First Wedding Anniversary - Paris

Well it has been a year now that we RG and I have been married. And what a year it has been. We have traveled with in 5 different counties on well over a dozen trips. We have both worked in foreign countries, though Russia is foreign more to me that RG. But though it has been marked with constant change and movement for us it has also been marked by those things that constant. No matter what countries we are in, the same or different from each other, our days start out with emails from each other and typically end with a phone call. We may only miss talking to each other two or three days a month. We still have our constant barrage of friendly arguments that each of us relishes and our attitudes to life are left unchanged. And while we have spent most of the year living apart from each other, I am amazed that I think our respect, affection, dedication, and love for one another has only grown. Though I can really only speak for myself. Hopefully this year with the exception of being separated by government policies will be the model or norm of our relationship for years to come. I am sure life has not even begun to start throwing the curveballs but I think this year has shown we have the timing to knock them out of the park.

Now as for our anniversary celebration, that should also get some attention. While we are living apart, living in Europe does offer us some interesting opportunities. One of these was to celebrate our one year of matrimony in the City of Lights – Paris France. I used my Marriott points to reserve us a room for three nights at the Rive Gauche Hotel and Conference center on the south side of town. I had planned to try to sweet talk our way into a free upgrade as it was our anniversary but I didn’t have too. They gave us an upgrade based on my status. All I can say about this is SCORE! The hotel was fabulous and probably the nicest I have stayed in to date, thought eh Marquee in New York is a very close second. We had a suite on the top floor with some complimentary wine and snack plus all of the amenities. It was nice. It was also within a block of the local metro trains so it was easy to access to anywhere we wanted to go.

And we went everywhere. In the short time we had I think we hit all the major sites in Paris. A bit of a whirlwind tour that killed a pair of RG’s shoes; which then had the affect of adding to my expenses for the weekend a new pair of French sandals. The first night we saw Jardins du Luxembourg, walked the streets of Paris, had 5 dollar cokes and 12 dollar ham sandwiches, and went up to the top of the Eiffel tower around ten at night. The Eiffel Tower and the view of the city at that time of night was absolutely amazing, even magical. The next day we headed to the north end of the city and saw the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre which sits on top of hill overlooking the city providing view almost as spectacular as those the night before. Then we walked along the Av Des Champs Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe, the grand palace, some fountains, some statues, and all the trendy stores that make Paris famous. We also took a break to hit a Starbucks, our only dealing with US franchises! That night we took a dinner, cruise, show tour package which I’ll describe later. On Sunday we went to see Versailles and spent most of the day lazily wandering the gardens and taking a nap by a large pool the people were boating in. Finished with a nice meal at an out door café. The final day of the trip we went through Notre Dame, looked at souvenirs, and finished our trip by eating at an outdoor café, though this time in the heart of the city.

Even after spending the day walking around Paris the big event Satuday was at night. Finally using the generous gift of Cruise on the Seine from my parents as a wedding present we scheduled a complete night with a tour group. This started with a great dinner at La Coupole what is a large and somewhat well known restaurant. Dinner was very good and the service was even better. Our Italian waiter was very funny and great fun to interact with. Then we were driven to take a river cruise and by past all the lines to get right on the boat. The river cruise was very relaxing and a great way to see Paris and learn about many of the buildings. Though the best part of the cruise was being there holding my wife. When we returned to port we were again picked up by the tour company and driven to Moulin Rouge for a great show. Again we by past a line that went around the block and were seated 10 feet from the stage. The show was great, and not just because of the dancer’s outfits. We were seated by some nice people from Alabama and drank a bottle of Champaign while being entertained by dancing, singing, and other theatrics. It was certainly something I would recommend doing. Though to be honest Moulin Rouge was not exactly like it was in the movie, no one lived in the windmill and it was a bit smaller, but it was still very impressive.

The weekend really was easily one of the best trips I have taken and was even more special because it marked our 1st Wedding Anniversary. The only mistake and possible problem I may have is figuring out how to top it for next year!