‘Mais vous êtes très jolie, mademoiselle. Très, très jolie. Vous comprenez? Belle …’

Bella understood, sure enough, but could barely believe it. Was she really being complimented by a supremely chic Frenchwoman? This was the sort of thing that only happened once in a lifetime.

‘C’est vrai, n’est-ce pas?’ The woman was now talking to Andy, who had a broad smile on his face. ‘Très, très jolie.’

‘Oui, oui, c’est vrai. Je suis un homme très heureux!’

Bella also had a broad smile on her face. Could life actually get any better?

‘Et je suis très heureuse, aussi! Merci, madame, merci!’ she chimed in, and Andy and the nice woman laughed at her obvious delight in the compliment.

By the time they left Les Deux Magots, making their way down to the Seine in the late-afternoon sunshine, they were pleasantly mellow with wine. They had intended to visit the Musée d’Orsay, but realized they’d left it too late to do it proper justice.

‘Ooops.’ Bella giggled. ‘Well, we can always be cultural tomorrow. Let’s just wander along the river instead.’

As they ambled in the direction of Notre Dame, they passed a group of young boys and girls, probably students, dressed in jeans, stripy tops and a variety of quirky headwear, playing classic jazz on brass instruments. They were quite brilliant, so Bella and Andy sat down on a bench in the shade of a gold-tinged horse chestnut tree, to watch and listen for a few minutes.

‘I’m having such a lovely time,’ said Bella, taking Andy’s hand and smiling at him. ‘Thank you for being you.’

‘Thank you for being you, too. I love you.’

And, putting his glasses down on the bench beside them, Andy took Bella in his arms and kissed her. Bella could feel herself melting into his strong frame, one hand entwined in his thick dark brown hair, the other roaming across his broad back, tracing the muscles underneath his navy-blue T-shirt.

She moaned softly into his mouth and Andy reluctantly pulled away from her, laughing slightly.

‘Sorry, Belles, I think I got a bit carried away there.’

‘You and me both.’ Bella was looking into his dark eyes again. ‘Do you think we’ll have time … back at the hotel … before dinner?’

‘Plenty of time,’ said Andy, looking at his watch. ‘It’s only five o’clock.’ They had a reservation at a restaurant the hotel had recommended to them, for eight p.m. ‘How about we start heading back, maybe stopping at one more place en route to make the most of Paris in the sunshine …’

‘… and heighten the anticipation.’ Bella laughed. ‘God, you tease. OK, sounds like a lovely plan.’

So they carried on walking hand-in-hand along the cobbled, tree-lined riverbank, taking in the Bateaux Mouches gliding past them, up and down the glittering sage-green water. There were plenty of other couples doing just the same as them, and occasionally they caught their eyes and smiled complicitly.

‘Are we being really, really cheesy?’ asked Bella.