The Proposal

Our adventure that day had begun in a frantic moment of trying to find the right bus to take us to Pont du Gard, the largest remaining Roman Aqueduct.  Trying to figure out the complicated bus schedule was frustrating at best until Jamie asked a bus driver if he was going in that direction.  His response seemed cryptic based on the puzzled look on Jamie's face.  Though her French was extraordinary he seemed to have a dialect that left her just a bit puzzled.  She motioned me to sit down and proceeded to pay for our tickets.  As the buss pulled out of the station we passed several key locations that every artist knew, the mental institution that Van Gogh had been in was there right in front of us.  We both sat in silence for a few moments pondering the great artist, the area, and the things we were seeing.

It was not long before we were out in the French countryside looking at the endless fields of grapes passing us by.  I have to admit I was surprised at how mountainous it was.  We traveled for what seemed to be about 40 or 50 minutes when we pulled onto a round-a-bout and stopped.  The bus door flung open and the driver pointed out the door down a seemingly endless street and muttered the words "Pont du Gard".  Jamie and I looked out the window, back at each other, then at buss driver who nodded his head and repeated the words "Pont du Gard".  Never shying way from an adventure we picked up what few things we had, my camera bag and exited the buss!  Our destination it seemed rested about two miles down the road so off we headed.  Our walk took us down a road with homes built on the side of a mountain on one side and vast grape fields as far as the eye could see on the other, it seemed as if we were walking in the foot steps of Van Gouh himself.  Despite days of rain early in the week today the sky was clear and as blue as I have ever seen, the colors of the fields, the trees the sky above us we could see how this beautiful place enchanted Van Gogh we could see the colors of life before our eyes!

We eventually found our destination and spent the day exploring every bit of it as we could, it seemed the park was actually closed so the number of people there was much less then on a busy day.  It was truly a sight to see, roman workers scribing there names in stones as big as a car, the engineering that went into this incredible stretch of aqueduct was just astounding.  We explored the monument for hours taking time to ensure that we would also explore each other, a kiss, and a hug as we stood swaying in the breeze small gentile things to let each other know how we felt.  Children playing around us, other couples having pick-nicks and the many other photographers meant that we would have to behave.

As our time here came to a close we both realized we had spent most of the day without food, we took water on all of our adventures but relied on finding local food, as our adventures would unfold.  We began walking back the way we had come in hopes of finding two things, a place to eat and some sort of buss stop to let us know how to get back to Nimes.  One restaurant was all we passed along the two-mile stretch of road and though it slips my memory as to why we cold not eat there.  Our walk back continued until we got to the round-a-bout and stood puzzled for a bit as to where to go.   The round about had three entry ways, the way we came in, the walk to Pont du Gard and the third went over a bridge that lead to a small town, if we could not find the buss stop there we would be spending the night!  Just over the bridge was the very thing we hunted for, and once again trying to decipher the cryptic schedule lead both of us to a brief moment of panic as we either had just missed the last buss or it was about to come.  Several old men sitting on a bench watched us as we looked frantically up and down the street, then with out notice one of them pointed and said something in French at which time Jamie smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, the very last bus back to Niems that day was pulling up behind us!

Even though our day was coming to a close as we caught the last bus back to Nimes our adventure for that day had just begun.  Tired from our days activities and walking we both fell into our seats for the ride back to Nimes discussing what we might want for dinner and our nights activities.  Anytime we traveled we both had the opinion of walking the streets and eating at restaurants that not only appealed in taste but in decor and the people working or owning them.  We looked for restaurants that were different, usually off the beaten path and to this day had never had nothing but fantastic meals.  I guess our reasoning was that if we go off the beaten path we would find restaurants where the owners prepared meals because they loved to cook, not to feed the tourists and simply make a living.
Our return to Nimes was welcome and the sun was just starting to set as we got back to our hotel.  Our room was on the second floor and through our window you could see across the street the last working Roman Coliseum in existence!  The view was extraordinary!  Just below the window was a restaurant that (as most in France do) had plenty of space for an out door cafe.  We would hear patrons at eating and drinking, as we got ready for whatever adventure was next.

