We took 15 minutes to spontaneously pack our bags that evening after we decided to skip meeting friends and go climb the Eiffel Tower instead. To this day I’m still not quite sure what came over us but all I knew was it felt right. Paris was a dream, the type of city that stops you in your tracts over and over, an atmosphere of loved filled the air while warm rays of sunshine slipped through the trees. The days (and nights) had been spent mostly underground, exploring the veins of the city inside the Paris metro. We smelled of spray paint and machinery shooting all night then resting a few hours and setting out in the afternoon to do it all again. As we approached the megalithic monument for the first time, I couldn’t help but be overcome with emotion, grappling with the fact that I was in fact standing right where I was in that moment of time. We grabbed tickets to the top and up the stairs we went, just specks inside the throng of people there to take in the view. Concession stand pizza and water would fuel our fire for the night as we sat down to calm our nerves before starting our first round of scouting. We checked levels one, two and the top but there proved to be no easy answer as to how we would climb the structure, leaving us feeling very unsettled. We came to an agreement on a way that was risky but just crazy enough that it might work. There was less than an hour to close now and not much time before the vigilant security guards would clear every visitor from the level we were on. Around us children grew wide eyed with wonder looking up at the flashing lights of the tower as the clock struck midnight. Everywhere couples embraced, cheers rose high into the air as a proposal occurred and there we were in the thick of it all. My heart warmed as I took it all in, everything was a moment of love, and what we were embarking on was one just the same. The moment came and we jumped into our hiding place for the next few hours. (Continued in comments)