Scott and I recently celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary. I like to throw in the caveat that we have also been in a relationship for over 17 years. 17 years! Almost half of my lifetime has been shared with my husband, and in that sense, it feels like a natural progression.
My husband likes to call our anniversary an accomplishment. While that was not my first thought, it is certainly significant to know that we have stuck together through some big hurdles. Over the years, we have figured out how to be in a serious relationship together. We have learned how to trust each other, respectfully disagree and support each other. It’s certainly been a journey. A bumpy, wonderful, challenging, developing journey.
We decided to keep the celebration light. “Let’s do a nice night out in the city,” I suggested. We found a nice boutique hotel in Philadelphia, made reservations at Philly’s token French restaurant and arranged for the kids to spend the night at Babcia’s. With three little kids, a sleep away night in the city is always a serious treat.
Well, for my husband, this celebration would just not suffice.
When we arrived to the hotel that afternoon to check in, I walked into a room filled with roses, champagne on ice and a stack of colorful macaroons. We had ironically booked a French boutique hotel. That was enough of a surprise to make our own little holiday feel even more special. I thought, ‘This is so much, but yes -10 year married warrants all the things!’
He wasn’t done.
Scott proceeded to hand me a beautifully designed card with delicate, pretty pink flowers along the periphery. “What is this?” “I didn’t get you anything else…” I told him.
Inside he had personalized and designed a long weekend away to Paris, France. “I think 10 years is a real accomplishment that should be celebrated,” he mentioned.
The invitation included a full itinerary, including a day trip to Reims, France (Champagne) for a tour of multiple vineyards and champagne tasting, a food & wine walking tour in Montmartre and a guided tour at the Louvre.
I cried. I was in disbelief. Prior to having our children, Scott and I traveled a lot. We went to several countries in Europe on a few different occasions and share some of our fondest memories from those trips. We visited my family in Poland, mistakenly booked a hotel on Las Ramblas in Barcelona where it was rowdy all hours of the night, had pints of beer in Galway, Ireland while listening to live Irish folk music, paid a fortune for a measly hot dog lunch while observing some of the most expensive cars of all time drive by in Geneva, Switzerland and had some of the best meals of our lives in Nice, France, to name a few.
My husband and I feel the same way about traveling. We enjoy trips to places that are rich in culture and history. We love to try new foods, meet locals, tour historic sites and get lost in old world cities. Of all of our places, we both absolutely fell in love with France.
The rumor is that the French are rude. They don’t like foreigners, and they’re snobby.
Maybe there are scenarios where that can prove itself to be true, but Scott and I found the opposite. We bought a small translator book and tried to communicate with the locals. In places like Paris, it didn’t matter. Just about everyone speaks English so as soon as they saw a hesitation or heard our American pronunciation of anything, they would kindly reply in English. “OK. English menu?”
We tried! Overall, it was well received. The locals were kind, helpful and often curious. “Ohhh. Where are you from?” We had wonderful experiences.
Perhaps the best thing we did was get lost. We booked a small boutique hotel farther away from the main tourist attractions. Looking back, perhaps this was a financial decision, but it proved to be a wise one. We walked everywhere. We used the metro at times… but mostly, we walked. We explored and turned down intriguing roads. We found cute little patisseries, sat outside at countless restaurants and admired the beautiful historic architecture that gives the city some of its fame. We both look back at those experiences as some of our favorites, and my husband felt compelled to return and experience them again.
So, return we did.
This time around, things were a little different. With my long COVID diagnosis, I needed a nice nap after a day of exploring on most evenings. As we are also now in our mid 30s, Scott and I also found that getting lost in the city and bar hopping after midnight was just not quite as enticing as it was 8 years ago.
Regardless, it was a wonderful trip. Paris never loses it’s appeal. It rained most days off and on, but it didn’t matter. We learned that it rains most of the time this season, and the French just deal with it. People were still found sitting outside under little canopies, drinking wine or having an espresso, at all hours of the day, in pouring rain. Who cares. The French certainly don’t. They accommodate and dress the part.
My husband’s itinerary was perfect. He planned one event each day, leaving ample time to simply explore the city. Once again, we walked and walked and walked. This time, this had a dual meaning for me. Instead of serving to be an excellent transportation method in a fascinating place, it also taught me that my physical endurance is still there. Since my long COVID diagnosis, I have been very cautious with exercise and taking ample time to rest, as recommended. My ability to walk for hours revealed that I could possibly push my limit a bit.
The trip was perfect because it suited our interests. We mutually enjoy cooking and fine dining. The love for food is a big part of our relationship. One of our fondest memories from our first date is inhaling cheeseburgers together at Chilis. OK, maybe I was the one who inhaled, and simultaneously became more attractive to my now husband.
Cooking is therapy for me and a fun hobby for my husband. He recently found himself making pasta from scratch with our kids, and I will regularly involve the children in my baking experiments. Top Chef is our favorite show and we both appreciate fine dining as an art form.
We also enjoy alcohol. Sitting at an outside cafe in Paris enjoying a glass of wine or a beer while people watching is such a pleasure for us. Exploring vineyards and the art of making champagne is fascinating and fun. On this trip, we learned that champagne was invented by French monk, Dom Perignon. A religious monk! We had the opportunity to visit his church and tomb in Reims, Paris and learn his story. We explored the vineyards and the beauty and complexity of champagne making.
This was Scott’s second visit to the Louvre and my fourth, but it was both of our first times with a personalized guided tour. It was incredible. Did I always find history this fascinating? Why didn’t I study art history? The hunger to learn it all emerged. I found myself googling the history of French royalty and different styles of art per decade. I thought of how cool it will be for my children to study world history and read their books along with them. I wanted to see more, learn more, experience more. As our guide gently put, “It would take 4 days straight to explore the entire museum.” Looks like we will have to return again.
Perhaps there is a reason the city has such a reputation. Call it cliche, call it un-original. Again, who cares. Personally, it is a special place for us for many reasons. It also awakened our interest to travel. We can’t wait to take the kids on some of these trips, but also recognize that a trip for our children to Paris would be very different and fairly silly at this point. Maybe in another 10 years…
For now, we have new experience and memories to savor. I don’t neglect the fact that we are extremely lucky to have these opportunities. Travel, study and art are luxuries. We are beyond blessed to have the ability to enjoy them. Similarly, we are blessed to have each other. We have worked, yes worked, at creating a strong relationship, growing family and comfortable lifestyle for ourselves over the last 10 years. With that, we have been blessed with endurance, faith and love.
I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate 10 years married. I already told Scott that 20 years should be celebrated in Hawaii with the entire family (Hawaii is on my bucket list).
After all, he’s right… these are big accomplishments.
Breath sounds and bubbles 