The emotions of the day from seeing such beauty had caught up with us, all of our pent up desires while at Pont du Gard were now bursting to be let out, we still had an hour or two before we would head out to dinner, the window was open and a cool breeze would waft through the air once and a while.  Standing in front of the window gazing out at the sun setting over this fantastic city was over whelming.  I held her in my arms and began to caress her face from behind; as we stood there holding each other she could sense my excitement at the simple touch of her.  She turned to me looking up with her endlessly deep eyes and began to kiss me.   The taste of her lips on mine as we stood in that window is with me to this day.  I guided her over to our bed, which it turns out was two twin beds pushed together, which we discovered during our time the night before and ended up on the floor.  Ensuring that kind of moment would not happen again I laid her down and began to slowly remove her clothing.  She trembled slightly as the cool air would rush in through the open window, "can you just close the curtain, leave the window open but just close the curtain" she asked.   Of course I said getting up and walking over to the window.  As I looked back she had already remover her remaining clothing and I stood there gazing at her beauty, I could not look away! She was stunning; her face was flush with not only the excitement of the moment and filled with desire but flush from our wonderful day walking in the South of France.  What clothes I had on I started to remove and she stopped me abruptly, saying, "No, I want to do that".  My desire was always to please her and I could not help but follow her instructions, she was in control of this adventure!

She motioned me to sit on the bed as she got up and stood in front of me nude, any attempt at touching her was refuted though she smiled at every attempt.  As she slowly unbuttoned my shirt she would use her hands and gently touch my shoulders, face, her bare breasts would brush against me causing my skin to react with excitement.  With my shirt now off she sat behind me with her breasts pushing into my back, her hands rubbing my chest, playing with my nipple piercings I could hear her breathing change, I could feel her body heat increasing with every passing second.  She motioned me to lay on my back all the while never stopping her gentle caress.  She quickly removed my pants exposing all of me to her, she spent a great deal of time exploring my body with a soft touch as if to imprint on her mind every goose bump, every hair that she caused to rise and fall.  She was doing to me what I had do to her many times, I knew that her desire was to know my body, to taste it with her fingers.  I laid there letting her touch, feel, the desire to touch her was over whelming I could not stand it any longer!  "Look if you are going to do that I NEED to feel you, I need to touch you!"  I thought to myself "don't deny me the pleasure of sensing and touching your body, you can have mine but I need yours!"  My hands instinctively moved to hold her hips, they held there for a moment, and then moved to cup her face as she looked into my eyes, staring into me as if to be looking into my mind.  I pulled her face closer to mine, gently feeling her lips against mine, refraining from any intense kissing, I simply wanted to use  my lips to feel her face, chin, her nose, letting her twist her head so I cold feel the nape of her neck and her ears.

Neither of us could feel the breeze any longer and we both were now intensely hot, our act of exploration had caused our bodies to rise in temperature such that as she sat up I could see small beads of sweat rolling down her bare breasts collecting at her beautiful nipples.  I pulled her onto me in such a way that I could use my tongue to collect the sweet taste of her and drink her in.  Pulling her even closer to me I no was able to take all of her breasts into my mouth and as I did so she would moan with pleasure, from this point on any touch, any kiss any form of moment between our bodies, we would both moan with pleasure. There was no longer a reason to speak, we used our hands, eyes and bodies to communicate with the only sounds being uttered were tones that had the soul purpose of letting each other know the lever of pleasure we felt.  As we continued to explore each other the lighting in the room took on a surreal mood, I was aware of it but it was as if the only light that mattered was the light that reflected off our bodies, the rest of the room became nonexistent, the open window became nonexistent.

The room filled with the scent of her as we explored each other, her excitement was such that my body was drenched in her, she was drenched in me.  We fulfilled many desires, tasting, touching, kissing, our night of fulfillment continued for an hour until I laid on my back and motioned her to move on top of me, I could not stand it any longer I had to be one with her.  She moves such that I entered her and as she slid down on top of me she let out a moan that I had not heard with such intensity before. She trembled as I progressed deeper into her, until she rested on top of me, she leaned over to lay on top of me kissing me sucking and pulling on my lips with hers.  Our bodies were so tight to the others there was a vacuum between us and when she went to sit back up the reaction pulled her back down on top of me with force. Our bodies truly had become one in that moment.  We proceeded to make love, me thrusting deep inside her and with every stroke her moans had gotten louder, looking up at her I see her back arch and a pleasant scream escapes her mouth and pulses through the air.  We had completely disregarded the open window, the busy cafe down stairs and the level of exquisite noise she and I had been making.

