After packing up the car for one last time, we began the final journey back to Paris. The drive was nice, relatively uneventful, and the traffic in Paris wasn't anything to complain about. It was an odd drive though. As to be expected, the atmosphere was one of mixed emotions. As we drove nearer to Paris, the landscape almost immediately turned back into the green sloping hillsides, with old castles here and there, and that rural cottage-esque feel that I had missed so dearly from our beginning travels. It felt like we belonged, as though we had lived here all our lives, and we were just coming home after a long journey. It also felt like the ending of an incredible book - you know? Like the last page of a book that you just don't want to end? It was exactly the same emotion. At the same time, knowing that this was the final call, we grew even more excited to get back home to our friends and family, and our dog Moses, but also sadder at the notion of leaving this beatiful and exciting part of the world. So yeah, mixed emotions.
We stopped for a quick lunch to let us keep moving, and managed to arrive in Paris around 2:30pm-ish. Our to-do list was relatively short. We first had to check-in to our hotel and clean out the car, and then I drove the car over to the offices where we had received it (which was about a ten minute walk from the hotel, I'd planned it that way). It was a really sad experience that was thankfully quick and easy, I've grown to love that car soooo much. It got us through some crazy driving experiences, and never failed us once. It makes me sad that they don't sell Peugeot's here in North America. I chatted with the lovely secretary there in a mix of French and English until the guy came out to check the car and have me sign some forms. As I had expected, not a scratch or damage found. I was out in no time, and found my way back to the hotel pretty easily.
Once back at the hotel, I had some trouble getting up to my room, lol. First of all, I should explain that this hotel was a four star hotel incomparable to any we've stayed at thus far. It's luxurious to the nines. In my haste I had forgotton my room number, so I had to awkwardly go over to the concierge and mention my dilemma. He laughed. Then he gave me the number. I went over to the elevator to go to my floor, and pushed the button... ... nothing... so I pushed again... ummm... nothing happened still... that's when I realized that this place has special keycards that get you access to everything, and Lindsay had ours with her up in our room. So, once again, I made the walk of shame to the concierge, who almost seemed to know that I'd have to come back... bastard guy, lol. He handed me a new keycard and I was off.
In... wait for it... ... ... ... ... credible. The room was beautiful! The bed was the most comfortable I've ever laid or slept in, the bathroom was huge and had a shower and a separate bathtub, and our view was pretty decent overlooking modern Paris in La Defense. We got settled, grabbed our cigars and camera's, and went out for our last night on the town. We played it really loose, and figured really on just going down to the Tuillerie Gardens to see how they looked now closer to Spring (not to mention our first time there it was raining), and then to go to dinner near the Eiffel Tower, ending the night with a cigar while overlooking the Tower from below.
The gardens still weren't blooming, but you could see life on it's way for sure, and I can only imagine what it would have looked like. There were, however, alot of people there. It's plain to see that tourist season is now in full swing. We then strolled up the Champs once more to see the Arch D'Triomphe, as it seemed like the right thing to do. We just tried to take it all in, attempting to sear it all in our memories. I quickly remembered how much I love Paris, it's such a fascinating and beautiful place. After enjoying the Arch, we grabbed the subway over to the Eiffel Tower. We decided to have dinner again at the same italian restaurant we ate at the first time we went to the Tower. It was a nice meal the first time, and we had wanted to try their pizza if we ever went back. So try we did! Amazing, incredible pizza. Better than any pizza we had when we were actually in Italy.
After dinner, we strolled peacefully through the many African dudes trying to sell their crappy tourist crap, and over to the Eiffel Tower. I think it's the most beautiful at nightime. The steel structure looks less like steel in the dark, and is brilliantly light up, also feature a wicked awesome strobe light show with thousands of strobe lights that flash for about five minutes every hour. It's really incredible to watch - though epileptics may consider averting their eyes... I'm jus' sayin'... might be a good idea. We found a nice bench that took in the whole Tower, and smoked our cigars in relative peace - despite some a--hole French police who hassled Lindsay for no good reason. You can ask Lindsay, I was about to get up in their face had they not left us when they did. Didn't speak english my ass, they were jerks. Anyways, it didn't bother us once they left. All in all, a nice night.
We made it back to the hotel and put the finishing touches on our masterful packing job, lol we're just glad nothing broke in our suitcases on the flight back, phew. After packing, we turned in and had the most fantastic sleeps of the trip, and I'm pretty sure my whole life, lol. It was so comfy. I never wanted to leave that bed, lol. This morning was pretty calm, which is what I was hoping for. With no scrambling left to do, we simply went down for the breakfast included. Holy crap, was this hotel amazing. The breakfasts that we've had so far have been lame. This breakfast was fit for royalty. They had eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, breads, cheeses, EVERYTHING! and it was ALL incredible tasting. We were so sad though because we didn't want to stuff up and have stomach aches on the plane ride. So we were forced to eat reasonably, which sucked lol.
After breakfast, our hotel called our cabbie, and that was it. The end arrived at approximately 9am, on this day Saturday the 28th of March. The cab ride was short, and we found ourselves at the airport with a decent amount of time to spare... which was lucky, because it took us over and hour to get through the security gate! The line was massive, and we experienced our first true dose of the rude Frenchman. They were cutting into line left right and centre, pissing off countless travellers. It was really a shame. Anywho, we made it through without worrying, and had a relatively nice flight back. The turbulence was minimal, and I managed to watch a bunch more great movies. It was great to see my mom and dad at the airport to pick us up, I even teared up a bit for no apparent reason. It made me laugh. We picked up our little buddy Moses who was living with Lindsay's family for the past month, and he was so stoked to see us. The feeling was mutual. Now we're home, mostly settled in, and life has seemingly returned to the way it was. The trip was unforgettable, and I'm so happy to have had shared the experiences with the person I love the most in this whole world (aka Lindsay). And with that, I leave this link to a few more picture of our last day, as well this appropriate picture of Moses I just took to show how happy he is to be back home. Cheers!
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