From Russia With cold

I finally had my date with Mr Dimitri. 

This time no snow came between us and our date, even if the air was cold. Well at least for me, as my Siberian date seemed rather comfortable with the chill of the night.

Whilst arranging our date he had offered that we meet at a French restaurant in Chiswick. Although, after checking the place on the internet, it seemed like a fantastic place, I wasn't sure I was ready to take the risk of being stuck with someone potentially uninteresting for a couple of hours in exchange for a good meal (and this could be reciprocal). So I suggested we first meet for coffee and see how it goes from there.

I checked how long it would take me to get there and leave just on time, only to find myself stuck in massive traffic on the slip road accessing the motorway a few minutes later. Thankfully Mr Dimitri is not very familiar with Chiswick and got himself lost on his way to the coffee house.

I see him passing my car as I finish parking, at least I assume it is him. He is rushing towards where I believe the café to be, he looks like his picture and is carrying an attaché case. I feel a bit reassured that I am not too late. I get into the Starbucks just as he is paying for his drink, so I quickly jump in and order my peppermint tea, oddly served in a paper cup. As I look around us I realise that chairs are being put away and counters are being emptied and cleaned. Not a good sign. It's barely one degree outside and, despite the heating in my car and my gloves, my fingers are white and frozen. The last thing I need is to be asked to leave the warmth I have just found and settled in. My fingers, tightly wrapped around my hot cup, have barely recovered their natural colour when one of the staff makes her way to each table to remind us that they are indeed about to close and could we please finish our drinks.

He is very apologetic suggest that we move onto the restaurant he had originally suggested. We pop into my car for the short drive down the road. Luckily, the restaurant is not fully book and they manage to give us a nice table. He is friendly, nice to look at  and speaks perfect French, only a few words give away a slight hint of his Russian accent. We talk about everything and anything. He has travelled quite a bit and lived in very opposite words, Russia, USA, France. I am curious, as always and ask him a lot of questions about growing up in Siberia, leaving in St Petersburg, the rationing, the cold, the snow. Ask him how he ended up in the US and then in France. To top it all the meal was gorgeous.

By the end of our date I realise that 4 hours have gone by. It's time to say goodbye, go home and reflect.

This was almost 2 weeks ago. Since then we exchanged a few text and he has checked up my Match profile on a regular basis but he hasn't asked me out and, to be honest, although I did enjoy his company, he didn't rock my boat. I would see him more as a friend than a potential boyfriend.

I suppose, even I missed out on a Russian lover, I will still have From Russia with Love to listen to...

Date with the snowman

Before Christmas I was meant to have two dates, one with Mr Dimitri, a French Russian I met on Match, the other with Mr Windsor. On the day of my dates Christmas decided to come early and it didn't just snow, the smudge of a snow we would usually have, no, it was more like a mini blizzard. I had to drive a friend to the station and could barely see where I was going. Another friend left my house in the morning to get back to hers, 45 minutes away from mine, and only got there 8 hours later and after someone came to rescue her with a 4x4!
As you can imagine it kind of put a damper on my plans. I called both Mr Dimitri and Mr Windsor to explain that due to the snow, and to my car not being built for it, I had to postponed until... the New Year.
I was lucky enough to have my parents visiting for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year and obviously I didn't see myself leaving them at home whilst I went on date with strange men (for my fervent follower, you know who you are Mr O., I have to assume they are strange until proven otherwise, it's for my own safety ;-)
And so, I am starting the New Year with two dates, one last week with Mr Dimitri (details to follow), the other one on Friday with Mr Windsor.
Happy New Year to you all!

Frenchy

A few weeks ago I met my friend's husband for dinner. He was in London for business and fancied the best curry in town. Luckily I lived near some of the best Indian restaurants in the country.
As previously mentioned, he is one of my fervent followers and we already discussed my harsh reporting of my dates back in Paris as well as the lost of my accent, and as we chatted over some papadum he comes back to my French accent or, to his ears, the lack of it.
I have now lived in the UK 13 years and have picked up the British accent, often to the disappointment of my dates when they first hear my voice. He truly believes that, should have had cultivated my French accent a bit more, I would be able to use it to charm any man. But I don't quite see how I can revert back, especially since most of my friends think I sound like the worst fake French accent when I put it on. I even cheer the French rugby team in English!
I think this is a loose/loose situation. Never mind, I can always use the card of my genuine French kissing abilities!

