Jen made it to England finally on the morning of Saturday, Aug 6th. After much waiting and hassle and just plain frustration she made it... even though the flight she came in on was over 2 hours late. In Atlanta they were going down the runway as if to take off when the engines powered down and the pilot came over the loud speaker and said they had to turn around and go back to the gate because 2 peoples' bags made it on the plane but they didn't. By the time they got back to the gate so much time had passed that they didn't end up picking up the stragglers, they just found their luggage and took it out for them and then got in line to take off again. All of this took two hours. The stewardess on the plane that Jen talked to said in all her flights she had never seen anything like that happen before and just the day before the nice folks at Delta had told her that International flights are very rarely delayed even if it is for weather. Anyway... she made it to Gatwick and we went straight from Gatwick to the subway station that would take us into London.

I took her to Lis Miserables in that afternoon and we walked up and down the river front in London that evening. Sunday morning we got up early to catch a train to Paris on the Eurostar. It is a very nice and very fast (186 mph) train that goes under the English channel. It was very hot in Paris and our hotel room had no
AC. We opened the windows but all that did was allow the stink of Paris streets into our room. Despite the heat and the stink we went to the Eiffel Tower Sunday evening. It was hot out but it turned into a beautiful evening outside. We had dinner at an Italian restuarant near the tower then we got in line to go to the top. By the time dinner was over the lights on the tower had come on and it was lit up the Paris skyline. By the time we got to the top it was completely dark and the night time view of the city was just gorgeous. It was very crowded at the top of the tower so we didn't stick around long before we came back down. We got some ice cream and went and sat down on the lawn at the foot of the tower. Once every hour twinkling lights come on all over the tower that make it look like it is sparkling. At midnight these lights came on and I got down on my knee and asked Jen to marry me. I am not sure if she said yes but I know she let me put the ring on her finger. It was a wonderful evening with a wonderful end. The next morning we got back on the train that took us back to London and from there we traveled on to my house near Oxford.

Over the next ten days I worked some and we ate dinner at several friends houses and we grilled out at my house and we did a lot of relaxing. We went to London last Saturday for a going away party for one of my fellow LTs and we went to a couple near by malls but most of all we just spent quality time together. She left on Thursday so she could go back and get ready for school.

Just keep checking here for more info on the upcoming wedding which will take place Memorial Day weekend this coming May.

- footprints of Chad, 10:59 AM

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