Best. Anniversary. Ever.

I got married today.
A year ago, today.
It was awesome.
Some have called it, in fact, "the awesomest awesome that ever awesomed."
It ruled.
So, in memory of that splendid day, my wife and I decided to jerk around Paris all day long.
We just hung out together in lieu of crazy gifts from Dior and Gaultier; really, we didn't want to spend all kinds of money on gifts that we would probably put out on card tables in a few years at someone's garage sale, with little neon orange stickers attached that read "$1" or "Make me an offer."
Paris is loaded with ritzy restaurants. One of them, L'Arpege, charges around 300 euros a person (that's about four hundred and twenty dollars right now) for simple courses like an organic tomato picked hours earlier, sliced and dressed with a bit of sea salt and a drop of Balsamic. Yikes.
We didn't go there. I can't afford that tomato.
Instead, we just walked all day long, and spent the day together.
We started the day on our new friend Sylvain's house boat. It is moored on the Seine in full view of the Eiffel Tower. Sylvain congratulated us on making it a whole year and presented us with a variety of cheeses (brie, chevre, bleu, funky), two fresh baguettes, a huge salad of fresh tomato, avocado, bib lettuce with olive oil and mustard, and two bottles of red wine from the Languedoc region of France. It was a sunny day and breezy, as we listed our way through lunch. Sylvain and his wife Catherine are wonderful people. We talked about the organic foods movement, music, Paris, the war in Iraq, finance, language, photography, restaurants, fashion- you name it, we covered it. After lunch, we had a fruit salad of mangoes and apples and pears, and a nice tasse of espresso (which I have started to drink 'cause I likes the shakes). It was wonderful.
After heading out from there, we walked over to the Place de la Concorde and saw the gigantic Egyptian obelisk. It is pretty phallic, so that was nice.
Later, we took a leisurely stroll down the Seine, arm in arm. It was beautiful. The afternoon sun through the birch trees that line the quai, the breeze in the air, the lapping of the river.
Gradually we made our way over to Hotel de Ville (the town hall), and we called our families.
Hi Mom!
After that, we stood out with the three hundred or so people standing and staring at the side of the town hall. The French have decided that this Louis the 16th era building would be a bit more impressive than it already is, if a gigantic screen was laid over it to show the rugby game on.
Today was France v. Russian Georgia. France needed to win this game to secure their place in the quarter finals of the coup du monde. They did; an easy 65 to 7 win.
It was so cool to tell Ruta that I was ready to go, and to hear her say, "No, I want to see this. Its so passionate." I think I have a convert. The French though; these people are nuts for this game, and they keep getting crazier. The statues of water nymphs around the fountains, you know, those bronze statues of topless women who sit in the fountains and shoot jets of water out of their breasts all day, well, they have been made to wear French rugby jerseys. I love that. Someone four hundred years ago carves this woman out of bronze as a gift for the king to proclaim the eternal glory of France, and today, she is shouting "Go get 'em boys!" all while still shooting jets of water out of her four hundred year old nipples. I mean, come on, that's hot.
I wish I could do that.
After the rugby/nipple fiasco, we headed over from Rue de Rivoli (where the game was, and one of thee shopping districts of Paris, where Ruta will spend her day tomorrow), we walked on down to St. Germain. I showed Ruta a famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. It is several rooms of a centuries old monastery that have been loaded with books from floor to ceiling. This book store has been visited and written about by the likes of Henry Miller and Anais Nin, so it is pretty famous. I bought a copy of Victor Hugo's masterwork Les Miserables, since I live on the street where the whole thing takes place, and the house where he wrote the book is about three blocks down from me, right now. I thought it was appropriate.
After that we had dinner at one of Paris's few vegetarian restaurants: Le Grenier de Notre Dame. It was a wonderful and romantic dinner in a tiny little place on a tiny little street. We toasted one year of marriage and talked about our favorite memories of this trip and the past year.
When dinner was over, we walked across the street to Notre Dame Cathedral. We went in and sat down. I thanked the universe for sending me this incredible woman and lit a candle for the monks in Myanmar. It felt good to be grateful for someone else; I am aware that this marriage, any marriage, takes more than the two people involved to work. It takes a lot of luck and communication and laughter, but mainly, she is my best friend. I am so grateful for her. We're really lucky to have each other.
We strolled back over the bridges of the Isle Saint Louis, and I kissed her in the moonlight. An old man in the background played La Vie en Rose on accordion and the lights from the Eiffel Tower reflected on the river. It was a perfect moment in my life.
We got back to the apartment and exchanged paper gifts.
And so now I sit here writing this blog, while she finishes her book. Tomorrow is her last night in Paris until November.
Its funny how much time I spent waiting for her to come, and now that she is going, I will miss her, but I am all the more excited for the rest of my time here.
I am not so lonely now, and after all that I have to remember until she comes back, I don't think I will be lonely anymore at all.
I am glad for that.