So, we’re spending our last day in France in Paris, before we fly out the following morning.  We’ve completely exhausted ourselves walking everywhere, because everything seems so, well, walkable in Paris that you don’t realize you’ve walked 20 miles in one day.  The kids are complaining, we’re thinking about finishing with a boat ride along the Seine–even though we’ve done this several times before, I never get tired of it.  And it seems like a good way to get some rest before the long walk from the right bank to the B and B in the latin quarter.

Uh oh.  They don’t take credit or debit cards and we’re running low on cash.  We need 40 euro for the cab ride to the airport in the morning.  Oh, what the hell, how many times do you get to boat along the Seine as dusk turns into night.  We’re counting on finding a money machine on the way back to the B and B.

The upper deck is crowded and our family of four gets split up, John and Jackson behind us, me and Will up ahead of them.  In the row in front of us sit a charming American couple who I judge to be on their honeymoon, such is their dewiness and glow.

As we round Notre Dame towards the end of our trip, the tour guide says something he’s probably said for the tenth time that day or week, that if you kiss your partner and make a wish as we go under the approaching bridge, your wish will come true.

Of course, the couple in front of us kissed.  Of course, they were charming about it.  Of course, I felt compelled to snap their picture.

 After the moment had passed, I showed them the picture on my camera and offered to email it to them if they’d give me an address.  They eagerly agreed, we chatted, the young man (he’s a little younger than me, late 30’s perhaps?) jotting his email in my purse-sized black moleskine labeled “Brilliant Ideas,” on the front.

Of course, it took me awhile to email them the photo, but I finally did last week.  What I received in return was a gift in itself.

Thank you for the pictures.  It was a very special moment for us.  You
captured it for me.  What I am going to tell you below is absolutely
true….

My wish..under the bridge…was for me to go ahead and ask Julie to
marry me while we were in Paris / Europe.  I really didn’t plan this,
but when the wishing bridge thing came up, this is what I wished for.

That night, I told Julie of the wish at dinner…and on the last night
of our trip, in Paris…I asked her to marry me.  She said yes, and now
we are engaged.  The kissing pic is the kiss that sealed this wish.

Actually not sure if I would have done it, had the wish bridge thing not
come up.

Thanks for taking it and caring enough to send it to me.

I hope that you had a nice trip in Paris.

Thank you!

Brilliant ideas, indeed.

Bye y’all,

SV