Jason told me that we were going away for a long weekend to a surprise location. I thought we were just going up north for the weekend, little did I know what a wonderful surprise was in store. Jason made all the plans, even called my work to arrange the time off and would not let me know where we were going.

On February 8, 1996 trip day had finally arrived! We left the house, stopped at a bank downtown Detroit and drove to the airport. I thought he was just trying to trick me since I was certain that we were just going to go to Traverse City. . . but when we parked the van and took the shuttle to the terminal I was really becoming curious. At this point the destination changed in my mind from a drive up north to a flight to Chicago for our little get away. As we proceeded to check in at the airport I was directed away from the domestic ticket counter to the international check in counter. My heart was racing now. I still had no idea where we were going! As we approached the counter Jason whispered over to the ticket agent that the trip was a surprise and asked the agent to not reveal the final destination. I could hardly stand the suspense! The agent told us to proceed to the gate and it was there that I finally found out that Jason was taking me to PARIS!!! I was completely and totally surprised! Three years later I still can't believe that this really happened.

We arrived in Paris on February 9 and stayed at the Paris Hilton overlooking the Tour Eiffel. What a fantastic view!

We spent the next two days walking around Paris and taking in the sights. Jason thought it would be a relaxing weekend - ha! I wanted to see everything! So we compromised and saw quite a few sights, did lots of walking and relaxed a little bit too.

Friday evening we went to the top of the Tour Eiffel in the evening and viewed the city from the heights. It was breathtaking with all the lights and the snow falling.

On Saturday we went to the Musee de L'Orangerie and saw Monet's Waterlilies and Claude Renoir en clown. We then walked through the Concorde to the Lourvre. We took the City of Lights tour in the evening and saw all the landmarks beautifully illuminated.

Sunday morning we found a bakery and enjoyed our baguette while overlooking the Seine and Eiffel Tower. We took a superb dinner cruise on the Seine with the Bateaux Parisiens cruise line. The food was delicious and the wine was exquisite! It was a wonderful evening of dining and dancing. We would definitely recommend this cruise.

Unfortunately Monday arrived too quickly and it was time to return home. On the way to the airport we stopped at L'Arc de Triomphe for one last picture and then flew home.

Needless to say, I know that I have a wonderful husband who does an excellent job of spoiling me!

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