Au revoir, Jen, bonjour Laurie?
Gerard Butler has a new lady friend: French TV journalist Laurie Cholewa, who interviewed the actor earlier this month as he was promoting The Bounty Hunter in Paris.
Although Butler was snapped grabbing costar Jennifer Aniston's rear end during a photo call in Paris, he returned to the City of Lights a few days later to spend time with the single Paris native, 29. The couple was spotted admiring the art at the Louvre museum and dining together at two upscale eateries.
"They had some light salads and a bit of wine," a waiter who served them at Cafe Marly tells UsMagazine.com. "There was a warmth and intimacy between them which suggested that they were getting on very well. They're a very cute couple!"
A source at Cholewa's TV station Direct 8 tells Us that the pair "had a great time together and are keeping in touch via telephone and email. There's a real connection there…she thinks the relationship might be going somewhere, but we'll have to wait and see."
When contacted directly by Us, Cholewa laughed about her famous new beau. "He's a great guy, but you'll have to ask him about this," she told Us. Does she want a serious relationship with Butler, 40? "He's a bit far away!" Cholewa said.
The Cholewa source tells Us that the rising TV star is "smart and not at all star struck." Still, she thinks Butler is "absolutely fantastic and looks as though she wants to talk about him all the time."
Adds another Direct 8 colleague: "She's ambitious…she never stops working, so hasn't had a great deal of time for romance recently. She's extremely sexy though — Gerard is a very lucky boy."
