I know I shouldn’t really be telling you this but I just have to tell someone or I’ll go mad. I’ve the most fabulous story to tell you about what happened on my holiday to Paris.
Paris is supposed to be a city of romance and notoriously charming French men. I’d always thought this was just a cliché until my girlfriend and I spent a weekend there. It didn’t look very promising in the beginning. First we were cheated by a taxi driver who took us around the Eiffel tower three times on our way to the hotel and charged us a fortune.
The reality of going cheap
Then we found that our hotel looked nothing like the holiday brochure had promised. It was rather run down and seedy with a grumpy concierge who glared at us when we arrived. The room wasn’t too wonderful either. But my friend and I were determined to make this weekend the best possible.
After unpacking we went to look for a restaurant, with nice French atmosphere and hopefully some nice French guys to keep us company. Instead we ended up in a small cafe that served us a rather soggy Croque Monsieur. As if that wasn’t bad enough, after her first bite my girlfriend felt ill and I had to take her back to the hotel and put her to bed with a cup of tea.
But I wasn’t discouraged and since my girlfriend was fast asleep and the night was still young, I decided to go for a little stroll. I walked out of the hotel and started to head towards the river. Everything looked very beautiful and old. I passed a restaurant and through the windows I could see couples having candlelit dinners. I saw a couple walking arm in arm through a park. And there was a couple kissing tenderly in a doorway.
I felt a little sad that I didn’t have anybody to walk and hold hands with. I walked around for a while and when it was quite late, I decided to go back. I took a shortcut through a small park I’d passed. I must have taken the wrong path because I couldn’t find my way out. I was a little nervous about being alone in such a dark place when I heard something behind me – I was being followed!
My unexpected encounter
I started to walk faster and at that moment from behind – a little black dog bounded past me. What a relief! I finally found my way out but still couldn’t tell which direction to take back to my hotel. I saw a woman about to go into a flat and asked her for directions but she didn’t speak any English.
I was feeling pretty hopeless when up ahead I noticed a gendarme. I was so happy to see him I didn’t care if he spoke English or not. I said hello and asked if he spoke English and with the most charming accent he said, “It’s my pleasure to speak English to such a lovely young lady.” He was quite young and had a very sexy moustache and soft dark eyes. What a lucky end to my night this was turning out to be!
Men in Uniform
I asked him for directions and he said he knew the hotel but wouldn’t tell me how to get there. I thought, “now what trouble am I going to have next?” but he said, “No, Mademoiselle, I will not tell you. I will take you there personally. You should not be out alone this late.” With that he offered me his arm and we walked back, chatting and laughing and having a really good time.
When we arrived he thanked me for making his evening so special and said tomorrow was his day off and could he show me the sights of Paris, the real Paris. Paris is such a romantic city, don’t you agree?
We ended up seeing some very intimate sights (of each other), I can tell you!
I’ll be back with part 2 of my exciting adventure with Jean-Claude very soon.
Love Carla x
