Last night in Paris

What else do you do on your last night in Paris? There is only one obvious
answer- Climb the Eiffel Tower! We waited in line in the freezing cold, for an hour
and a half. We snapped at each other. We eavesdropped on all the American
tourists. We almost gave up and went home... but we stuck it out, and it was so
worth it.

 Climbing up the stairs, I was hoping to get up to the second level and find that
the tourists had dissipated and left a few romantic spots to sit so that we could
take as much time as we wanted, to talk about the year that has been, discuss
our favourite moments, the best bits, the worst parts, and anything else in
between. Unfortunately the Americans were out in force, and I thought that the
reflection would have to wait for another time... But I guess I was wrong about
that too.

 We found a spot looking out over the city. At 11pm, the lights started to twinkle.
Everybody watching on the Champs de Mars and on the Tower itself started to
clap and cheer. And I burst into tears.

I spent the next hour actually sobbing my heart out... Looking out over the city
and picking out the various momuments; Les Invalides, Notre Dame, Le
Pantheon, we were able to  pinpoint exact moments in the year, times we have
spent together, with friends and family. We considered where in the all those that
we love would be, and what they might be doing. We remembered where we
spent lots of our time, riding our bikes across the river, past notre dame, up
towards the pantheon. Once the tears started coming, they just kept flowing! The
tourists kept their distance, obviously thinking we were going through a painful
proposal-gone-awry moment. I felt like this time for me, was almost a grieving
time... a moment to detatch myself from a city so alive in me that I felt like a
little part of my was dying in leaving it behind. Sounds a bit morbib... but it's the
only way I can describe it. There is just so much in this city... so much history, so
much love, so much culture. It has engrained itself into me this year, and to
leave it meant leaving that part of me behind too. This time for me atop the most
famous tower in the world, was necessary for me to leave the city behind,
knowing that Paris will always be there, always being Paris, no matter where we
find ourselves in the world.
Paris, Je t'aime.