Dena Roché writes Dena Roché is a wine and travel journalist who has explored six continents, 75 countries and nearly 40 wine regions. She is a member of the prestigious Circle of Wine Writers and was a 2024 Wine Writers’ Symposium Fellow. She is currently working on a coffee table book focused on Arizona Wine.
The Paris Wine Bar That Changed My Life
Battling through the jet lag that comes from being up for over 24 hours, I nervously pushed open the door to Au Pere Louis wine bar in Paris. This was the moment of truth.
I scanned the small bar until my eyes settled on him. Dressed in a black shirt and jeans at a table by the window, his eyes locked on mine and a smile filled his face. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered for a different reason now. I slid into the seat across from him and we said hi in person for the first time after six months of texts, calls and video chats.
It was July 4, 2021, and Europe had just opened her doors to Americans.
We “met” during the pandemic, when he contacted me through Internations, an expat group we are both members of. Normally, I would’ve ignored his email, but hey, lockdown had me eager for any kind of human contact, so I replied. We bonded because he had spent months in my home state of Arizona and I had spent several years living part-time in Switzerland, his home country. From that, our virtual relationship took off.
When the travel ban was lifted, I told him I was Paris-bound and invited him to meet me in the City of Lights. My friends thought I was crazy. Maybe I was. I conceded to share my location with one of my besties, who was worried that this guy might be a psycho who would “throw me in the Seine.”
Thankfully, the only liquid that night was wine. I ordered a glass of Domaine Garnier & fils Petit Chablis, while he chose the Vézelay Cuvée des Ducs. We clinked to our first date. Our conversation flowed as easily as the wine. I was relieved that the connection we experienced separated by 9,000 miles and an ocean, was holding up in person.
That first date led to a weekend in the city, followed by a week exploring the wines of Champagne and Burgundy. Neither of us wanted it to end so I joined him at his home in Switzerland for the rest of the summer. Nestled in the vineyards of the Valais, I would walk to winery tasting rooms to write while he was at work.
Unfortunately, the sand in our hourglass was running out. I was on day 82 in Europe and had to leave before I violated my visa. When I tearfully booked a ticket home, the United States was still closed to Europeans. We weren’t sure when we’d see each other next.
The day of my flight came the same day that the European travel ban was lifted. I flew home. He booked a ticket to Phoenix for the following month.
During that visit, he proposed. We married in 2022 and he moved to the United States.
While I didn’t necessarily fall in love with the wine at the Paris wine bar, I did fall in love with Jack. We go back to Paris yearly and you can bet that this August you’ll be seeing us at our little wine bar in the 6th raising a glass and remembering how Au Pere Louis changed both of our lives forever.
The photo, 'Raising a glass to our special wine bar', is by Giacomo Del Soldato.
