a gentleman!). Our plan was that if we hit it off as we expected, we would hit the road on a van trip to visit the coast and beaches of Crozon, the furthest west you can go in France. It was by far the most romantic trip of my life. 

L+V: How did Billy take the news? (Readers, Billy is Dina’s dog. He lived a rough, hard life on the cold streets of Paris until Dina saved him. He has one love, and that’s Dina. No matter how hard you try, he will not love you. He only loves Dina. Do not pet Billy!).

D: Billy…loves peeing on garbage cans, corners of buildings, and occasionally grass. He hates humans and feels lost around other dogs. So, when I first brought Billy to visit Brittany and meet Mathieu and Plum, he was at first, indifferent (this is the kind way to say it). But then I took him on a walk along the coast and you could see the stress leave his body as he ran and ran. He even walked along the beach and decided to test out the water! He hates the ocean now and would rather sit on a craggy rock in the corner than touch sand. But at least he gave it a shot!

L+V: Where will your next adventure be? 

D: The next adventure will be Copenhagen! There’s so much to see and do in Europe, so a long weekend trip close to home to visit a beautiful city is perfect.

L+V: Do you have any favorite places to visit as a couple? Have you been back to Normandy? 

D: We love Portugal, particularly the Algarve region. We’ve been there several times. In fact, our dream was to take a road trip to the Algarve with our dogs and get married there. So, we did just that! We have never visited Normandy together – but that’s a good idea! We have a camper van, so we spend the majority of our holidays exploring Brittany with our dogs as there is still so much to see in our region. 

L+V: Ok, last question: describe a dream vacation – no restrictions! You can visit anywhere in the world, for however long you’d like, with as many dogs as you want! Where would you go? 

D: Best question ever. We would love to go to Reunion Island. We were supposed to go there for a two-week trip after we first met. But France went back into lockdown the same day we were supposed to catch our flight. We literally had our bags packed and were about to head out the door. We obviously didn’t go, so now the itch is real, and it must be scratched.

L+V: Thank you so much for sharing your story with us Dina! Félicitations!

Recap:

• Place to Stay: La Colline
• Visit: Natural Swimming Pools, Étretat, Mont St. Michel