New Glasses and the Eiffel Tower

Cheryl and I had been dating only a couple of months.  We were talking after I’d been on a recent business trip or two.  I don’t remember just exactly what prompted her comment – “you know, Bill, you travel more than any person I know.”  It wasn’t an endorsement.

That caused me to do a quick mental scan for coming trips.  It’s better to alert her so at least it’s not a last-minute surprise.  At this point it was mid-December or so, and I said  “Well, I should let you know that in February I’ll be going to London for a European marketing meeting…” and somehow, the next words seemed to flow – “Would you like to go?”  With a brief pause, she replied with a calm and steady “Yes”.

I had already made reservations to London and back.  That wouldn’t make a very good experience for either of us.  She would feel abandoned for the time I was in the meetings; I would miss the opportunities to do things together with her.  I researched alternatives so we could have our own time together.  Instead of a short trip, I mapped out 2 weeks, starting in Paris, then to Rome, then to the UK with some time west of London, then to my meeting in London.  Cheryl liked the plan.  The airfare for that itinerary was lower than the simple trip to London and return.  My boss approved the change.

Cheryl and I flew from San Francisco to Paris for the first stop of our vacation getaway.  It was a big trip for us, early in our relationship.  The Eiffel Tower was a special highlight, and in a way set the tone for the long term.

We took public transportation to the Hotel des Marronniers and checked into what seemed like an idyllic place, and it would have been except for the renovations and jackhammers.  That just meant we wouldn’t try to cure our jet lag right then and would go out to walk around the city right away.

It was February, so dark came early.  We started at the Arc de Triomphe just before dusk and started a walk along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees toward Place de la Concorde.  It was a cool evening, but not cold, and the sky was mostly clear.  Now Cheryl had been struggling to clean her glasses on multiple occasions since long before, and during the trip.  It was obvious the coating had failed, and new lenses were the answer.  And she again tried to clean them about a block into the long stroll down the Champs-Elysees.  I made a mental note “new glasses.”  I’ll be darned, but by chance we passed a LensCrafters just a few stores later. 

“Let’s give it a try!”  And Cheryl followed me in.  It was such a delight.  We were taken in hand to pick out new frames, then they took her to the optometrist to refract her eyes for a new prescription.  It seemed like only minutes, and we could now finish our walk, estimating that we would be back in about an hour.  When we returned, they brought out the glasses and carefully adjusted them.  Adorable!  They looked great.  And hooray, the lenses were clean and clear.

By the time we were done, it was about 9:00 pm, dark, and I was ready to call it a night.  We headed back toward the hotel.  Looking slightly to the right, Cheryl pointed to a tall structure and asked, “is that the Eiffel Tower?”  Yes, of course.  After all, there’s nothing else like it and it’s known around the world.  No mistaken identity here.  “Can we go see it?”  Yes, it would be a great thing to do in the morning.  “Why not now?”  Well, it’s late and it’s probably closed; we can go to the top in the morning.  “If it’s closed, fine, then we can go back in the morning, but I’d really like to see it!”  Ok, we’re going to see the Eiffel Tower tonight, and we started off on the mile or so to get there.

We arrived to find that the elevators to the top were still running and the line was very short.  The Tower had extra lighting to mark its 100^th anniversary.  It looked great.  Going up in the elevator, Cheryl confessed she is anxious about heights.  She turned toward me and planted her face in my chest during the ascent, which was just fine with me.  We exited at the top to a spectacular nighttime view of the city, one I had never seen before.  It sparkled in every direction.  There was a slight breeze, and a small puffy cloud would drift by occasionally.  Any anxiety about heights seemed to evaporate.  She had found the perfect time to visit the tower – a most delightful first day in Paris.