Paris Weekend - 1st Anniversary

My apologies for the momentary hiccup in communications. Brent and I were house-sitting in a great big huge house in Santa Clarita last week, and for the entirety of the time we were there we could not get my laptop, with my pictures-to-post, connected to the internet. So there's my excuse for not posting.

Brent and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary early in January. It all started on Christmas morning when I opened up my gift from Brent. It was a white plastic Phantom of the Opera mask, and as I took it out of the box the main theme from the play Phantom of the Opera was playing in the background. Brent informed me that my Christmas gift/our anniversary celebration would consist of dashing away the following weekend to Vegas to stay in the Paris Hotel, eat at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, and go see the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I know, I know, he's amazing, isn't he?

When I got to know Brent and found out that he liked Las Vegas and wanted to take me there someday, it took a bit of getting used to. After all, I grew up in a pretty conservative family, and the general emotion that arises in my heart upon hearing the words "Las Vegas," thanks to my parents, is, "Eeww."

When Brent explained to me that Vegas can be fun and clean because you can stay in luxurious, themed hotel rooms for relatively cheap (thanks to the hotel managers who figure that of course you're going to spend a fortune in the casinos), many of the shows are above reproach, the food is awesome, and the shopping a blast, I came to the conclusion that I would like to join my husband to Vegas someday.

This anniversary get-away that he planned was the perfect first exposure for me, I think.

We arrived early Saturday afternoon and drove down the busy, trafficy strip. The sights of the hotels are breathtaking, and the over-the-top decorations of stores and restaurants are really entertaining after you've been driving through barren desert for who-knows-how-many-hours. We did, however, have to declare that billboards would not be looked upon. *wink*

The media-familiar ginormous Hard Rock Cafe Guitar.

We arrived at the hotel and went to our room to freshen up and get all glitsy for our night out on the town. We grabbed a quick snack at a little restaurant in Paris to tide us over till our 10 pm reservation at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.

Did I mention these sweet people got to come with us? They were such a blessing to have with us.

Brent and me all glitsed-up and ready for a snack.

This is what it looks like when you're sitting in a restaurant and you can't wait for what you just ordered.

Bruschetta

and French onion soup.

After our snack we stepped out of the Paris hotel to wait in line for a taxi. This was our view from the line.

When we arrived at the Venetian and stepped out of our taxi, I felt like a celebrity, like any moment I was going to be blinded by flashes of light from paparazzi waiting for me to arrive. After I walked a few feet away from the cab I came back to reality and recognized that every girl must feel that way when she steps out of a taxi at a grand hotel in Vegas. You wouldn't know what I'm talking about unless you've experienced it.

Walking the hall of the Venetian in search of the Phantom Theatre.

The glitsy outfit I chose for Vegas.

We found the Theatre! (And a $10 program!)

The inside of the breath-taking theater as you wait for the play to begin.

The play was fantastic. It produced heart-fluttery sensations at the romantic parts, and a certain tenseness at the scary/creepy parts. The entire play was full of eye-candy; the sets were gorgeous and the dancing and singing inspiring. Though I had never seen the play, I knew the soundtrack well and it took some effort on my part NOT to spring out of my seat, NOT to dash to the stage, NOT to join the cast in the song and dance performance, NOT to nudge the lead actress out of her spot and carry on as Christine myself. I don't think they or the audience (or my husband) would have appreciated that if I hadn't restrained myself...though a certain amount of satisfaction would have amounted in me had I indulged myself that night. Glad I didn't, though.

Brent and I hurried to our room after the play to drop a few things off before dinner, and this is the view that awaited us from our window.

Our view from our window-seat at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.

The Eiffel Tower Restaurant is by far the most romantic restaurant I've ever been to. Or maybe I was just in a super duper romantic mood. Either way, it was the most romantic meal we'd ever eaten together, and our waiter with his authentic French accent just added to the perfectness of it all.

My dinner.

I ordered the seared duck. During my first year as a married woman I have tried three new foods: cavier, duck, and calf liver. Duck is the only one I enjoyed. But enjoyed is such an understatement for the taste experience I had that night in the Vegas Eiffel Tower. This duck tasted like a steak, but it had a hint of the homey-goodness of poultry in each bite as well. I raved and raved and raved about my duck with each bite that I took, while poor Brent accustomed himself to the fact that he had orderded fish (?).

Quote from Brent: "When you go to a fancy restaurant, never order the fish."

Potatoes Au Gratin. This dish opened my eyes to the wonder of deliciousness found in potatoes au gratin. The only other au gratin potatoes I've ever had have come from a box and remind me of potato chips and cheese-wiz. But THESE were sophisticated and wonderful.

Brent's view during dinner.

Our waiter brought us a complimentary dessert, a tiny chocolate mousse. It was the PERFECT finish to our wonderful meal.

We went to bed that night so thankful to God for our first year of marriage, thankful at the thought of many more years at each others' sides, and thankful that He had blessed us with such a special weekend getaway.

The next morning I couldn't sleep past 6 am, even though I hadn't fallen asleep till well after midnight. I got up, took a shower, got myself all cute, and moseyed downstairs for a bit of shopping. I got stuck in a little French bakery that I found. I ordered some tea and a pastry that I had set my sites on the day before. It had a really cool French name, until I found out later that it was translated into English simply as "doughnut." But man oh man, the French know how to do donuts! It's pretty safe to say it was the best donut I've had in my memory. The outside was dense and sweet, though it seemed to melt in my mouth, and the inside was filled with a vanilla custard.

The healthy way to start the day.

Later Brent and his parents joined me downstairs and we did a bit of shopping while we waited for our brunch buffet to open. (Brent had been talking ALL of the previous week about this brunch buffet that he's been to once before, I think it was the event he was most looking forward to during our time in Vegas.) After I ate my donut I felt really guilty that I had done so because under normal circumstances, with my stomach condition, that would have ruined my appetite until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And Brent and his parents wanted to eat at 10 am...uh-oh is right. Thankfully, by the time brunch came around, God had prepared for me an appetite. Such a blessing because most of Brent's joy in an experience is being able to see MY joy in the experience. If I hadn't eaten at the buffet, he wouldn't have enjoyed his food as much.

My love and me.

The place where we ate.

Waiting in line for the buffet and bearing the growling of stomaches with grins.

Fun with the camera while waiting in line.

So the food at the buffet was excellent. There was a massive amount of variety. I went through all of the different stations and got a little bit of everything that caught my eye, and then had one bite of each sample that I had put on my plate. My favorites: eggs benedict (you can't beat French hollandaise sauce), apple-filled crepe, and french bread with cheese. Oohh, the cheese. Like butter. So creamy. So rich. So satisfying.

During one of his runs through the food stations, Brent picked this up for me because he thought it looked cool.

This is what the Tylers look like when their bellys are full and content.

After brunch, we shopped till we literally wanted to drop, and I wanted to remove my feet from my body and, further, apologize to them for wearing high-heeled boots all day in Vegas.

The inside of the Paris Hotel.

1 year anniversary.

And then we went home, ready to begin our second year together!