the proposal... 
it was freezing when we landed... Charles de Gaulle Airport was supposed to be Europes second busiest airport but it was dead quiet when we arrived.... Paris was not what i expected.... aka the city of love.... a place were romance blooms... C'est La Vie....no? no...... it was cold.... it was grey.... and there was dog poo everywhere... but....cold grey and pooey..... i had been planning this for the longest time and so we had to stick to agenda.... rain, hail or snow..... jane at this stage still has no idea..... we made good use of the RER... man the train aint cheap in paris.. 
my favourite station.... the train system is hectic! 
it made me redefine what i perceive as cold.... or freezing..... especially after spending about 8 weeks in africa... most of that time in the desert... luckily enough the weather was clear! the sun was out.... and it was a beautiful day..... but dont let the photos deceive you.... it was freezing... something like minus 5... it was so cold it felt like my face was peeling.... so cold that if you spat, your saliva would form into an icicle before it hit the ground...... if you were speaking to someone that spits and splutters when they speak it would have been dangerous... before u could say "say it dont spray it"... you would get attacked by a barrage of tiny spit darts... frozen little ice arrows.... first on our agenda was a cityrama bus tour... its the quickest and easiest way to see the city and you get to visit all the cool places like the Opera, Champs Elysées, Arch of Triumph, Eiffel tower, Louvre Museum, Notre Dame cathedral and list of other exciting touristy places..... 
we pretty much had the whole bus to ourselves so we sat up top which was cool, the windows went all the way around and the roof of the bus was made of glass too... 
after this we had a short break and took a walk around Paris visiting shops and souvenir stores.... there were so many yummy places to eat.... we couldn't resist this guy selling crepes on the street.... unbelievably good.....  
 
Notre dame was one of the places we had to check out so we spent some time there too..... the stained-glass windows were hectic.... the photos dont do them justice....  
by this time.... it was dark..... it was off to the eiffel tower.....  
we had a dinner reservation at altitude 95, called that because its actually in the eiffel tower 95 metres up in the air..... 
we had a 3 course meal and the view was excellent!  
the amazing thing was just opposite the restaurant there was an ice-rink! jane at this point.... still has no idea..... next we make our way down the siene river were there is a boat waiting for us to take us on a river cruise.... at night Paris becomes the "city of lights" and all the famous brigdes of Paris light up and we cruise under them..... after the cruise we get dropped off at the Eiffel Tower.... i tell jane theres one more thing to see.... and so i take her over to this garden area just under the eiffel tower.... i ask her to sit on one of park benches.... looking at my watch i tell her its almost time... that in a few moments something special will happen.... i hint it may have to do with the eiffel tower... i think jane is expecting some light show or something as it lights up every 10 or so minutes.... i ask her to close her eyes... she still has no idea.... im so~~~~~ nervous at this stage..... my heart is racing and my palms are all sweaty as i reach into my pocket to get the ring... i get down on one knee and i take a deep breath of the cold paris air..... and i tell her to open her eyes... at first she sorta doesnt see me because she's looking up at the eiffel tower and then she realises what is going on..... i mumble out some words that i cant really remember.....(its for jane to know and no one to find out...) im so nervous i cant get my words right.... the important thing is ...... she says.... yes.... this old couple walk by a few minutes later.... we ask them to take a picture for us... hehehe..... i dont think they knew what was going on with the digital camera.... this is the photo... our first pic as an engaged couple...  and there u have it... jane was now.... my fiancee..... why did i go to all this trouble and propose in paris?.... because she's worth it....  | 
