32. Some Last Day Tears and Eiffeling!

You can't expect that I would be able to get through the last day of this incredible trip without a few tears, can you? I mean, it's me afterall.

I started the day with a croissant, the way any sane visitor to Paris does, and then carried on to try and figure out my plan for the day. Most things are closed on Sunday here, but I remembered that the lovely folks I'm staying with recommended a cemetery where some famous people are buried. 

I wasn't so interested in the famous people, but wanted to see a Parisian cemetery.

This is weird, perhaps, to talk about on a blog, especially one celebrating the last day of a mind-bendingly life-changing trip, but I think it applies...

Cemeteries, specifically tombstones and monuments (as you will see) are a period on the end of a life. The person buried in the ground lived, had people that loved them, people that they loved, and they're now gone. They lived, as we are currently doing, reading this post, and then they didn't anymore. The reason that it was the perfect thing for me to do today is that it reminds me that this is the only one of these things that I get. That we get. We don't get to do this all over again (at least in my belief system). Cemeteries are painful reminders of that, but they are also wonderful reminders that we all get a chance to live!

A tombstone is a final reminder of who you are/were. They are the thing that people visit that reminds them that you were here (even though I'd like to be cremated, after donating my organs to people in need of giant organs). They're the synopsis of a life, and seeing thousands all in one place today makes me want to absolutely guarantee that mine is lived to the fullest. 

Things are going to happen to make some days, months and years worse or better than others, but I would like my brain to operate in such a way that it's always thinking about that tombstone. That sounds dark, but what I mean to say is you only get one tombstone, one final statement, and I intend to make mine friggin' awesome! 

And from there, you know, the crying alone in a Parisian cemetery part, I took the Metro all over the place! I ended up, though, at the Eiffel Tower. You can't define Paris in a better way than the Eiffel Tower. She's beautiful, outstanding, demands respect, and represents a city that is truly full of beauty and grace. 

You'll be happy to know that Paris has agreed to take my hand in marriage, though oddly, the wedding will take place in Bermuda. Keep an eye out for your save-the-date. Hint... it's a croissant, shoved in a baguette, wrapped in a crêpe, with a cherry on top for good measure (and colour balance, of course)!

I digress...

I knew I wanted to stay until I saw the Eiffel Tower lit up again at night, but it was only 3:30pm... so I decided to take a boat ride of the Seine. It was this tour boat (that originally autocorrect as "goat", by the way. I WISH it was a tour goat!!!) that takes you to all the main attractions and you can hop on and off. I stayed on. It was an hour and forty minutes of beauty, and landed me right back at the tower, not 20 minutes before the damn thing started shining in the moonlight. 

I've shown these pictures before, but these are new ones from tonight. I won't bore you with the over 100 from the same angle that I took, but here are my few favourites from tonight. 

And no, this isn't the same as the first one... it's about 5 minutes later. 

I'm obsessed.

And folks, now it's time to go to sleep. It's my last sleep on this trip, and we all know that isn't going to go well. Tomorrow is a long day of airport-getting-to, flying to Iceland, hanging out there for an hour or so, then flying back to my dear friend Toronto. All in, it's going to be a 16 hour day, just to the point when the plane lands in Toronto. I didn't allow any jetlag to get me in London, I just fought through it and didn't let myself sleep for 36 hours, and was good. Not sure I'm going to have that power in Toronto. Especially because I will be sleeping in my VERY OWN BED!

Alright folks off I go to fake that I'm at all able to sleep. I have a post prepped for tomorrow night about the excellent lessons I've learned here, so keep an eye out for one final one tomorrow night!