In 2018, Laura and Alexis met during an artist’s residency at La Porte Peinte Centre pour les Arts in Noyers-sur-Serein, France. They had both been residents at LPP previously (in fact, in 2012, they had only missed each other by one week!) and had heard about one another in passing, but had never met in person before. Immediately upon her arrival in 2018, Laura met Alexis in the downstairs gallery, and was impressed when he volunteered to carry her heavy luggage up three flights of stairs!
Spending the month in residency together, Alexis and Laura quickly became close friends. They stayed up late into the wee hours of the morning drinking weird Danish liquor and talking about life, going for long walks and climbing trees, screening films in the upstairs library attic, and taking hikes up to the château ruins by starlight.
It all started in a tiny village in the French countryside...
How We Met
When it came time to go back to Chicago, Laura was crestfallen. She and Alexis texted and called each other often, but both profoundly felt the distance between them. They reunited briefly when Laura made a short trip back to France to photograph a wedding at a château, and Alexis made plans to visit her in Chicago a few months later.
Alexis had never been to the United States before and loved Chicago! Laura introduced him to all her favorite things: the Art Institute, Chicago-style hot dogs, rotary sushi, riding bikes on the Lakefront trail, and going to the beach (although Alexis found the water way too cold for swimming!). They spent many beautiful summer nights eating ice cream and taking walks with Laura’s dog Luke along the lake.
After a long-distance relationship back and forth between France and the U.S., it was a relief to finally be able to live together when Laura moved to Paris in 2020 (made all the more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic!). Alexis and Laura have enjoyed exploring Paris together, going to museums and eating at their favorite restaurants, and traveling together throughout Europe and beyond. Most of all, they just like being with each other, and are excited for their adventures ahead as a married couple!
