Saying Au Revoir! (Final France Post)

After our full day of shopping in Paris, and with only a few hours left of our vacation, Dennis suggested we finish our stay in the City of Light right where we began it - the Eiffel Tower!  Perfect suggestion!

When we got there near dusk, it was a Saturday night, and a madhouse.  People EVERYWHERE, and armed military with big guns there to enforce the peace, not that there were any problems, just lots of people.  It wasn't like this at all on Tuesday night when we came the first time. On Tuesday it felt like the tower was ours.  Now it felt more like the tourist trap I had expected.  I was so glad we weren't going up this time, because the lines were really long!  

But even with the crowds, the Eiffel Tower still held it's magic for us, because regardless of the number of people, the attraction is UP, above the din.  When you look up, the crowds disappear, and it is just you and the tower again!

See the beautiful detail in the architecture? Really lovely with the turning leaves.

My own thoughts about France are many and varied.  I LOVED it, and I felt very at home there, much more that I thought I would.  Every single person we met in France was very friendly, and the reputation they have for being rude is completely off!  They are lovely, warm people!  I was afraid that not speaking French would be a huge hindrance, but I found French pretty easy to decipher when written (but forget about it when spoken - Oh my!)  The French people were all very accommodating with speaking English when they knew it and patiently worked with us when they didn't.  But I loved how they sounded when they spoke, and i loved trying to pronounce the words in the fluid, melodic way that they did.  I felt like I could learn French easily if I tried.  I felt like I could live there and be very happy there.  Gertrude Stein said, "America is my country, but Paris is my hometown."  I know just what she means!

Since I've been home, so many people have asked me what my favorite part of the trip was.  That is such a hard question.  I'll think of one thing that was wonderful and think that must be it, then think of another thing, and think that must be it.  But in the end, I had no favorite part.  What I do have, though are favorite themes running through my head.  Here are just a few of my favorites:  Monet and art, gardens, architecture, Marie Antoinette, the royals and the revolution, churches and graveyards, beautiful markets and shops, and of course, the Eiffel Tower.  There is more, so much more, and the pictures will pop into my head, to be sure, for years to come - and I will smile each time they do.  Ahh...France!

The sun lowered on the horizon, and began to set on our vacation as well.

At the end of the day there was nothing left to do but sit on a park bench to watch the sunset - 

broken by the strong lines of the silhouette of the tower jutting into the purple and orange sky.

Then came dusk.  There were people everywhere lying on their blankets, just like the 4th of July, just waiting - waiting for the tower to light up and enjoying the lovely cool evening.

We found the perfect bench just under the tower with a clear view right to the top.  I set up tripod before we enjoyed our picnic dinner - a rotisserie chicken we had picked up on Rue Cler, goat cheese the cheese seller had selected for us at the fromagerie on the same street, and, of course, the heavenly half loaf of fresh crusty round bread from the famed Poilane bread shop we had visited earlier that day.  It was the perfect meal, if I have ever had one (rivaled only by the lunch of bread, Parmesan, prosciutto, tomatoes, plums, and olive oil that we enjoyed in the hills of Tuscany overlooking the Duomo of Florance a few years back!)

 And yes, while I am certain there were better meals to be had in some of the finest restaurants in Paris that night, I am also fairly certain that none of them could have had better ambiance or a better view!!!  

Romance was in the air!

In the end, the sun went down, the lights went up and then...

..BAM...

It was all SPARKLES in the City of Light!!!