As soon as I arrived in front of the university to attend the general assembly of the foreign students, I spotted immediately the girl from San Marino who was chatting with somebody. I went directly toward her and she invited me to join her. Spontaneously, she introduced me to her friend whom she mentioned to me about during our first conversation.
The very moment we faced each other and looked straight in the eyes, I suddenly perceived a strong affinity and liking for her because I found her reserved and unpretentious. Surprisingly, I felt a strong current the moment she shook my hand so warm and gently as to make my limbs somewhat weak causing me to stammer unnoticeably as I quickly regained my voice to continue our conversation normally. In the meantime, however, the girl from San Marino excused herself to meet and talk to other students and left us discreetly.
She told me she came from the Marche region and was still pursuing her studies and preparing her thesis in language and literature contemporaneously at the universities in Macerata and Pescara. She was engaged as an assistant professor in an exchange program to teach Italian.
We saw each other as much as possible and managed to sit close to each other in the same class. We went together to dine at the university restaurants to eat different culinary specialties, such as German, Italian and Arab cuisines. We went to cultural and dance events that were organized by local groups for foreign students. Whenever we found the weekends in Lille boring and uneventful, we often hitchhiked to Paris and stayed at her friend's place in the Latin Quarter overnight. We visited the places we loved and enjoyed to explore and discover more, like the Louvre museum that was then free of charge. I wonder how many times we went to see the painting of Mona Lisa but still intrigued by her enigmatic smile until now. We could never forget the long stroll we made along the banks of the Seine from the Eiffel tower and the ascent to the Montmartre cathedral to admire the view of Paris. On other occasions, we went on one-day trips to discover and explore other cities nearby, like Amiens, Calais, Ghent and Brugge. The trip we loved and enjoyed most was the 4-day tour of the Loire valley during the Easter of 1968 where we visited and explored the famous and beautiful castles in the region, like Angers, Chambord, Chenonceaux, Azay le Rideau, and Blois.
On that grey and cool evening of Valentine's Day in 1968, I invited her to a quaint restaurant for a drink. Immediately after I offered her a red rose, I timidly proposed to her. To be continued.
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