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here.”
    She flipped her cell phone open and speed-dialed. “ Mon amour !” her husband answered brightly. “I left a message this morning. I didn’t get you at home and I called your cell, but you didn’t answer….”
    “Oh, maybe I was in the métro and didn’t hear it. I’ve been out a lot, just shopping and in the stores—it’s so much easier without kids, you know.”
    “Of course,” Philippe answered. “You should be having some fun.”
    “Well, I am…just meeting old girlfriends I haven’t seen in so long. But listen, I have to go…. I just wanted to tell you that I plan to go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep with no interruptions, you know? I’ll probably turn off the phone tonight, so if I don’t answer, I’m just at home asleep. Are the children fine?”
    “Yes, they’re having a wonderful time, and they miss you and love you, like I do. I won’t call tonight, and you have a good, restful sleep. Je t’aime, mon amour .”
    “You’ll all be back soon—the day after tomorrow? Je t’aime …bye!” She hung up.
    Valérie glanced up the street to find Oscar. He was standing in a doorway looking at his messages on his phone. He lifted his head and their eyes met. They both smiled. She walked to him.
    “Everything fine?” he asked. “Fine. Let’s go.” He took her hand and they walked together. Afternoon turned into a warm evening. Streetlights blinked on and Oscar pointed to the sky. “Let’s walk down to the Seine. Maybe we’ll see a star or two.”
    At the bottom of the narrow street they arrived at Pont Neuf. They walked across and stopped to admire the Seine, its current glistening in the evening light. Boats moved along under them. Oscar tugged Valérie toward him and kissed her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply and slowly. She heard other lovers whispering to each other as they crossed the bridge, and she heard bicycle wheels whirring past. She felt the night breeze brush past them, and the cool scent of the water wafted by. She felt the spirits of a thousand lovers on this ancient bridge, all having embraced and loved, as though it were a place where time stood still for passion and tenderness between souls.
    “Come,” Oscar said, after what felt like a kiss that flowed between time. “Let’s find a taxi and go to the Tour Eiffel.” They hailed a taxi and headed for the Jardin des Tuileries.

A Night on the Town
    Arriving close enough to the Eiffel Tower to have it looming skyward before them, Oscar said, “Let’s take a detour. When was the last time you were on that big Ferris wheel?”
    “La Grande Roue?” Valérie laughed, pointing to it. “You’re crazy! It’s been forever.” In the park, tourists took photos of their children, tired from busy vacation days. The smell of popcorn filled the air around them, and they crunched kernels beneath their feet as they walked.
    He took her waist and they approached the Ferris wheel, a perfect circle of twinkling lights by night. “Two, please,” Oscar said to the ticket taker. They waited for the next turn, and were placed in a car. In others, young couples giggled and kissed.
    Up, up, up moved the little car. The big wheel swept them up above the park trees, green in the city-lit night. Up, up and up, and they looked at the lights of Paris around them. Traffic circled endlessly around the Champs Elysée. A thousand tiny lights glittered on the Eiffel Tower. And when Valérie looked up into the sky, she saw stars shining and planets blinking.
    “The City of Lights. Beautiful, isn’t it,” Oscar said. At the top the Ferris wheel stopped for a few minutes, and they both registered their amazement.
    “I forget that I live here….” Valérie sighed.
    Oscar turned and brought her to him, and they kissed again. He stroked her cheek. “I want you,” he said quietly.
    When the ride ended, they made their way out of the park, hand in hand, and caught a cab to Oscar’s hotel. “How is it