Chapter 35 - From Paris To Tuscany

They woke up when the sun was up, and they both shyly made up the bed before taking turns to take a shower. Today's schedule was just to visit the Louvre Museum, and Ludwina had already booked tickets online, so they didn't have to queue for long.

This was the fourth time Ludwina had visited the museum. But, it was the first time for Andrea. Ludwina helped explain what was in each section, so they didn't need to use a museum guide.

In the Louvre, various prehistoric objects were stored, such as tools used by ancient humans, various mummies from Egypt, jewelry from the Egyptian and Roman times, ancient armor, and hundreds of legendary unique paintings.

Andrea was surprised to find out that the infamous Monalisa painting was actually small in size, and that area was always crowded with hundreds of tourists. It was quite underwhelming.

Ludwina and Andrea were more interested in seeing the other paintings, which were enormous and filled the display walls. Some of the paintings looked so real. They were almost like photographs.

After feeling satisfied to sightsee at the Louvre, they walked hand in hand along the beautiful Seine. Ludwina actually wanted to watch a movie, but she didn't really like the experience of watching at a local cinema since they had to fight for good seats.

Finally, they decided to go straight to dinner and rest early because tomorrow they were leaving for Rome.

On their last night in Paris, they got ready and pack their suitcase.

"What do you think about Paris, especially our last day here?" Ludwina asked, tidying up her stuff in her suitcase so that tomorrow morning they could depart straight after breakfast.

"I love it. There are pluses and minuses, but I love Paris. I hope to come back one day," replied Andrea.

"Who do you want to come here with?" Ludwina asked again, teasing the man.

"If possible, I want to go here again with you..." Andrea replied briefly. He looked away to hide his smile.

Ludwina giggled happily as she closed the zipper of her suitcase.

"I'd love that too," the girl replied cheerfully. "Our first time traveling together has been great so far."

"You are a fun travel mate. You are not spoiled nor annoying, and you have a lot of interesting stories," Andrea praised the girl.

"You are also a nice travel mate. You are not fussy and very understanding." Ludwina then stood on top of her trunk and was now as tall as Andrea. She then stretched out her hand and patted Andrea's cheek as if he were a child. "Plus, when you are tipsy, you are soooo adorable."

Andrea reflexively touched Ludwina's hand, which was on his cheek. For a moment, the girl's movements stopped, and they stared at each other.

"Wina... I—"

Ludwina smiled awkwardly and shook her head slowly.

Andrea immediately knew he should not confess his love at that time.

Somehow, he could read the girl's mind. Right at that point, Andrea felt like he had known Ludwina for life, and he understood why this little girl in front of him was shaking her head.

Andrea was afraid that if he dared to confess his love then, Ludwina would reject him right away. So, he nodded and smiled back.

"Let's sleep. Tomorrow, we have to check out in the morning," he said, removing Ludwina's hand from his cheek.

Ludwina jumped down from her suitcase without saying anything, just chuckled. She tidied their room and put her suitcase in the corner. Finally, Ludwina lay on the side of her bed and turned off the light.

Andrea caught up and laid down beside the girl, but instead of sleeping, he took out a book and read.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Ludwina asked in bewilderment. She opened her eyes after a few minutes, feeling that the other side of the bed was still bright.

Andrea shook his head. "Sorry, I can't sleep. You go to sleep first. Good night."

Andrea could not have fallen asleep just like that after what she did to him just now.

He was a normal man, after all, who was teased by a cute, adorable girl who had stolen his heart for almost a year. When Ludwina patted his cheek earlier and said that Andrea was adorable, the man could hardly stop himself from kissing her cute lips or even confessing his love.

However, he immediately understood at that time that Ludwina was not ready to hear the word love from him. So, he had to take those thoughts out of his mind. That's why Andrea chose to read a book.

"Uhm." Ludwina understood what happened and felt a little guilty. "Don't stay up too late. Good night."

Andrea closed his eyes and then put down his book. One moment later, he opened his eyes and made a decision.

"You know what... I know you can't sleep with the lights on. I'll just read this book outside. I'll come back when I'm sleepy."

