Page 97 of Never Stop

But we didn’t need a lock to symbolize our love. We were the real deal. The forever kind.

After taking a picture with the water in the background, we decided to walk the streets toward the church. We were getting hungry and had found a bakery with sandwiches. That was also where we had our first taste of French pastries, and I was hooked. The bakery was called Paul or Boulangeries Paul which translated to Bakeries Paul (Paul’s Bakery).

We had waited in line, everyone speaking French and the labels of each item in French as well. I stared at the case and pointed to a sandwich I thought was ham. Turned out, it was ham. Except it was more. So much more.

Paul introduced me to a ham and butter sandwich.

“I don’t know what I’m eating, but it’s fucking good,” I said with a mouth full.

“Mine too,” Easton agreed.

I examined the sandwich closer and said, “I’m pretty sure this is ham. And I think… butter.” The meat and spread were on a soft French baguette. There was nothing else, but it tasted like heaven.

Easton tilted his head to the side a little as though he were thinking. “The tag said Jambon Beurre. Maybe that’s ham and butter?”

I smiled. “We’re gonna be fluent in French soon.”

He had laughed. “I’m not so sure about that, but I am thinking I need to start making us ham and butter sandwiches. The way you moan when take a bite,” Easton leaned closer and whispered, “makes my dick start to get hard.”

We quickly ate the rest of our lunch.

Our next stop was Notre-Dame. We didn’t only take pictures of the outside like the other two locations, we went in. First, we waited in line with other tourists for a half hour. Once we were in the famous medieval cathedral, it took my breath away. High arches and pillars, magnificent stained glass, candles throughout, sculptures, the Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, one of the Holy Nails, Jesus Christ on a cross were all so… awe-inspiring.

We spent an hour or so walking around, examining the history. It was amazing. Absolutely breathtaking.

Afterward, we got back on the water-boat, chose not to get off to look at the Jardin des Plantes nor the Hotel de Ville and continued on to the Louvre. By the time we made it to the famous museum, it was closed. It didn’t stop us from getting pictures of the glass pyramid nor walk along the Tuileries Garden. We walked and walked, my feet aching, but we were in Paris, and this would more than likely be my only time in the City of Lights or what’s also known as the City of Love.

I’m not sure how long we walked, but we came upon the Place de la Concorde.

The sun had started to set. I knew we had been out all day, but I hadn’t realized how late it was. My sense of time was off because before I knew it, it would be eleven at night and we hadn’t eaten dinner.

“I’ve seen this place in a lot of movies,” I stated as we watched cars and scooters whiz by us in a giant loop that looked like a high school track but with cement and motor vehicles. In the center of the concord was the Fontaine des Fleuves or what I learned was the fountain of River Commerce and Navigation, and the fountain of Maritime Navigation. They both looked similar with cast iron mushroom-shaped cap above the central column with tritons and nereids under them.

“Tomorrow we can walk to the Arc de Triomphe,” Easton said, looking at the map we got from the Batobus. “It’s not far from here, and by looking at the map, it appears if we walked from here to the Arc or from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc, it would be the same distance.”

“Oh, so we’re close to where we started?”

“We are. Just in time to see the light show.”

Every night the Eiffel Tower would have a twinkle light show for five minutes at the top of each hour. I read in a magazine at the hotel that taking pictures of the tower at night was illegal and we could be fined. The reasoning was because they considered the evening lights to be a work of art and therefore were copyrighted.

That night it didn’t stop us from sneaking a few shots in and then finding a pizza place that was open late. We took the pizza back to our room, compared it to Paul’s and wished we had brought back our new favorite sandwiches.

“Tell me all about it!” Nicole said as soon as she slid into the booth at the restaurant where we were having lunch.

Easton and I had been back from our honeymoon for only a day and first thing, Nicole texted to have lunch. As we waited for our lunch, I told Nicole about everything and showed her all the pictures on my phone.

“This ham and butter sandwich sounds effin’ delicious!”

“I know, right? It was amazing. I mean, butter makes everything better.” My mouth started to salivate at the mention of the sandwich. The pictures didn’t do it justice.

“What else did you eat?”

Apparently, she only cared about the food.“What are you, pregnant?” I laughed.

Nicole’s face fell at the mention and before I could apologize she said, “No. We aren’t going to try for a while. We’re enjoying the married life. What about you two? Did you get knocked up in Paris?”

“Pretty sure I didn’t. Still have my IUD.”