Today was our eleventh anniversary. I woke up before Jess and snuck out to buy her some flowers. There were some venders getting ready for a farmers market just down the street from our hotel. Lucky for me the flower guy was the only one set up for business, using what little French I knew I asked, “fleur s’il vous plaît?” He looked at me confused and the same way you would look at someone making fun of your favorite past-time then began to make a bouquet.
When we got our day started we headed north to Sacre Coeur. It’s a white cathedral on top of a hill; it has a different look then all the other cathedrals we had been to. At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the cathedral we got harassed by these guys selling bracelets. They try and put them on your wrist and force you to buy them.
The neighborhood around Sacre Coeur had coble stone streets and a different kind of hustler. These guys would come up to you and ask if you wanted them to draw a portrait of you. I never saw anything they had actually finished so I really don’t know if it was a scam or not. Tourist seemed more open to them, maybe because they were not as pushy and dressed more fashionably than the others.
We really didn’t have anything planned so we headed to the Arch de Triumph. Napoleon had it built, it was a lot bigger than I expected and very ornate – just like every other monument and cathedral we came across. There was a huge line to get in but, because of the museum pass, we got right in. From the top we had another great view of the city. It’s where five major streets meet, kind of like five points in Twin Falls but without the cars bumping bass and slightly less rednecks. From there we could see that we were fairly close to the Eiffel Tower. After a short walk down the Champs Elysees we headed to the French version of the space needle.
Being that it was our eleventh year anniversary, which the gift is supposed to be steel, I was going to steal something for Jessica. Then I remembered I am an adult and a chicken. I think this giant iconic steel tower was good enough. We didn’t go up and the grass in front of the tower was kind of gross but that didn’t stop us from sitting awhile and taking it in. On the way back to our hotel we saw some dudes playing bike polo and a critical mass go by, it was the first Friday of the month, in Salt Lake it happens on the last Friday of the month. The group of bikers were passing under another extremely ornate monument, the Pont Alexandre III. The statues are holding GOLD SWORDS.
We had dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant but on the way Jess surprised me with a gift. There is an old Japanese tradition that people celebrate in France. Together you lock a lock to a bridge and throw the key in the river. Done, NOW we are 4 eva. Jess bought these super-cool locks that looked like they would be on a pirates treasure chest. She also had them engraved by a gentle man that went by the moniker “Engraver Dave”. Jess has a great story about getting them engraved that you will never read on her blog JessicaPlablogdon.com. On the way to dinner we walked along the Siene, it was amazing and very romantic with just a hint of urine, sometimes.
The restaurant was fantastic. The food was delicious and our table was right by the window. While we were there it started to rain, the streets started to reflect all the streetlights, everything started to look like a painting. This is the moment I realized the scope of this trip and how I will never be able to top this anniversary ever.