Reba Lives: We'll meet again in Paris.

Ah, Pari! I've been obsessed with my red lipstick ever since I got here. I'm about two glasses of wine away from buying myself a beret and picking up a wicked smoking habit... I've also been experimenting with what can only be deemed as the worst French accent in the world. It's a mix between Pierre Escargot and Pepe Le Pew...I'm the most obnoxious creature on the planet and I can't help it!! Paris is under my skin! It's taking over me one garbled diphthong at a time!

Yesterday, we saw the Notre Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, both exquisitely breathtaking. But, by far, the taker of the cake was Monsieur Eiffel's Tower. Ally and I rendezvoused at the south leg (pilier sud) of La Tour Eiffel with the lovely Jody Finch and her travel buddy Laura at seven so that we could walk to dinner. We found a great little cafe and had ourselves a three course meal and just as many bottles of wine. We sat talking for hours. We'd all forgotten how wonderful it was to sit with women (relatively close in age) and just talk and laugh! After we'd finished dinner we walked back to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to go to the top!

Fun fact: The Eiffel Tower is repainted every seven years with sixty metric tons of the patented paint "Eiffel Tower Brown". I didn't realize it was brown! All this time I thought it was black. It's beautiful during the day but absolutely stunning when it's lit up at night. As you well may know, I'm a girl who loves glitter! So, imagine my glee when at eleven o'clock last night and then again at midnight the whole Tower got all glitter-fied! Thousands of sparkling lights lit her up and we all squealed with delight. It was perfect.

This morning we toured the Louvre and saw the masterpieces. Then Ally and I spent a successful day navigating the Parisian subway system and shopping in the Galleries Lafayette during fashion week!! So cool. We could barely afford anything, but we picked up a couple of frillys here and there.

Tonight we had our "last supper" with our tour family. It was difficult. We've made some really close friends and met some really great people. Our boys, Mark and David from Dallas. Our girls, Kiaha and Brandy from Colorado. Our tour buddies, Sheri and Brad the adventurers. Our babies, Alexi and Lawrence (who bawled his eyes out tonight when he realized that we weren't going to see each other again...I may have held him like a baby and cried a little too...) and our fearless leader and tour mamma, Lisa.

Tomorrow, Ally and I begin the last leg of our long journey. This part will be different and, in a way, more adventurous. We'll miss our new found friends, but we're also very excited to start the next phase and then, ultimately, to get back home to ya'll. Whether its the pang of loosing our travel companions or the sweet messages we keep receiving from our family and friends back home, Ally and I are feeling just a bit homesick tonight in this city of love. We miss you. We love you.

Peace, Love, and Travel,
Reba