Our Anniversary Trip to Paris

A couple of years ago, we spent our anniversary in Paris.  Paris, Texas.  Yesterday, we celebrated our 17th anniversary by visiting another Paris . . . . Paris, Ontario.  I'm holding out hope that we will eventually run out of North American cities named Paris and will have no alternative but to visit Paris, France.

Here are two photos of Paris, Ontario:

Paris is located along the Grand River.  It is a small town named for the plaster of Paris gypsum deposits that were mined nearby.  The town of Paris is often referred to as the “cobblestone capital of Canada”, because of the many cobblestone buildings that are still standing.  It is also "famous" because Alexander Graham Bell received the first long-distance telephone call in Paris, Ontario.   We, however, visited Paris for the sole purpose of rafting down the Grand River.  We rafted 12 kilometres (Canadian for 7.5 miles) in what had to be the most absolutely still waters I have ever seen . . . which means there was absolutely zero current to assist us . . . which means our arms were REALLY SORE by the end of the trip.  The trip took approximately 3.5 hours.  Everyone enjoyed dangling their feet over the sides of the raft and looking for local wildlife (we saw several Canadian geese). 

Here are some of photos from our trip:

Happy 17th Anniversary to US!

Alex surprised us by how long he managed to help paddle.

The Grand River

Jen, Hannah and Alex

We saw several Canadian geese during our journey.

Hannah also helped with the paddling.

The boys were all troopers about paddling.

Scott & Tyler

After the trip we stumbled across what might just be the only decent BBQ restaurant in Canada.  We were definitely impressed.  So not only is Paris home to gypsum deposits, cobblestone buildings and telephone history, it has a BBQ restaurant that is VERY GOOD (Canadian for not as good as Oklahoma Joe's but better than anything else we've come across north of the border).

So in reflection, I would say that our 17th Anniversary was a day well-spent.  We continue to enjoy our adventures . . . whether they be to far-off places or to nearby small towns.  We are thankful for 17 years together, three amazing children, our health, and countless other blessings.