So… the blog left off a few days ago with Carl leaving
Mauritania to head to Paris. Although he
ended up taking the long way there (Nouakchott -> Dakar -> Istanbul ->
Paris), he ended up in Paris to meet up with me for a vacation before he headed
back to Houston. Amazingly, his entire
collection of luggage ended up in Paris too!
Carl got to Paris late Wednesday night and I arrived a few short hours
later. Although the Charles de Gaulle
Airport is huge, we managed to find each other (sometimes it pays to be married
to a man who usually thinks of every contingency in advance). I walked out of the international baggage
claim area and saw my long, lost husband standing there waiting for me. Needless to say, I wrapped my arms around him
and didn’t let go for a long time.
When I finally did release Carl from the enormous embrace,
he asked me what I wanted to do in Paris.
I rattled off all the “touristy” stuff I thought about visiting during
our trip. After about the fifth venue,
Carl interrupted me and said, “I don’t think we’ll have enough time for all
that since we’re going to Monaco!” WHAT
A SURPRISE! Eleven years ago, before I
ever met Carl, he traveled to Monaco during Christmas Leave at the Naval
Academy and stayed with his friend, DJ, and his mom, Linnane. Over the years, Carl’s talked about the
beautiful scenery along the French Riviera.
Carl’s always had an open invitation to return and I’ve always wanted
him to take Linnane on the offer. Well,
as a surprise present for our 9th Wedding Anniversary, Carl finally
decided to take Linnane on her long-standing offer. My husband, in typical fashion, planned the
surprise trip since May; coordinating flights, arranging hotels, and making all
the other preparations to ensure a wonderful experience. How he kept it a secret is beyond me!
Linnane is a very dear friend to both of us because had it
not been for her encouraging (strongly, as in practically twisting his arm)
Carl to attend a church conference 10 years ago when she was visiting him in
Pensacola, Carl and I would never have met.
However, despite the significant impact she played in our lives, I never
had the chance to meet her until this trip.
Carl’s stayed in touch with Linnane over the years, primarily by e-mail,
but schedules just never cooperated for a meeting until now.
Wanting to make this a perfect trip, we flew a few
hours after my arrival in Paris down to Nice, France and then took a helicopter
ride to the heliport in Monaco. The view
was amazing!
After a late night out on the town, we took the hotel shuttle to the Harbor
the following morning. Some of the
yachts and sailboats there were spectacular!
On our way back from walking around the Harbor, we got on the wrong bus
and ended up taking an impromptu tour of Monaco before returning to our
hotel. Another surprise awaited after
our bus tour… an hour-long massage with Linnane’s regular masseuse. That woman (Yoko was her name) has magical
fingers!!!! While I was getting my
massage, Carl and Linnane picked out a wonderful restaurant for dinner that
night. We had a wonderful meal and
enjoyed chatting away for hours.
Our last day in Monaco had me asking Carl if this was
someplace the State Department could send us (hey, a girl can dream, can’t
she?). It was so lovely I didn’t want to
leave, but after a helicopter ride back to the airport in Nice, we were soon on
our way back to Paris (albeit after a 90 minute plane delay due to
weather). After landing in Paris, we
immediately jumped in a cab and drove to our hotel. Carl, knowing how short our time in Paris
would be and how much I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, booked us a hotel that
was only a 5-minute walk to the Eiffel Tower.
We arrived at the Eiffel Tower a few minutes before midnight just in
time to see it lit up and twinkle (which happens on the hour).
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| Eiffel Tower at night |
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| It lights up and sparkles at night each hour |
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| Right before we went under the Eiffel Tower |
Of course, right after that, it started to drizzle and get
chilly (the weather delay in Nice was due to a cold front passing through – in
August!). We didn’t let the rain or
chill in the air deter us from walking the ten extra minutes to stand under the
Eiffel Tower and share a very romantic kiss – just like the movies. We walked back to the hotel, completely
drenched, and collapsed in bed knowing we had to wake up less than 4 hours
later to start the process of heading back home. I say process because we had to (1) find a
cab to take us to the airport, (2) catch the airport shuttle to Carl’s first
hotel in Paris where he left two large bags so we didn’t have to drag them down
to Monaco with us, (3) catch the shuttle again to go back to the airport, (4)
get me checked in for my flight on Air France, and then (5) get Carl checked in
– in different terminal – for his flight on Lufthansa/United. Although there were a lot of moving pieces,
we made it everywhere we needed to be on time (largely in part because Carl
thrives when it comes to travel planning and airport logistics). Although I was sad to see this magical
vacation end, I know Carl was anxious to get back to Houston and see the
kids. It was a wonderful time for me to
reconnect with Carl after his 2-month TDY and a wonderful time for Carl to
reconnect (and me connect) with Linnane after all this time.
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| Finally together again! |
