In the summer of 2007 Kayla was presented with an opportunity to return to Switzerland as a live in nanny for the Caroli family who she had lived with for the better part of 2006. They graciously extended the invitation to me as well and offered us a place to stay for free in Basel (a city that sits on the borders of Switzerland, Germany and France) as long as we pitched in to help take care of their son, Lennart, and help around the house.

We jumped at the chance and after tying up some loose ends and purchasing plane tickets we were prepared to leave at the end of September to spend three months in Europe. Around this time I was contacted by Paul (Kayla's dad) about how he was planning to come out and surprise her for her upcoming birthday on September 8th. For her gift I had already arranged to fly out her brother, Daniel, as a surprise but she found out by mistake so this new development had me excited at the possibility of her still being shocked at the unexpected sight of her father.

In spite of this, I was terribly nervous because I knew this would be my last chance to talk with Paul about marrying Kayla before we left for Europe. It's not that I wasn't sure, I certainly knew what she and I shared was special, but I just wasn't expecting to have that conversation so soon and in person. After a couple days of introspective thinking I steeled my resolve and talked with Paul. Now that the formalities were out of the way I was on to thinking about where and when I would ask her to be my wife.

Switzerland (and Basel in particular) is beautiful, shockingly so, even. The rolling, green foothills, the snow capped mountains and the charming architecture create a vibe that is absolutely romantic. With every excursion we took outside the house I wondered at where the best place to ask would be. This was further complicated when I went on a trip to Paris to meet up with my now roommate, Matty, and I discovered a place that redefines the word 'romantic'.

Let me be the first to tell you that the pictures of Paris do it no justice. It has to be seen to be believed, and after spending three days roaming it's streets I fantasized about what it would be like to get engaged in the city of lights. It was about three weeks after I returned that I realized that my day dreams would soon become a reality when Bruno announced that he (along with help from his wife, Christina who we affectionately call 'Chi-Chi') had found the perfect place to stay in Paris. The Caroli's are avid world travelers and the stories I shared about my recent trip inspired them to arrange a weekend vacation of their own. They hadn't been there since before Lennie was born and thought it was high time they returned, with Kayla and I along for the adventure.

The weeks leading up to the trip were spent mulling over my options for suitable engagement locals:
"The pyramid at the Louvre?"
"Montmartre?"
"A secluded café or brasserie in the french quarter?"
"On top of the Eiffel Tower?"
*It should be noted that these are a small fraction of the possible places I had in mind. Randomly point your finger down on a map of Paris and chances are where it hits would be a perfect place to take a knee.

I made the decision to determine the right spot once I got there, keeping the ring in tow and trusting that my gut would let me know of the right place. Little did I know it would be within the first few minutes of arriving at our hotel...

The Hotel Duquesne Eiffel is right in the heart of Paris, with gorgeous views of the tower out many of it's rooms. While I was helping Bruno get our bags out of his SUV I told him of my plans and his eyes widened, 'Where will you ask her?' 'I'm not sure but I was thinking the top of the Eiffel tower...' 'Good choice, have you told Chi-Chi?'

In the days that followed we explored Paris on foot, admiring the scenery, visiting landmarks and enjoying lots of spectacular food. My stomach was constantly in knots, however, over the anticipation of the upcoming engagement. Each day we'd walk beneath the Eiffel Tower and I'd size up the huge lines, trying to figure out how much of a wait it would be to get to the top. The estimated wait times were always multiple hours long and after talking with Bruno I decided the best place would be on the balcony of their hotel room that had a million dollar view of the tower.

So at 8:00pm on November 17th when the tower started to sparkle (as it does for the first ten minutes of every hour) I took her out on the balcony, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. I don't have video of the night itself but I do have a clip taken the night before as we sat on the bed drinking wine, eating cheese and delicious sweets. Check it out:

• welcome
-
• RSVP / dress
-
• about us
-
• our story
-
• the engagement
-
• hotel info
-
• gift info
-
• attractions
-
• contact us