She moved to Paris for love despite speaking no French. An instant fairytale? Non!

After a whirlwind romance in 2014, interior designer Loretta Genovesi, 38, quit her job in Melbourne and moved to Paris to be with French entrepreneur Nicolas Collignon, 40. They’re now parents to one-year-old Antony.

Nicolas Collignon, Loretta Genovesi and their son Antony Pierre Santo Collignon near their home in the 15th Arrondissement. Credit: Dave Tacon

Loretta: I met Nicolas at a wedding in Normandy in 2014. I spotted him in his blue suit by the oysters and asked my friends who he was. We ended up sitting next to each other at dinner, but when he asked me to dance, I said no. Then he started talking about cheese. His knowledge – and accent – tipped me over the edge. He seemed so sophisticated in comparison to Australian men. Next time he asked me to dance, I said yes. We stopped at dawn.

Since I had no immediate way of getting back to Paris, I hitched a ride with Nicolas, his friend Renaud and Renaud’s girlfriend. They were in the front and we were in the back. We kissed.

In Paris, he asked me out on a date. I thought it would be one night: it wasn’t. I emailed work twice to extend my trip.

On my last night in Paris, he took me for rooftop cocktails with a view of Sacré-Coeur and asked, “Will you be my girlfriend?” I was taken aback – I’d known him a week and a half – but I said yes. On dating apps in Australia, one of my requirements had always been that my match had to live within 15 kilometres of Collingwood!

Three months later, Nicolas came to Australia; within a week, he told me he loved me. Actually, it was during an argument we were having in my bedroom while my parents waited downstairs. I was blown away and said, “I love you, too.” We travelled together in the Northern Territory and when he came back again four months later, we did the Great Ocean Road.

Ten months after that wedding in Normandy, I packed up my entire life and moved to Paris. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t speak French. I’d never lived with anyone before because I’d never loved anyone enough. It was batshit crazy – and certainly no fairy tale. To make matters worse, I didn’t want to speak to him in French initially and we couldn’t live together in his 20-square-metre apartment. I moved into an Airbnb until I found my own place in the Marais. We moved in together after 18 months.

Nicolas proposed in 2018 when we were on holiday in Greece. Our wedding was a three-day celebration in a chateau at Béville-le-Comte, one hour south-west of Paris, with fireworks over the lake. It was a fairy tale beginning.

We bought a place in the 15th arrondissement, which I’ve renovated and decorated, and my design business has grown through word of mouth. My dad and grandfather were Italian-migrant builders; I feel as if I’m carrying on that tradition. We come from different cultures, but I think we mix the two and take the best of each. I know my way around French cuisine now, which is a gift Nicolas has given me. I never thought I’d be such a bread fanatic!

‘I didn’t have a job. I didn’t speak French. I’d never lived with anyone before because I’d never loved anyone enough.’

Loretta Genovesi

At home we speak “Franglish”. We clash every now and again, of course, but we wake up to a new day, buy another baguette and try to understand each other. As a chatterbox and a hothead, I can struggle with his silences, but I also know that living with another version of me wouldn’t work at all.

Nicolas Collignon: “I was impressed by the way Loretta managed to create friends when she arrived. I don’t think I’d be as good at turning into an Australian, but she became French very quickly.”Credit: Dave Tacon

Nicolas: We didn’t know at the time, but we were seated together at the wedding because our mutual friends were trying to set us up. At dinner, I didn’t really hear what she was saying: I was just looking at her – not really listening – because she was so pretty.

I’d been single for a while and was ready to share my life with somebody. She lived in Australia, but that wasn’t a major inconvenience for me. I wasn’t really thinking about what would happen in six months or a year or 10 years. It just happened.

The first thing we did when I arrived in Australia was meet Loretta’s Australian-Italian family. I have a different relationship to my family than she has to hers. I lost my mother when I was seven and had to raise my younger sister by myself; my father remarried. My parents live 40 minutes away from us and they love Loretta, but it’s different. Her family is so close-knit, which I like very much.

It’s always crazy and beautiful when we see them, especially now that we have Antony. I always wanted to have kids. It was me more than Loretta who wanted to start a family. We think it happened after France beat Ireland in a rugby match: a win for France and a win for us.

‘I tried to make her less homesick by taking her to a restaurant called Fish and Chic. The food wasn’t very Australian at all.’

Nicolas Collignon

Our crazy holidays are our best memories. Our first trip was to Uluru. In the desert, it was my job to read the map and I didn’t realise the dotted line is for four-wheel drives; we had a small city car. We drove four or five hours until we came to a little town where I had my first meat pie, but from then on, the road was gravel. We drove 10 hours to get to Kings Canyon and arrived in the dark, hoping not to hit a kangaroo. We had a lot of time to talk in the car and get to know each other.

When Loretta arrived in Paris, we were both coming from several years of short-term relationships. We actually tried to live in my one-room apartment, but it didn’t last long, thank god. We would’ve killed each other.

I was impressed by the way Loretta managed to create friends when she arrived. I don’t think I’d be as good at turning into an Australian, but she became French very quickly.

The first two years were hard, though. She needed her friends and family, but they were on the other side of the world and there was a 10-hour time difference. She was feeling low and I couldn’t seem to find the right words. I tried to make her less homesick by taking her to a restaurant called Fish and Chic. The food wasn’t very Australian at all, but she laughed and could see I was trying my best. In the end, we survived it. And now we have Antony. I love being the three of us.

Loretta uses our apartment to experiment with interior design, putting in antique furniture, painting the walls in colours that normal people wouldn’t use. I’d just paint a wall white. At first, I’m scared but, afterwards, I’m usually happy with the results.

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