Je t'aime - Celebrating 35 years in Paris

In March,  I went to Eindhoven to look for a place for Paul and I to live, Paul surprised me (he's been doing that a bunch lately) Thursday night by telling me that we were going to Paris to celebrate our 35th anniversary. This whole adventure is surreal, but pinch me, Paris?! We arrived late Friday and found that the Metro was free around the city due to smog. We jumped on the Metro and arrived at the boutique hotel Paul selected near le Jardin du Luxembourg. Paris never sleeps, they say. We can attest to that. We've learned to either travel with earplugs or join the party. Sometimes, we even join the party with earplugs.

We decided to forego museums this short trip and focus on churches, people watching,
le Tour Eiffel and l'Arc de Triomphe. We learned quickly that they take reservations months in advance for the elevator to the Eiffel Tower  (not so the last time I was there). We walked around it and still marveled in the beauty. It was a smoggy/foggy day so we weren't too disappointed in being grounded. We crossed the street to the Palace of Trocadero where we found a croque monsieur for Paul and crepe for myself for lunch. It was really delicious street food from a trailer (it felt like home Austin). The view of the tower was fantastic. We left there and went to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc is a war memorial from the French Revolution, the Napoleanic wars, and the unknown soldier from WWI.

We climbed it to the top and saw the roundabout emanating from the intersection of 11 streets. The view of the city at the top was spectacular,
including a long distance view of le Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Mont Martre. We strolled down des Champs Elysees and grabbed a cappuccino to rest for a bit. On our walk, we found pop-up car shows along the way, one was featuring the car that won the Circuit of the Americas that we watched in Austin.

To end the day, Paul had another surprise up his sleeve  He arranged a car and wouldn't let me know where we were going. I didn't know if it was for dinner
or an event. My mind was racing (Moulin Rouge? a very French restaurant?). We arrived at the dock on the river - a dinner cruise on the Seine river to celebrate our years together. It was very great food, under a lit Eiffel Tower and including an orientation of the sites on the river. What a great way to celebrate with Paul!

After a few hours rest, Sunday morning we went to mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.  The mass started with vespers and the music was Gregorian chant. The sound of the simple notes were carried in the church. The homily was difficult to understand using my high-school french, but the wonderful thing about knowing the mass is that even in different languages you have it memorized so that you know what is going on.

We left the mass and walked all the way around the church. The various
steeples are stunning. We walked the artist booths at the left bank bought
souvenirs, got lunch, and then traveled to le Jardin du Luxembourg to enjoy the rest of the sunny day. It is a beautiful park and very busy with groups of high-schoolers and older people sunning and little children playing with their boats.

The French have a very romantic quote about love: Aimer, ce n'est pas se regarder l'un l'autre, c'est regarder ensemble dans la même direction. Love does not consist in looking at each other, but rather in, together, looking in the same direction. We left to return to Eindhoven to arrange our new life there.