Many consider Paris the city of love, and two Black people can attest to this personally.
In 2016, a woman named Andye was in the City of Light for a few days. Little did she know that one fateful trip on the Metro would introduce her to Steven, the man she now happily calls her husband.
She recently shared her story with CNN Travel.
Andye had just finished her degree in Amsterdam and jetted off to Paris for three days. She boarded the Metro to visit her friend and that’s when she and Steven first crossed paths. The car was filled with people, and he stood while Andye sat, engrossed in her music.
She told CNN Travel, “I got on the Metro to head back to my friend’s house where I’d dropped off my suitcases. And that’s where he got on.”
After a few stops, passengers cleared out, enabling Steven to sit. He found a seat across from Andye and discreetly kept glancing at her. And she looked at him. Each wrestled with wanting to initiate conversation but didn’t know how to go about it. When their gazes locked, sparks flew. It took a while before one of them decided to shoot their shot.
Steven started to speak, prompting Andye to pull off her headphones and engage.
CNN Travel reported, “in French, Steven was suggesting Andye could move her heavy-looking backpack onto the now vacant seat next to her. Andye, who is fluent in French, replied that it wasn’t necessary — the bag wasn’t heavy.”
They talked about their respective studies before Andye said she needed to transfer. Steven followed, and their conversation continued both on the platform and the next train.
“We just kept on talking,” Andye told the outlet. “That’s when we realized that we actually were doing our Master’s in the same field of study. We were both studying sustainable development, and we started talking about that a bit.”
Steven offered to disembark with Andye and carry her bag out of the station. After a numbers exchange and a hug goodbye, they went their separate ways.
But this wasn’t the end. They messaged each other, dined in Paris and kept up communication even while Andye was en-route back to Amsterdam.
In March 2017, Andye and Steven reunited in Paris, though they never left Charles de Gaulle airport. In the months and years that followed, Andye did the lion’s share of the traveling. But because Steven didn’t have a visa to visit her when she returned to the U.S., the fate of their relationship was uncertain.
There are often complications when two people try to make long distance romance work. Andye gave Steven an ultimatum. He either would devote himself to her totally, or they would part ways. “‘Look, if you’re really serious about this, here’s my mom’s number,” she said. “You let her know that you’re serious about her daughter.'”
Steven rose to the challenge and finally, in November 2017, he proposed when they met yet again in Paris. Andye accepted. They hadn’t known each other for long, but felt quite comfortable taking their relationship to the level of engagement.
After Steven got a visa to enter the U.S., they had a small wedding at the court house. They wanted to have a larger ceremony in Haiti in the near future, until the pandemic hit and ruined everything. The two kept each other grounded through the difficult period.
Andye looks back at the last few years with wonder. She told CNN Travel she felt like she was “living a rom-com” with Steven.
“You don’t often see international love stories with Black women or Black men in them,” Andye said.
Follow Andye, her travels and her handmade apparel business on Instagram here.
