My fiance, Chris, and I have had quite a few adventures in the four and a half years we've been together. Sometimes, I like to look back at my blogs and journals when I want to hold him close to my heart, as he is so often a subject of my personal writings. This week, I wanted to reminisce on our time in Paris. Our three days of uninterrupted tourism and romance was wonderful, and I am so often filled with joy at the memories we made. I hope you all live vicariously through us!
Here goes.
Last week, my boyfriend Chris came to visit me! It was so nice to see a familiar face, especially one I find so very attractive. I surprised him with a two-day trip to Paris (and the award for best girlfriend goes to…), and we were both thrilled to be going. He got to spend a couple of days here before we left and when we got back, which was nice. I think it worked out for the best; I wouldn’t have wanted to spend all week in a new place and miss a chance to show him around the city that has become my home.
He flew in on Saturday. I made a sign that said “Boyle” and stood at the arrival terminal waiting for him. So cheesy, but what can I say, I was excited. He was exhausted and jet lagged, so Saturday was spent mostly introducing him to my roommates and hanging out at home. We made beans and rice for dinner and watched "Forrest Gump." He fell asleep and slept like a comatose patient. I had a hard time believing he was here at first. We don’t see each other often, and this whole experience has been like a dream in itself. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.
Sunday, we went running on the plethora of trails near my apartment. It’s really beautiful there-trails for miles and miles in every direction, gravel and pavement and concrete, stretching over this enormous plain. You can see pretty far out, and since I live near the airport, I see planes taking off and landing in the distance most of the time on my runs. I knew Chris would love it. We went in the morning and ate a nice breakfast together after a short trip to Bilka (I did not have the food capacity to feed a young man post workout). I spent the day showing him the coolest spots I’d found since being here. He loves cats, so I took him to a cafe where they let cats roam around freely while you eat and relax. We walked around the city and I did my best to be a gracious hostess and let him see it for what it had become for me. I think he had a good day. I know I did.
Side story- so the cat cafe (Cafe Miao) has six, maybe seven cats. It’s really exciting to visit for the humans, but the cats are pretty much bored by people at this point. They don’t come when you beckon, many are sleeping, and when they do walk by they are very quick to slip away when you try to pet them. So there we sat, drinking coffee and fruitlessly trying to get these cats to play with us. Eventually we resigned ourselves to the fact that all cats are snobs. I handed Chris a fruit bar while we finished our coffee-and then the most magical thing happened: the crinkling of the plastic made six cat heads snap up at once. We watched in paralyzed fascination as they slowly began to surround us, coming out of the woodwork like the people from The Hills Have Eyes (do yourself a favor and don’t watch it-it’s nightmare fuel). As the cats jumped onto our table, mesmerized, Chris slowly and discreetly slid me his phone and I took pictures. When he stopped crinkling it and finished his food, they all left. But just for fun, we’d crinkle it every now and then just to see all their heads snap up. It was quite funny.
After exploring Copenhagen we headed back and bought groceries. It had been a full day, and we were both really tired. Plus, Monday was our flight to Paris (!!), so we went to sleep early.
The flight left at 7 pm Monday, so we spent the day packing, planning, double-checking and preparing. It was a relatively smooth flight. I’ve never been to an airport with Chris before where we didn’t have to say goodbye. It was a nice change, I have to say. We landed around 9 pm, and, through a series of fumbling and suitcase-rolling and metro-hopping, arrived at the Airbnb destination around 11:30. We stayed with a man named Christophe who lived in the city and rented out his bedroom. He was very personable and kind. The first thing he did was sit us down with a map and tell us all about the city and the metro system. We learned where to get off for the best view of the Eiffel Tower, where to find a cheap canal tour of the city, and how to use our metro tickets to our advantage. We went to a corner store and bought food after that, and finally passed out around 1 am.
In the morning, the first thing I did was accidentally walk in on our host changing. Smooth, Christina. I’m not even surprised when this crap happens anymore.
Besides that, though, it was a nice morning. Christophe made us coffee and toast with his mom’s homemade peach jam. We ate and made small talk, happy for the free meal and exploration fuel. We began the day walking around a beautiful and historic park by the name of Buttes-Chaumont. It was there that I learned that my high-heeled boots, while fashionable, were not good adventure shoes. I changed to Toms, and thank goodness I did. We did a LOT of walking. Here is a rough list of our activities:
-Walk through Buttes-Chaumont park
-Take the metro into the city-See the Eiffel Tower
-Get ice cream
-Eat it on a merry go round
-Climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower (stairs 2/3 of the way up…it was cheaper but if I’m being honest with you, my calves were sore for three days afterward. Imagine if I’d worn boots!)
