The arch was built by Napoleon to triumphantly celebrate the return of his troops from battle. The statue on top has been continuously changed over the last 200 years to reflect the sentiment of the times. There’s an unnamed soldier from WWI buried underneath the arch with a flame that’s been burning since 1923. Names from dead soldiers are carved into the sides.

The views from the top are only rivaled by those you’d get from being at the top of the Eiffel Tower. We took lots of pictures at the top and the Basilique du Sacré Cœur can be seen in the distance. Afterwards we walked down one of the most famous streets in the world looking for something to eat.

We had lunch at a cafe on the Champs-Elysees, on a Sunday afternoon when the sun was shining and there was only a light breeze (how often do you get to say that!). It was perfect – definitely my favorite day of our trip so far. Katherine graciously let me do the ordering and we ended up with the right food. Unfortunately my French (which is nothing more than a series of pointing fingers) wasn’t good enough to convey to the lady that we were overcharged.

Sadly, Europeans smoke like there’s no tomorrow. It’s really bad in Limerick and it wasn’t any better in Paris. Parents don’t see any problem with smoking around their children, all day every day. There was a little girl next to us at the cafe that was getting more than her fair share of arsenic.

It was then time to go and we headed back to the bus station. We missed the bus we were supposed to be on but Katherine snuck us onto another one and we eventually got back to Limerick – where it was cold and rainy.

This place was huge.  We went on a mission strictly to find Jim Morrison’s grave (he died in Paris), didn’t find it, and we still spent almost an hour there.  Maybe that’s why they were selling maps at the entrance…

Just think of what a disgusting job that would have been.  For whatever reason, the people in charge of moving the bones decided to be a little creative with the placement of bones within the catacombs.  Piles of bones these are not.  See below for some examples.

Some of the pictures below also show Katherine with a rather hesitant facial expression.  She didn’t know we’d be seeing bones until we were already underground and wanted to get through as quickly as possible.  I told her to pretend we were window-shopping at the mall.  It didn’t work.

When we finally left there was someone at the exit checking bags to make sure no skulls left the tomb.  Many people tried because the table next to him was full of skulls and bones people had tried to smuggle out.

Notre Dame’s biggest asset, I thought, was its stained glass windows.  They weren’t damaged nearly as much as Westminster’s because, well, France put up less of a fight during the last couple of major wars.  There were a few tombs and a big statue of Joan of Arc, but not much else.  We payed a few euros to see the treasury and the papal garments it included.  One of the pictures below is of a bunch of circular gold coin-type things.  These, as far as we could tell, were pictures of every single pope to date.

Since everyone under 26 gets into the Louvre for free Friday night the place was quite busy.  Fortunately for us there were signs pointing toward the Mona Lisa painting and the Venus de Milo statue.  We were rather unimpressed with the Mona Lisa; there were other paintings in the same room that were much better.  I would have encouraged da Vinci to stick with designing helicopters.  Katherine got her picture next to the Venus de Milo and we wandered around for a bit longer before being kicked out.

On a side note, the Louvre used to be a fortress and there’s an area on the lower floor that shows parts of the old medieval wall.  The current building that was put on top of it is a work of art in itself.

From outside the musuem (and most of central Paris) we could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up.  See below.

I had been thinking about this proposal ever since I found the ring in June.  I had no plans on how to deliver it but I knew that I best wait until we were in Europe since that would make for a better story than in Ames, Peoria, or Moline.  We headed to Ireland in September and I still didn’t have any idea how I was going to do this.

After a few weeks we had discovered the beauty of RyanAir and planned multiple trips to European locales.  London, Paris, and Venice were all on the calendar and all three cities contained multiple potential locations to pop the question.  I couldn’t decide.  Like all males, I just waited for something to come to me.

Eventually something did come, in the form of a package deal!  I reserved a place for us in a chaufeurred trip to the river Seine where we would take a cruise around the City of Lights (Paris) and then off to the Eiffel Tower where dinner reservations would be waiting for us.  It sounded pretty good to me, if a bit clichéd.

Weeks passed and we eventually started packing for the Paris trip.  I suggested that we pack some dressy clothes, even if it meant taking a bigger suitcase.  Katherine might have been on to me then.  We eventually got to Paris and spent Friday night and Saturday afternoon seeing the sights before heading back to the hotel to change.  By that time Katherine had given up on asking what we were going to do that night because she knew I was an excellent secret keeper.  We got dressed and headed to the subway.

While on the subway we were serenaded by an accordion player (who wanted spare change) and a crazy lady who spoke French to us.  I assumed she was wishing us well.  Katherine assumed she was a heroin addict with a big knife.  We eventually got off the subway by the opera house and I asked Katherine if she wanted to go inside.  She said “ok,” but it was just a trick of mine to keep her guessing.  We instead headed down the street to a new hotel.  I knew we were supposed to meet our driver at this new hotel, but didn’t know what he/she looked like.  After a few minutes a short guy walked into the hotel obviously looking for someone and I asked him if he was here to pick up a couple.  He was, and we followed him out to the car.