As we continued to make love, continued to explore each other, continued to bring each other to the very brink of sexual madness we both exploded, passionately and intensely satisfying, the desire to continue to please the other was never ending, our night was an explosion of pent up desires that would not end!  As we both began to come back to reality and the room once again appeared I looked up at her smiling a very big smile, she looked at me puzzled and said "what?” "Nothing" I replied, "just enjoying the moment."  She looked toward the window hearing a noise and having gotten a bit closer to reality asked, "what are they clapping about?” "You" I replied, "they are applauding our love making, I guess we had gotten louder then we thought we could” Her moans of pleasure had become a permanent part of the city of Nimes.  There was no doubt whether she had been satisfied, the patrons of the restaurant below our window knew she had been, they knew I had been.
Now embarrassed (a bit) at our show she asked that I close the window while we readied our selves for the night, laughing at our show, relishing in the intensity of it, we once again got dressed and despite having a plan to find a restaurant online wandered out into the city to find a place to nourish our now spent bodies.  Though our day had the perfect weather as we made love in our hotel room the rain once again began to fall, not enough to prevent us from wandering out but just enough to give the night view of Nimes a wonderful glow.  We found our selves walking through the city in search of a restaurant, we had no idea what it would be or what kind of food they would serve that would come when we found it.  Stumbling over the cobblestone streets we found our selves in front of a very small African restaurant that looked quite interesting, through the window we could see an eclectic collection of items that were clearly from Africa.  As Jamie read the menu posted outside we were greeted by an African woman who came out of the restaurant at seeing us linger just outside.  She was pleasant and very out going, Jamie and she talked about the menu and it was decided we would have our dinner there.

Walking into the small structure it was set up so that at best 12 to 16 people could eat at the same time and that would have been a tight fit.  The restaurant was charming, and we quickly knew we had made the correct choice.  Once inside we were introduced to an African male who was just as excited as the female, it seemed that they were the owners and the only two working in the restaurant that night.  We discovered that the female was as artist as well and that some of the items hanging on the wall was by her.  We were asked what our wine choice would be and though they only had a few varieties to choose from they were all from Africa, I suggested we let them decide as they knew the food and what wine would be well suited to bring out the flavor.  Our meal was absolutely fantastic, we sampled various dishes recommended by the owners and each dish was better then the one before.  As we approached our second bottle of wine, the meal, the night and the wine started to catch up with us as we laughed and reminisced about the days adventures, all of them.  After paying the bill and leaving a well deserved tip for these folks we started our journey back to the hotel though having not paid much attention the way we got there getting home it would seem to be an adventure as well.
We wandered through the streets of Niems laughing and stopping frequently to soak in the crisp night air and each other and it was apparent that the wine had gone to Jamie's head as we both stumbled over the cobblestone streets and each other.  At one point I stopped, turned around to blurted the following: "Ok mam I am sorry but we are going to have to give you a sobriety test here, it seems you may have had a bit to much to drink the way you are walking." I continued with "can you please walk a straight line, here follow this line for me” laughing as the words exited my mouth.  She tried her best to walk the line I had shown her, tipping one way then the other when in an instant she ended up on her bottom looking up at  me laughing at her inability to walk.  "Wait that was not fair" she blurted as I picked her up from the ground.  "Its wet and I slipped” let me have a do over officer" she stated.  After a moment of sitting and snuggling in the now very chilly air I said, "ok once again but you must pass this time or punishment will be swift” She laughed at my comment and proceeded to make another attempt at walking a straight line.  Though she was able to walk, it was far from straight though at least this time she maintained an upright stance.  We laughed at our game and continued our walk back to the hotel.  We found our selves walking next to the coliseum, which meant our hotel was just around the corner.  

Without warning and with all the force she could muster she pushed me in a dark corner next to one of the pillars of this magnificent structure.  We stood for several moments embracing each other kissing with all the passion we could under a now clear night sky.  We laughed as a group of young girls passed us, looking intently as we kissed and gazed into each other’s eyes.  Then she stepped back from me, a long stare into my eyes and proceeded to kneel there in front of me.  Holding my hands for stability her eyes lit by the night moon of Nimes, they were glowing with an inner beauty rarely seen in anyone.  The noise that surrounded us was gone, people walking in the streets were gone, the same feeling I had in our hotel room had returned, the world no longer existed just she kneeling in front of me and me looking down at her beautiful face.   "Will you marry me?" she said, as I helped her back to her feet I held her close and said "Any second of any day I would marry you!” we held each other in a tight embrace as we made our way back to our hotel room, feeling even more passion and desire for each other then ever.  Our day’s adventures ended in a loving tight embrace and the echoes of applause played our heads as we drifted to sleep in each others arms.