Sunday evening, we went to our dinner cruise, refreshed by our 3 hour nap and a good shower. We are so lucky that the apartment has three full bathrooms, so Juston and I have our own, lovely bathroom with the only walk in shower. it is so wonderful.
We walked over to the Eiffel Tower, where our cruise dock was. The walk was only about a mile, which went by so quickly. The architecture here is the most gorgeous, most elaborate, and most consistently detailed I have ever seen in my life. When we got near the tower, it was like we were in a dream. There is no way I can put into words how it felt. All I can say is that it was very romantic.
We got our tickets for the cruise (happy some spoke english), and we boarded our assigned boat. We were glad Juston had worn his jacket, as it was very fancy. For our 108 EU each, we were unsure of what kind of value we'd be getting...but this cruise was worth double. The entire boat had glass rooftop, so despite our 2 person table in the center of the back of the boat, we had fabulous views. For appetizers, we had prawns with vegetables, and smoked swordfish. For our entrees, we had duck & beef tournedos. Then, we had a cheese plate. Finally, we finished with Grand Marnier crepes & a chocolate praline dessert which was thebest I've ever tasted. We had a bottle of champagne, a bottle of chardonnay, and a bottle of merlot. Oh my gosh, needless to say, everyone on the boat was pretty happy when we finished the cruise! Also, the end of the cruise was at 11pm, so the tower was sparkling its hourly after-dark activity when we arrived at the dock.
We sat next to a table of two ladies who were from Philadelphia. One of the ladies had lost her husband to pancreatic cancer about 2 months ago, and they had already planned this Paris trip for the 2 of them. Unfortunately he passed on before he could spend the week in Paris with his wife (they had been there 4 other times). But, she vowed to go on the trip, and she took her best friend. It was bittersweet, and she only cried at the end. She told us at the end that in the middle of the cruise, they had taken a small pouch of his ashes and spread them out over the river, on the back deck. She said that I should cherish my time with Juston, and that we should never argue, because at the end its not worth it. What an inspiring story this woman told. It was certainly impactful. They made us go dance on the dancefloor, and like proud moms they came & took pictures of us. It was so funny & cute, but it was a good reminder of how good humans can be.
We ended our evening at a small cafe one street over from our apartment. Then, we came back to the balcony & had champagne on the balcony, overlooking the Arc de Triomphe. We finally got to bed about 4AM. I'd say our first day was a huge success!
We are uploading all 200 pictures we took on the cruise on FLICKR right now, and I'll post the link to the photos in a bit.
Cheers!
Ashley
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