Happy Terrace!

While wandering through the sixth arrondissement yesterday, Becca and I decided to grab a drink at a trendy looking terrace. We got a table and were nestled in tight with Parisians on both sides. We spoke softly so that we did not give away our identity. While going about our own business, the receipt of an elderly couple next to us rolled off their table and landed next to Becca’s feet. I helped guide Becca’s blind hand to the recite and the old man smiled and said, “oh you girls speak English.” This couple that had been to the right of us had been speaking French, but after Becca’s heroic recite retrieval we began converse with them in English.

It turned out that they had both moved to Paris years ago. The woman had come to Paris thirty year ago and the man couldn’t even remember. (Or maybe he didn’t want to disclose to give away his age.) The old man was quiet and adorable, while his partner was a firecracker, very interesting and very opinionated. She talked about the progressive nature of European transportation in contrast to the US. During this conversation the woman made very astute observation about Colorado’s issue with transportation from the front range to the mountains every weekend. She commented that there needs to be a train service from the front range to the mountain, to save oil.

The couple was so sweet, they wanted to know where we were living, what we were studying etc etc. When we told them that we lived on rue de la Roquette the woman squealed with excitement. When she first came to Paris she had lived on rue de la Roquette. She was so sweet and gave us some suggestions about good places to get coffee and eat around our neighborhood. All the while her partner just sat smiling sipping on his wine. This was quite a lovely and random cultural encounter.