LISA COON
Copley News Service
After a proposal of marriage, the natural follow-up question is, "Where do you want to go for a honeymoon?"
When asked this question, I paused until my then future husband said, "Seriously, anywhere you want to go."
"Paris," I said, thinking the idea stood a chance of being nixed. " Me, too," he said.
So, Paris it was. Not just a couple of days in Paris, but a weeklong honeymoon in Paris in late September.
Never having traveled abroad, we researched our options on the Internet. We tried, unsuccessfully, to work with a couple of travel agents.
We decided to plan the trip on our own. We wanted to stay in a small Parisian hotel, dine at cafes, visit the sights, see some shows, tour museums, take a ride on the Seine, see Versailles -- but we wanted to do it on our own schedule.
My husband proposed in May, and we were planning a Sept. 23 wedding -- just four months later. We found that late September is a good time to travel to Paris -- the weather is nice, but the heavy tourist season has passed.
Neither of us speak French, so we did our research, too, buying guides to Paris, maps and phrase books.
Forgetting the agonizingly long flights, a mix-up about our hotel room and a brief panic about a strike among metro workers (who operate the buses, trains and subway), we found Paris completely mesmerizing and captivating.
The superlatives have been exhausted to describe Paris and its treasures -- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe. But we found all to be true. Paris really is a stunningly beautiful city full of culture, art and history.
Everyone -- the clerks at our 13-room hotel, L'Horset St.-Augustin on Roqupine Avenue on the Right Bank; most waiters and waitresses; and the reservation clerks at Paris Vision Excursions, where we booked some of our day tours -- was helpful and friendly. Our phrase book ended up getting little use, usually to decipher a menu item that an English-version menu had failed to translate.
We got around the city using the metro system (it took a couple of days to become comfortable using the trains and subways) and by walking.
Because of a generous exchange rate, we ended up spending very little during our weeklong stay. For meals, we enjoyed the simple offerings at local bistros. A crepe stand near our hotel was a late but memorable find.
A day trip to Versailles broke up our week in Paris. This suburb of Paris is the site of the grandest and most famous chateau in France.
A tour took us through the Galerie des Glaces and the Apartment de la Reine.
One evening out, we had dinner at Altitude 95, a restaurant situated on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower facing the Seine and the Jardins du Trocadero, where fountains and statue gardens are grandly illuminated at night.
The food was not spectacular, but the company was memorable.
After our dinner at the Eiffel Tower, we attended "Feerie," a campy collection of music, comedy, dance and song, at the notorious Moulin Rouge, a cabaret known for it's scantily-clad chorus girls.
We spent a great deal of time at the Louvre, Musée D'Orsay and Musée de l'Opéra, among others, where numerous paintings, sculptures and other works of art are on display.
Notre Dame proved to be a hauntingly beautiful landmark -- both inside and from afar. You need to view the exterior from various angles and vantage points to get the full effect -- from the cathedral's gargoyles and towers to the rosette stained-glass window.
One of our trip's surprises happened our first evening in Paris. A little jet lagged, we wandered out after a much-needed nap. Without a particular destination in mind, we decided to head to the Champs-Elysées, the city's grand boulevard.
As we walked, we came upon the Arc de Triomphe, the world's largest traffic roundabout and meeting point for 12 avenues. Since 1920, the body of the Unknown Soldier has lain beneath it. A memorial flame is rekindled each evening, a ritual that we were able to observe.
At the end of our trip, we spent a fall-like day strolling the Champs-Elysées. It is lined with high-dollar boutiques and high-fashion shops that didn't particularly interest us, but it's a great place to people watch.
We found Paris to be enchanting, beautiful and romantic. It's difficult to fully explain the grandness you feel strolling along this city that is so drenched in history and culture. One thing is for sure, however: Our memories of the City of Light continue to linger.