Next was the first surprise: There was another couple in the minivan when we got in.  I was less than pleased but kept smiling.  There was also an issue about payment because the credit card I used was still at home.  I had to pull out another one and sign a new receipt before the van moved anywhere.  “This isn’t too romantic,” I kept thinking to myself, but eventually the van started and we were off.

Our next stop was the Plaza Tour de Eiffel hotel.  The driver said something like “this is the hotel” before getting out and running inside for a few minutes.  I frantically thought “What! We’re supposed to eat in the Tower, not some knockoff hotel!”  It was hard to keep smiling at this point.  Another random person got in the van and we headed off again.

At this point the driver told us where he was going to meet us after the boat ride and dropped us off next to the pier.  This is when I started turning on the charm.  As we were cruising along the river the sun went down and the lights turned on.  We got pictures of Notre Dame and countless bridges before heading back towards the Tower.  At 8:00 the blue lights started sparkling and the pictures didn’t stop for 10 minutes.  When we post our Paris pictures you’ll see what I mean.

We got back in the van and were dropped off next to the Tower, given express tickets to the top, and vouchers for the restaurant.  It took a while to get into the restaurant and I seized the opportunity to scope out proposal locations.  We walked around the first level, peering over the edge to get a look at the park.  I picked out a spot in the middle of the gardens.  Then we went to eat.

Katherine and I both chose the same appetizer and main course.  Our appetizer consisted of grilled vegatables wrapped in a strip of ham.  The Irish guy next to us looked at it the same way I did.  But I struggled through all of it, out of love.  Next came duck – which was really good – and au gratin potatoes.  I scarfed those down and waited for my cheesecake.  Katherine got an apple tartlet and ice cream, which was apparently quite good, and I then suggested we go for a walk around the other side of the tower.

Once we got back to the bottom I was in a predicament.  The ring was still in my wallet, in my pocket.  I needed to get it out and into my shirt pocket ahead of time, so I asked Katherine to take a picture of the west side of the tower – so we could have pictures of all four sides – while I dug the ring out quickly.  That didn’t work because Katherine wanted me to be in the picture too.  “That’s fine,” I said happily.  I next asked Katherine if her camera was good enough to capture the beacon on top of the tower.  Knowing that she can’t acquiesce to a challenge I had a few seconds to get the ring into my pocket.

When we wandered over to the spot I had picked out I was calming my nerves in preparation when two soldiers carrying assault rifles walked by.  This killed the moment, and we kept walking.

We made it to a bench (see the spot on our maps page) on the outskirts of the park and I worked up the courage to make my proposal.  Katherine accepted and someone applauded.  All was well.

Katherine’s Perspective

Well…..that’s almost what happened. First of all, Mark was willing to pack dressy clothes (suit shirt, tie, and another pair of shoes!), even if that meant having to check in our luggage (which cost extra money). Something was up. Once we got off the subway I had no idea where we were headed. Opera house? That would be ok, but that’s not where we went. Instead we walked a ways and I kept asking how much farther. We turned into a fancy hotel and sat down. I assumed we would be headed to the Eiffel Tower that night, since we had yet to visit it, but this didn’t look like Mark’s plan. Hmmm…

When we reached the security check point at the Eiffel Tower, Mark placed his wallet in the coin tray, a bit suspicious. When I asked him about it, he seemed to think credit cards were metallic. I told him I had just walked through the detectors with my watch on, undetected.

Putting the pieces together – dressy clothes, surprise cruise and dinner, Eiffel Tower – I thought a proposal might be next on the list, but after we finished eating we talked for quite a while with the Irish couple seated next to us. We discussed everything from engineering to our travels around Europe. I thought, “Well, maybe not today…” We had a set departure time with Oscar (our driver) and that time was drawing nearer and nearer. It was then that Mark suggested we go for a walk.

Viewing the backside of the Eiffel Tower is not nearly as impressive as the front – no stars, only warning lights for airplanes – but Mark insisted we photograph the tower in its entirety. He asked me if I thought my camera was good enough to photograph the rotating warning beacon atop the tower. What? He was very interested in this safety feature….I thought he had too much kir at dinner…

Well, if we’re taking another picture (to add to the collection of the 19+ pictures I had already taken), I thought Mark should be in it too. This still wasn’t enough. He wanted yet another picture. “Ok,” I said and took picture number 21 of the tower.

We headed towards a park bench away from the crowds of people and sat down. Mark got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, slipping the ring on my finger. I said yes and we heard an applause nearby. The perfect ending to the evening.