On Saturday, the morning after the wedding, we tried to sleep as much as we could and have a leisurely morning, but I think we still got up relatively early. We all agreed that we needed to go to the Eiffel Tower, but we wouldn't bother with going up in it, so as to avoid the lines. To maximize our sight-seeing times, we decided to walk there.
"Don't mind me, I'm just standing here with this fish."
Everyone in Paris was so gorgeous and so fashionable. It was inspiring. Guess who is NOT Parisian?
"HIIIIII GUYSSS!!!"
But seriously, Katie and I forwent the shoes we'd been wearing all week and went with our sneaks and hiking boots. It was the best idea ever.
I love my husband, brother, and sister-in-law so much. There is a long series of photos in front of this fountain (separate blog post to come) because they were being so silly. This makes me so freaking happy.
Oh my God, that cracks me up.
That afternoon, we played "spot the bride." We found 5! Here are 3!
What a cutie!
True love.
Floating garden!
Another plant building!
Then we were there!
We got some new hats...
Then took a little rest! While there, Katie discovered that we could take photos like this:
The 4 of us spent a lot of time taking photos like this. We are adults.
Then we had to take photos like this:
What happened next was one of the best memories of the trip for me. The side of the park we were on didn't have an exit that we saw. There was a paneled fence that was the outer edge of the park that was knocked down. We didn't realize that we were going to have to walk over the wobbley fence to get out, but that's what other people were doing. I realized that to my left, there was an older hunched over (but well dressed) gentleman in his mid to late 70s (maybe? Or 80s? I don't know) with a cane. He was trying to figure out how he was going to get over the fence. I offered him my hand and asked if he needed help, and he accepted. Together, we traversed the unstable terrain. When we were safely to the other side, he said "Merci" and I didn't recall how to say "you're welcome" in French. He said "Gracias, Danke schoen" and I remembered my German, and said "bitte." Then we parted ways. It was so sweet to me, this little man with soft hands, and that I could offer some help even though we didn't speak the same language. Priceless.
On the way home, we made one last stop to the grocery store and settled in for our last night in Paris. We feasted on bread, wine, cheese, butter with salt, meats and fruits, and it was lovely. Fuzzy and I packed.
This soda was a huge favorite of ours.
I wanted to live in this butter. Huge chunks of salt crystals. Heavenly.
The macarons were our wedding favor. Beautiful and delicious.
The bonus treat of the night is that Jan and Jeremy had to drop something off to Christopher, so they brought over dinner and came and visited with us for a couple fo hours. It was great having some more intimate time with them just for visits and not in the hectic hubub of a wedding. It was sweet and fun and emotional, and such a lovely capper to the night. But they aren't the only ones who came to say goodbye...we had another special visitor!
HENRI!!
Au revoir, mon petit chat!
