What is there to worry about? It's just a tiny piece of jewelry that I'm transporting from one continent to another to try and pull off a noteworthy ask. But it's not just any ask. It's the ask. The one she will always remember and I wanted to get it right.
It was our first full day in Paris. Everyone was looking to me to be the tour guide. I enjoy planning so I didn't mind. I had just one primary place to go for the day and it's arguably the one site that symbolizes Paris, if not all of France. We packed up our gear and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.
I had several things that made me worry about pulling this off. I had to get us to the Tower which meant learning the subway system. I had to get us into the Tower which was somewhat questionable because of the sheer volume of tourists. It is possible to be told the Tower is closed because of the number of visitors. But most importantly I had to safely get the ring from Nashville to Paris.
I bought the ring months ago. It was beautiful. I worried over carrying it in my luggage versus my carry-on. I worried over airport security pulling it out in front of Catina asking what it was. I worried someone would pick-pocket the ring around the Tower. When we reached the Tower I was shocked to see the sign said the top level was closed. Groan. That might put a kink in my plan. Well, we could reach the second level so we'd start with that. At least the line was much shorter than I thought it would be. After 30 minutes and two security checks we were in.
The Eiffel Tower is incredible. We could see it from a distance when we came up from the metro. The closer we got the more massive it seemed. It's nearly 1000 feet high and 400 feet wide at the base. Each corner of the base has it's own elevator car to go up to the second level. From there you can take another elevator to the top to view the city. There are two restaurants, shops and a champagne bar on the tower. The view at any level is fantastic.
After walking around the first two levels for a while and taking lots of pictures I checked once again about going to the top. Catina and mom were both content and didn't understand why I wanted to go up so bad. I passed it off as we're here and I didn't want to miss it. Eventually the top level reopened and up we went.
The top level is much smaller and it was crowded with people. Eventually some of the crowd dwindled and I had the break I was looking for. I handed mom my camera and said this is one photo you're going to want to get. I turned to Catina and pulled a red box from my bag. She later said her heart dropped into her stomach at the sight of it. I dropped to one knee telling her how much I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I opened the box as the crowd watched, showed her the ring and asked her to marry me. Tears ran down her cheeks as she said yes.
We are engaged. It's official now. Despite all the planning for the wedding this one piece is now in place. The best part is she gets to wear her engagement ring as we tour the rest of 'The City of Love.'
