(This is a painting that we bought together one evening when we were walking along the Seine River. I’m not super big on a lot of little souvenirs or trinkets, but I wanted something meaningful to bring home and I loved this painting the moment I saw it. I also liked that it was not just a mass produced photocopy, but was painted by a local artist.)
So, my last blog left off on day 3. My body hit a wall that day from the jetlag and also from the previous evening’s long walk along the Seine River. I was worn out, stiff, tired and everything hurt. Tim had to work that day and I felt like I “should” get out and do something since I was in Paris. But a short painful walk down the street to grab breakfast convinced me that I really just wanted to go back to our room and rest all day. So I spent my day blogging, reading, resting, and recuperating. It was exactly what I needed and I ended up doing a lot of that on this trip. Whenever Tim was in meetings or working, I read in our room or sat out on our balcony, enjoying the view and people-watching. I let myself do nothing and be lazy and it felt so good. In my every day life, reading for hours or just laying around is not an option and I knew my body/mind/spirit really needed the break. It was wonderful.
The following day (day 4) was our actual anniversary. Although we didn’t really do anything super exciting, this was one of my most favorite days. We enjoyed walking around together, eating at the little street cafes, and seeing the sights of Paris. And really, that was the best thing about this trip… just hanging out and being together without kids. We held hands, we laughed, we talked (without interruptions!), we reminisced, we ate when we wanted to eat, where we wanted to eat, we took pictures of ourselves… it was so much fun just being together.
Tim and I have always had fun together. We get along easy. He’s always made me laugh. He really is my best friend, my most favorite person, the love of my life, my dream come true. He is. But you throw a few (three) kids into the mix and all of a sudden, life gets a little bit stressful. Tension levels can rise at the drop of a hat. There are parenting decisions to be made, schedules to keep, discipline problems to handle, fights to break up, interruptions, distractions, meltdowns and tantrums, dinner times and bathtimes and storytimes and bedtimes to coordinate and make happen every day, and little people that seem to constantly need our time and attention. And things are coming at us and between us all the time. And so for these few days, we had NONE of that. And it was heaven. It was bliss. It was just us and it was amazingly wonderful.
At one point, we stumbled upon this little grassy spot away from the crowds, so we stopped and took some pictures. If you’re curious, I used an app on my iphone called Timercam to take these.
This is one of my favorite pictures ever…
That evening, Tim’s work buddy went with us to take some fancier pictures of us in front of the Eiffel Tower with my real camera. I’m so thankful for these (below). I’m sure you know by now that I am a picture person.
This one will most likely be blown up and hung on the wall.
And that night, we went out to eat at our favorite little French café. It was delicious. The French don’t know how to drink their coffee (can someone introduce them to half and half?!), but they do know how to cook.
The next day (my last day), Tim arranged for a driver to take us out to Giverny to see Monet’s house and gardens. Of all the things I wanted to do, this was on the top of my list.
His gardens are beautiful and I don’t really feel that my iphone pictures do them justice.
This is his famous lily pad pond. This was the part I most wanted to see. You can see his house in the upper right hand corner of the picture and the bridge in upper left corner.
That night, we decided to do what the French do and get a baguette and cheese and eat it along the Seine River. Earlier that day, our driver had highly recommended goat cheese, so we decided to give that a shot. Never again. It was disgusting.
Leaving was sad and hard. I didn’t want it to be over.
But I am so thankful for this trip. It meant so much to me that God arranged all of this for Tim and me. I am overwhelmed at times for His deep love and care for me, for us. His ways are so intimate and personal for each of us. He knows our hearts, our desires, and our needs and goes to great lengths to provide exceedingly more than we can imagine. Paris for me will always be a reminder of His great love to us.