Trying harder

The last few months have flown by without me being able to see them. At first it was work taking all my time. I had a huge project to complete at the end of October. Then there was the aftermath of the opening, the closing out, the work parties and the stress of redundancy. This was followed by my first holidays since February, spent with friends and family in snowy France.
Don't get me wrong, there was a few, well, how to describe them... Incidents? There was the Engineer who despite being "madly in love" with his girlfriend fancied the pants of me and decided that a test of the cake in the window was OK despite the lovely cake in his plate. I can honestly say that I kissed this boy and didn't like it.
But all in all, not much time for dating. But this is the past and now I am ready to get back to my challenge.
First date Saturday with someone I met on line and spoke to a few times. He seems nice but... But, I won't judge him just by a few mails and phone call. You never know, he might just turn up to be perfect for me.

My list to Santa

A lot has happened since my last blog, but unfortunately no dates.
I was made redundant at the end of last month, I made the most of it and took the Eurostar to France to go and visit friends and family. I suddenly realised that I had more fan than I expected as my best friend's husband started telling me that I was being a bit harsh with some of my dates. Ouch!
They met on the internet about 7 years ago and have since got married and have two beautiful little girls. I therefore feel that they are well placed to comment on my little dating experiment. But I sure didn't expect to find such an avid reader in her husband. It was surreal to hear them debating about some of my posts whilst we all tried to warm up by the cosy fire in the family home watching the snow slowly covering the garden. My friend's "Jolie Maman" even got in on the dating debate. It was interesting to have their feedback and to hear their stories as even Jolie Maman had some interesting on line dating experiences. Apparently I am not the only one to have man lying about their age, but usually not by 15 years!
All those discussion helped me decide what I want for Christmas.

Dear Santa,

I have been a (relatively) good girl this year and I would like to ask you the following for Christmas:
A few dates each month with seemingly "normal" men:

• preferably aged between 28 and 40,
• who are not already married, engaged or otherwise taken,
• who earn a decent living and can manage their own money, not drink it in the pub or spend it on console games and/or prostitutes,
• who are not dependent on drugs/ alcohol / mummy,
• who can make me laugh and treat me like a princess without being gay (I already have friends like that)

Thank you in advance Santa.

L'Amoureuse

PS: If one of them could be The One too that would be great. Merci!

A man and his dogs

I feel horrible! Today I have received an invitation to answer a questionnaire on Match. As usual, I looked up the man's profile. As usual, I started with his pictures, I'm not vain, but the truth is if I find him really unattractive there is little chance of it working out. I then read is profile, regardless of the pictures. This guy is not ugly, just a bit on the heavy side and so I am not 100% sure about him. As I read his profile I see something that really grabs my attention. He has a business looking after pets. As it happens I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to retrain as an animal behaviourist and I need all the contacts I can get for this massive career change.

Is it bad that I want to answer his e-mail just so that I can add him to my network? 

How singlehood affects your memory

The problem with being single and living alone is that on those days were you feel a bit down the only thing you have are the sweet memories of your life with your Ex.
It wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact that suddenly he turns into the perfect man, the one who escaped. And yes, he was great. Tall, dark and handsome, a fantastic dad to his little girl, financially stable and responsible, a great and caring lover.
I think it is only made worst by the fact that I had a date on Friday night and I haven't heard back from him. Yes, I know, it has only been 2 days. Truth is you might get the girl to read The Rules, but you can't get the girl to kick out old habits and insecurities that easily!
Don't get me wrong, my Ex wasn't perfect, there was down sides too. His use of the word "cock" as a tool to make me cringe, especially when he was drunk would be one and... And that's all I can think off. Damn loneliness! Apparently it also makes one forgetful! For my next boyfriend, I am keeping notes every time he does something that winds me up, this way, on the down days, I will be able to get the little book out and remind myself why he is my Ex!
Rant over and smile back. Until the next date...