-Take a canal tour of the city (champagne and crepes were had. I broke my No-Nutella lent promise..but..crepes)
-Take a nap on the Eiffel Tower lawn in the sun
-Visit the good ol’ Arc de Triumph (must figure out its beauty secrets. It looks fantastic for its age.)
-Put a lock on the Love Lock Bridge
Side Story: the plan was for Chris and I to count down from three, kiss, and throw the keys into the river (we each had one). I, in my infinite awkwardness, misunderstood these instructions. So it went more like 3…2…1…kiss…and as we kissed I chucked my key into the river. Chris pulls back, smiles, and hold his key up, saying “Okay, ready?” as my key hit the water with a sad little *bloop.* He stared at me for a second, I stared back, and then he said “alright then” and tossed his in as well. I kinda ruined that moment. But it was funny and it made us laugh.
Back to the story:
-Saw Notre Dame all lit up at night
-Walked the city streets, peering around at all the street vendors, crepe stands, and tacky souvenir stores
And then...I don't know. I got really tired. I kind of imploded actually. I sometimes get this urge when I’m out and about to be at home in bed in pajamas. Is that only me? Probably. But, of course, Chris came to the rescue and cheered me up and took me home, even though I think part of him wanted to stick around and see the night life. I am grateful for him. Could he be any more of a Prince Charming?
And that was Tuesday. Keep in mind that it was 61 degrees and breezy. It was a very, very wonderful day I’ll not soon forget. It was exactly how you’d imagine a day in Paris.
We crashed hard and woke up late Wednesday morning. Wednesday was vastly different than Tuesday, but equally as lovely. We visited places, but our schedule was much more loose. We saw the Sacre-Coeur church, and I couldn’t decide which view was more beautiful-the grandeur and majesty of the inner architecture or the view of the entire city you could see from the outside. As we sat on the steps, a young man played “Hurt” by Johnny Cash on his guitar, a song we both love. It was a really picturesque moment.
The rest of the day we kept open. We wandered the artsy streets of Montmartre and sought out souvenirs for our friends and family. Sorry guys-you’re getting postcards. (I took a trip to Paris for crying out loud, you think I have any cash left?) We hung out in Luxembourg Park for a while, and Chris ended up being my subject as I tested out all the settings on my camera. We stopped when we wanted to and walked down narrow, cobblestone streets that had flower boxes in the windowsills when we didn’t. It was a day full of talking and laughter, something we really don’t get to do much because of our distance situation.
In the evening, we decided to eat at a nicer restaurant, from which you could see the Eiffel Tower. We drank wine and ate a cheese spread and this AMAZING ravioli. I don’t even know what was in it-but oh man was it great. Once we’d had our fill, we bought ice cream from the same place we had the day before and walked around the Eiffel Tower garden as night began to fill the air. The Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour, and we managed to catch it at 9- it was beautiful. We were giddy, full, and falling in love all over again in Paris. Imagine this- the romance of Paris + the “first date” excitement + the comfort of your date being your best friend. It was a good day to be alive. I now know why Paris is a place for lovers. Or is that West Virginia? Either way. You get my point.
Thursday we flew home. When we got back, the sun was just starting to set. Chris begged me to go on a walk on the trails I mentioned earlier, and even though it was cold and windy and I was tired, I couldn’t say no. And I’m glad I didn’t- we walked for over an hour, holding hands and watching the ruby red sun sink under the horizon. It was nice to enjoy the trails in a non-exercising way. They were beautiful- but colder. Way colder. Afterwards we watched Netflix, unpacked and settled in for the night.
On Friday, I took Chris around Copenhagen one last time to cover everything we hadn’t gotten to before Paris. That is, after a breakfast of French toast with raspberry jam and powdered sugar. Which he made, actually. I am so very spoiled. We ate and played hangman on our kitchen wall that doubles as a chalkboard. (I crushed him.) When we finally ventured out, I took him to The Little Mermaid statue, Christiania-aka hippie town, the beach, and the center of the city. It was a cold and windy day. We were getting very good at walking and talking. We tried seeing a star show at the planetarium, and when that didn’t work out, a movie, but we ended up just heading home to warm up and make dinner. We made homemade pizza rolls and macaroni and cheese (Vacation calories don’t count, right?) and watched “Catch Me If You Can” on Netflix.
Chris had to go home early Saturday morning. It was a rainy and gray day, both literally and metaphorically. As always, my heart broke a little when I had to give my last hug and let go of his hand for the last time. But hey, July isn’t that far away right? *muffled sobs*
I’m kidding. I’m okay, but it really was a tough day. It had been such a perfect week. I had such a great time. If you’re reading this, badger, thanks for everything. Miss you mountains.
So there you go: present Christina is going to wrap up this article by saying I hope you enjoyed the journey, and remember to write down your memories...you never know which ones will become priceless.
