Renew Our Vows

Okay, here's a question for all you nice folks. We will be sailing to
France on the Constellation in April. We thought that on our tour to
Paris we would love to renew our vows. But never having been there I
don't know where to start. We DO NOT want or need a legal ceremony, as
we have been married for 48 yrs, but would like one or two witnesses and
then a toast with some wine. Any ideas?


~~DORY~~
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> Okay, here's a question for all you nice folks.  We will be sailing to
> France on the Constellation in April.  We thought that on our tour to
> Paris we would love to renew our vows.  But never having been there I
> don't know where to start.  We DO NOT want or need a legal ceremony, as
> we have been married for 48 yrs, but would like one or two witnesses and
> then a toast with some wine.  Any ideas?

What a romantic idea, Dory! And it will be April in Paris, too.

The sure-fire way to achieve this is to work with a private tour
operator in Paris. See Cruise Critic ports of call boards for
recommendations. Compare cost that includes RT transfer from the ship
to cost of a "city only" tour coupled with the expense of Celebrity's
RT transfer. You can then tell the tour operator exactly how you want
to spend your day discovering Paris and also share your idea of a vow
renewal with wine toast. I'm sure they will have recommendations.
There are many wine/champagne bars in Paris, often located in nice
hotels. You could do it over a special lunch in a restaurant. You
could also do it in a romantic spot in Paris and "bring your own"
wine. You can buy wine everywhere, of course, so you might enjoy
strolling a street market or local shops for wine, fruit, bread,
cheese, sweets, flowers = instant romantic picnic in true Parisian
fashion. (Tour operator to supply wine opener, glasses and blanket!)
Alternatively, you could skip the shopping & your operator could bring
the wine and whatever else you want. Possible locations along the way
of a usual first time visitor's itinerary include the top of the
Eiffel Tower (have to check current security regs re: what you can
take up), in one of the many gorgeous gardens with flowers in bloom--
close to the Louvre there's the Tuileries or Royal Palace, on a bridge
over the Seine--the wooden one at the Louvre offers especially nice
views, there are many lovely spots for an impromptu stop on the Ile de
la Cite by Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle, etc.

As a final thought, do you or your husband have any special interests
or links to Paris? All I'm getting at is, you might consider tailoring
the location to be particularly meaningful to the two of you. For
example, if you are opera lovers, I would build this around a visit to
the Paris Opera House (the old one, inspiration for Phantom) and do
your renewal in a nearby restaurant or wine/champagne bar that has
historically catered to the opera crowd.

If you take the ship's tour, but it allows free lunch or free
afternoon time, you could do the research and book your own special
restaurant or wine/champagne bar festivity. Otherwise, you could just
spontaneously buy wine and take advantage of one of the stops along
your itinerary. Or to make it a sure thing, perhaps you could arrange
with Celebrity to supply you with the wine/glasses or even bring your
own on board if you'll have time to purchase in a prior port or after
your last flight before embarkation. (Well, I don't know how many
ounces those little individual bottles of wine are...they come in
plastic now, too...but just guessing, they definitely exceed the 3 oz.
limit for flying.)

Ditto above if you don't take any tours, but just make your own plans
for the day. (I can't say that I'd recommend it if you are keen on
seeing a lot of sights in Paris simply because from a logistical
standpoint, you'll find it more relaxing and likely see/do more if you
leave the city transportation between sights to someone else.)

Witnesses - Unless you do a pre-arranged event, you will probably have
to rely on whoever is there at the moment to serve as your witnesses
(wait staff, patrons, tour guide, driver, etc.), unless you find some
compatible folks aboard ship (you could also go to the Roll Call on
Cruise Critic, make plans to participate in an early social with those
folks with the idea you might hit it off with someone in that group).


Have fun planning your vow renewal in Paris, Dory, and best wishes on
celebrating 48 years of marriage!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX