She was only in Paris for three days. She met the love of her life on the Metro

(CNN) — Andye was only in Paris for three days. On day one, she jumped aboard the Metro train that would change her life forever.

It was September 2016. Andye, born in Haiti and brought up in the US, was 25 and finishing up a Master’s degree in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

She was in that in-between phase of a degree when studies are over, but graduation is still to come.

Andye planned a month’s adventure exploring Italy, Greece, Egypt and India. On her way back, she returned via Paris to visit a close friend, Seyna, who lived in the French capital and was looking after some of Andye’s belongings.

“I got on the Metro to head back to my friend’s house where I’d dropped off my suitcases,” Andye recalls to CNN Travel. “And that’s where he got on.”

“He” was Steven, a 26-year-old Master’s student originally from the Central African Republic studying in Paris and working part-time in a school. (Andye and Steven have asked that only their first names be used for privacy reasons.)

When Steven boarded the train, the carriage was already full of travelers. He was one of several passengers standing.

Meanwhile, Andye was sitting, her traveling backpack on her knee and her headphones on. Steven noticed her right away.

“I found her really beautiful,” Steven tells CNN Travel.

A few stops went by, the carriage emptied out, seats freed up and Steven ended up sitting opposite Andye. He kept glancing her way. She seemed to be looking at him too. Their eyes kept meeting.

Andye also noticed Steven amid the crowds of travelers.

“We just kept looking at each other,” she recalls. “He would turn around to look at me, and I would look away, and we just kept on doing that for like a good 15 minutes, just staring at each other and looking away.”

As the train sped underground the Parisian streets, Steven tried to think of a polite way to broach conversation with the girl with the backpack. He wanted to speak to her, but he was also conscious of respecting her space and privacy.

Meanwhile, Andye was silently fantasizing about the stranger opposite her.

She recalls being struck by his “calming energy.”

“He had really nice, muscular arms. I was like, ‘Wow, he looks like someone I could really get a nice hug from.'”

As these thoughts flashed through Andye’s mind, they were followed by another, sinking realization.

“I was like, ‘What if he’s my husband, but I’ll never know? Because I’m…