Toulouse: When Valentine’s Day becomes “Sans-Valentine”
February 14, on the famous lovers. Without darling, famous women this moment has become the “Valentine’s Day”. And it’s far from sad.
Raphaëlle, Julie, Agathe and others are in their forties and fifties, comfortable in their own skin. Independent and resolutely optimistic, these Toulousaines have gone through life and its torments, including some lovers: “I have been single for several years, notes Raphaëlle, a lawyer. I struggle to find the one who will hold me. And then I don’t have time to find a soul mate. But that’s not why February 14 is forgotten. The friends are there.
That evening, these friends are going to celebrate “Sans-Valentin”, an evening created between girlfriends, around a pretty table with candles, tablecloth and crockery for the holidays, not forgetting the flowers. “We meet around a refined dinner with champagne and tasty dishes to let off steam, let go, notes Julie, dental technician. A dinner certainly without love but not without pleasure and laughter. We know it well, women don’t wait for men to laugh and have fun”.
February 14, an opportunity to break the clichés of a party too punctuated by the commercial and the obligation to have a darling in his life. An opportunity for some to experience this celebration differently. Hence the “Valentine’s Day”. “An ideal moment to take stock of the romantic encounters of the year, continues Julie. To take stock of those who deserve a follow-up. To also understand why we are still single. Understand what went wrong with us or with the other so that the meeting did not become a beautiful story. »
“I’m waiting for the one who will make my heart capsize”
But beware, all this without pathos or bitterness. But laughing, joking in a resolutely optimistic atmosphere. “We’re not really worried,” assures Agathe. Toulouse is a city where singles are numerous. We remain confident.”
This evening where friendship takes precedence over love, is also one of questioning. “What do we expect from a man in 2022? wonders Julie. To be at the center of his life, to have total complicity, that he accepts me as I am, that he capsizes our hearts. Lulled by fairy tales since childhood, we are still midinettes with a tender heart. »
Marie, restaurant owner, is more pragmatic, “on February 14, I work and I welcome couples to the restaurant. Love will come when it comes. Valentine’s Day or Without Valentine, I don’t really have time to ask myself the question”.