Andrea already made up his mind, and before Ludwina could stop him, he turned off the light and strolled out of the room with his book.

That's when Ludwina knew that, in her life, she might never find a man as understanding and as kind as this man.

She regretted that she had stopped Andrea earlier when he was about to confess his love. In her heart, she was determined that next time this happened, she would not do that again.

When Andrea confessed to her again, she would happily accept it.

In fact, even if Andrea wanted to marry her, Ludwina would change her principles a little and would be willing to get married.

'It doesn't matter,' the girl finally decided. 'It's only paper.'

In the hotel lobby, Andrea tried to read the book he was carrying, but he couldn't focus and moved from page three.

In his heart, he was grateful that tomorrow they would stay in an apartment in Italy. It had two bedrooms. He didn't have to suffer from sharing a room with Ludwina and endured as much as he did in the last few days.

The girl's intention to share a twin room was noble so that Andrea wouldn't spend too much money on renting two hotel rooms for them. However, Ludwina did not realize, that in fact, Andrea was more willing to spend a lot of money on accommodation than having to suffer every night, seeing the girl sleeping next to him without being able to touch her or do anything his body desired to her.

He was a good man who will not do anything to disturb Ludwina. However, he was a normal guy and had his sexual desires too.

He thanked himself for not changing their Airbnb booking in Tuscany.

***

They landed at Rome airport at noon, and after lunch at the nearest pizzeria, the two of them rushed to the car rental Ludwina had booked beforehand. Public transport in rural Italy was not as good as in big cities. That was why Ludwina insisted on renting a car. 

In her experience, it would be better if they rented a car for traveling and find a base for a place to stay in one of the small towns in the Tuscany Province, which was conveniently located so that they could visit Rome, Florence, and Sienna in day trips.

The city they chose was a small town known as a wine producer, close to Chianti, which was also the name of one of the famous wines from Italy. The name of the small town was Pitigliano, and it was about two hours away from Rome.

Andrea found a guesthouse with three apartments on a farm and booked it for three nights.

The place was a bit hard to find even with the help of Google Maps, but when they got there, Ludwina and Andrea couldn't hide their admiration because it was oh so beautiful!

In each apartment, there were two bedrooms with a living room, kitchen, and two bathrooms. All three flats shared one swimming pool and were surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.

The farmer had not finished harvesting his grapes, and there was still plenty of fruit hanging from the grape bunches as far as the eye could see.

The olive trees on the left side of the apartment still had young fruits and were not yet picked. The blue swimming pool contrasted with the lush and green agricultural atmosphere.

"Oh my God... This is the most beautiful place I've ever been," Ludwina whispered.

Andrea nodded. He changed his mind about Paris as his favorite city.

In his heart, he knew that the beauty Paris could not be compared to the simple vineyard that laid before him right now. But the feelings in his chest when he was here were different from those in Paris.

Here, he felt very peaceful.

The owner of the guesthouse was called Angela. She took Andrea and Ludwina around their apartment and explained its contents.

The guesthouse building was in the form of a two-story house divided into three apartments. It was located on a farm and was named Agroturismo Bella Conche.

Currently, only the two apartments on the ground floor were occupied by guests; Andrea and Ludwina, and a middle-aged German couple who had vacationed there every year for the last ten years.

Ludwina chose a room at the back overlooking the vineyard, and Andrea used the front room facing the pool. They didn't expect the apartment to be so spacious and filled with classic farmhouse furniture.

Ludwina really liked the big sofa in the living room and the fireplace that was lit in winter. The kitchen was also fully equipped with cooking utensils and especially a small espresso maker that could be used to prepare coffee in the morning.

In the courtyard, there was a barbecue and dining set on the terrace, allowing them to have breakfast or dinner outside if they wished.

"This agriturismo is located only 3 km away from the city. You can shop for groceries there," Angela explained. "There are also plenty of small restaurants along the road to Pitigliano. You can check TripAdvisor."

The two of them thanked her, and Angela said goodbye to return to her home.

Andrea and Ludwina then started unpacking their stuff in their respective rooms before taking a shower and getting ready to explore the surrounding area.