A year ago today:

At about 23h00 Parisian time, we got engaged. It's a pretty funny story...

Our plan for that day was to spend the majority of it at Parc Astérix, an amusement park outside of Paris. (It's rated 5th best in the world...oh, it rocks...) We woke up late...rather, I woke up late, at almost 11h00. After getting ready, fighting over Tannah's Mobilis pass (he qualified for "Jeune" but they insisted on giving him the adult one) and getting a bite to eat, we finally made it to Parc Astérix, by nearly 14h30. Because of the late hour, and the parc closing by 19h00, we had time only to hit two rides: Tonnerre de Zeus and Trace du Hourra. Tonnerre de Zeus was...terrifying. I had nightmares, I'm not kidding, for months afterwards. I literally prayed for death so the fear could mercifully end. After it jolted to an abrupt stop I almost cried, until Tannah reminded me sternly that we were representing our country. It's hard to cry after a statement like that. Trace du Hourra however was awesome, it's like a bobsleigh ride, on an interesting little sidways track that allows the cars to shift...it's really hard to explain but I think it was seriously cool. We bought the photo they took of us...Tannah's having a great time, I look like I'm trying not to pass out. But really, it was fun. We went to the Gallic Village and saw both Astérix and Obélix, we went through some of the shops (Haribo was an official sponser!) and even had a snack. Tannah loves the French rendition of a hot-dog.

The parc closed that day at 19h00, so we had to catch the bus out at about 18h00. It was sad to leave, I really wanted to see more. But aside from the time and me being incredibly nauseous, we decided to see the Tour d'Eiffel. A Fnac-sponsered concert was just letting out but there was plenty of room to wander and look about. It still wasn't very dark there, even after 20h00, so we had dinner at a sweet little café that served a "country meal", which was basically roast chicken with vegetables and of course, sliced baguette. And fruit! We just sat and talked about everythign really: the character of the buildings behind us, the confusion of our waiter when we asked for non-carbonated water, the day in general. After, it was much darker and we walked back to the Tower.

I remember having no clue whatsoever. Tannah found someone able to speak English and taught her to use our camara to take a photo of us with the Tower in the background. I remember I was impatient and irritated at him because he was taking too long. After she said she was ready, Tannah reached into his daysack, pulled out a small box, kneeled and proposed. I remember almost laughing....I didn't think he was serious. But I saw the ring...a gorgeous ring and the look on his face and I was so shocked. Finally, after I'd stared at him for a good couple of seconds he kind of laughed and said, "You can answer now, you know," and I told him yes. Then I cried, and the girl taking photos cried, and people were clapping, it was really awesome.

I think that was about the most romantic thing, ever. I mean really...Paris? C'mon. You can't beat that.