Dude: it's over.

It's funny: I have been counting down the days until I could see Michael. 
It was seventeen days, and then it was twelve, and then eight, and all of a sudden he's flying in tomorrow and my mom is flying out and I was on the bus for the last time today and the tour is over.  It both was seemingly endless and also came to a conclusion so quickly.
We left Zermatt (seems like a lifetime ago) and took the Glacier Express for a while, before getting back on the bus and making our way to Lucerne which was, as promised, expensive, but also very beautiful.
Our hotel was across from the lake and I went for an hour long walk once we got there, just enjoying the peace and serenity of it.  This was after we checked out the shopping district and saw some watches that were selling for over 220,000 euros.  I mean, really?  
We walked over the  Chapel bridge which was interesting, but the monument that really moved me (and more so than anything else on this entire trip to date) was the Lion Monument.  It was easily the most emotional, dignified and tragic things I've ever seen.  I was imbued by such an overwhelming sense of loss and sadness. 
I was moved at the memorial in Pearl Harbour, in awe of the Voice of Fire painting in the National Gallery in Ottawa, and was very intrigued by Rodin's The Thinker in Chicago (which I found out was a copy, today), but the Lion Monument was an exceptionally beautiful piece and I'm grateful to have seen it.  Words can't encapsulate the tragedy of it.  It was so beautiful and so sad. 
We were told to be quiet at St. Paul's and at the Vatican and the Notre Dame and I was, but there was something about this monument that inspired awe and reverence and reflection.  I just really can't say enough about it: it was heart wrenching.
We were in Lucerne very briefly before making our epic bus ride to Paris. 
To put it into perspective: it was so long that our guide bought a couple of movies for us, and we ended up watching "The Sessions" which was quite good, but was also incredibly sexually graphic and so I was so happy to be on the bus watching this with my mother and some people in their eighties and a twenty year old kid.  Yay for bonding!
Arrived in Paris after being up since 5:30am.  We had about 45 minutes in our room to change (which was fun because I didn't get my bag until about 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet in the lobby) for dinner.  After dinner we did a boat cruise and then a driving tour and got home around 11:30.  18 hour days are the shit, n'est ce pas?
Up at 7:15am today to check out Notre Dame.  Wow.  Disappointed. 
I hate to say it?  But Montreal's the place you want to go to see a cathedral dedicated to "Our Lady".  I apostrophised this because religion is idiotic and she is not "my" lady and please god and sweet jesus can we just abolish religion entirely already.
I digress, yes, but enough already.  Teapots circling the moon, and all that.
Overall Paris is beautiful, evidenced by last night's boat cruise and today's random wanderings.  We also went to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower which was interesting as I've been up the various towers in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago and New York and when you have a city that has a height limit of six or seven stories?  It's a bit of a boring landscape (though I am not complaining).
Anyways, tomorrow my mom flies home and I have to figure out Paris public transit to get to my hotel and then Michael comes which is epic.
We haven't seen each other in three weeks which is quite possibly a record for us.  I'm really, really looking forward to the next couple of weeks with him.  I've noticed a lot of couples being affectionate and making out and locking locks on bridges and holy shit: it's totally nauseating unless it's us doing it, because we're way cuter(I  mean, less the skinny jeans and the scarves and whatnot, but still: we're hot).