A weekend getaway.

My wife is getting bored with her life right now, and is starting to get grumpy. So I really need to get creative to spice things up a little. Now, I’m just a normal, average guy, with a little disposable income in my bank account. Consistent reliable income. I’m not a millionaire, but comfortable. So I came up with a plan. It is something we have done before, a long time ago, and we both loved it, so I could do it again with her and I know it would be a success. 25 years ago, I know how long ago, because it was a week after September 11th, 2021, when the twin towers and the pentagon was attacked, and we flew into Paris for the weekend for a long layover before arriving in Munich, Germany on business. We got a hotel for the two nights we were there, and went to a dinner caberet that first night. It was fantastic. More about that later. So although we weren’t going on a business trip this time, but a spontaneous, love trip, it would be similar. Let me go through it.

first off, book 2 round trip tickets on a commercial jet, like Delta, or American Airlines. Economy class - oh, I don’t know, about $1,000 a ticket. If I was a millionaire I could charter a private jet, but I’m not, so why fantasize. I could pay for business class, after all, it is about a 15 hour flight, but I have flown hundreds of hours over the years and always economy, and although it is cramped and uncomfortable, I look at the price increase and just can’t justify it. So economy it is…I’m not a millionaire or even a wanna be millionaire.

‘We won’t be packing a suit case, just a carryon each, with a change of clothes, toothbrush, etc, so no worrying about baggage claim. I will pack two muffins for the airport, because we will get hungry at some point, and I refuse to pay $8 for a $1 muffin. It’s not the price, it’s the outrageous markup. So anyway.

when we get into Paris, we catch a taxi to our precooked hotel and check in. Freshen up, then go out and explore the beautiful city that awaits us. And there is so much to see and do. People watching is always a fun thing to do while you enjoy a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. Then it is time to go to dinner. I’ve booked a table at a fabulous Carribean caberet , specializing in Jamaican reggae, which we both love, and it’s family oriented, no nudity. As I said earlier, we’ve been there befor, and it was fabulous. When we walked up the Champs Elysee, the sidewalk was empty. No pedestrians. I thought Paris was a city bursting with life. Oh well. We got in to our table, and it was just starting to let people filter in. The music was low but pleasant. Roots reggae, bass thumping, drums beating, Jamaican patuois being sung. The first glass of wine was brought to us. The kitchen fires of the barbecue were visible under the stage where the live band was playing and the dancers were dancing. Some hor ’ douvers were placed on our table to nibble while the meat was being grilled. Before we knew it, the tables all filled up with people of all ages, young, old, very old. It got noisy, the music level increased, then increased again. Some of the dancers started to move around the room, and the waiters dressed as pirates started to bring large platters of meat to the tables, carving slices of meat for each diner. Platters of grilled veggies were served, more wine, for 4 hours, they just kept coming and coming, until we could not eat anymore. And then they brought desert, ice cream, whipped cream, fruit, pie, cake, your choice. The music by now was really loud, you couldn’t talk. The limbo line snaked through the room past all the tables, with diners joining the line, dancing like no tomorrow, as if no one was watching. A bikini clad dancer with feathers all over her bikini started dancing in front of my table, bending over backwards under a flaming pole, lower and lower, until she asked me to hold her up, and then her feathers caught fire. It was amazing. By now, diners were dancing all e round us, and some of them were climbing up onto the chairs to dance. Some were grandmothers and grandfathers. And , everybody was up on the chairs, including us. It was getting hot. It was exhilarating. And just like that, it was over, and time to leave. Outside, the streets were chock full of people. 1pm, and Paris was alive. We caught a taxi back to our hotel, and slept like the dead. Our travel and the crazy dancing finally caught up with us. in the morning, the flight home. Another 15 hours of flying. But it was so worth it. I was happy, but more importantly, my wife was happy. Which proves that old saying, a happy wife, makes for a happy life.

so, to recap.: 2 plane tickets, $2,000. One night hotel stay - $300.

dinner - $200. Misc. stuff - $100 maybe more, depending on what catches your eye.

total expenditure: $2,600. For a fabulous weekend spur of the moment holiday and dinner. That you and your wife will never forget, even 25 years later. You will be her hero. And seriously, you don’t have to be a millionaire, but your friends will think you are.

so when your friends ask what you are going to do this weekend, just notulently say “oh, we are going to Paris for dinner”.