An Afternoon Under the Eiffel Tower

After our visit to the catacombs, we found ourselves with a free afternoon and sunny weather. After a week of what seemed like constant walking and moving Charlotte and I thought it would be nice to do some good ol’ American vegging out. Robin joined us, and we got a few baguettes, apples, and a blanket and headed to one of the many lawns under the Eiffel Tower to relax. As an obvious tourist attraction, there were people of all origins and ages. Occupying all corners of the grass were couples laying together fervently kissing, families picnicking, and groups of teenagers running around spraying each other with water bottles. It was a pleasant surprise to see that there were many French people there as well, and that the natives hadn’t been altogether driven off by the crowds of foreigners taking selfies with the Eiffel tower or having the very original idea of making an optical illusion of them pushing it over. My favorite part of that day was when a little girl about two wandered away from her parents who were distracted by their intimacy and came over to hang out with us. She was the perfect age when people are two parts squishy and one part curious. “C’est ca?” she said over and over as she picked up various objects; our sunglasses, our water bottle, our bread, etc. It was the most intense vocab quiz we had gotten thus far in France, but it was wonderful because if we messed up she wouldn’t judge us or scoff at us for our poor French. After her parents called her away (to our disappointment) she managed to wander away a second time as they continued to cuddle and kiss, this time finding a little French boy about five. They had a great time together playing cars, playing fetch with a pink ball with the little boys mother like puppies for about an hour straight, and playing tag. When they tired the little girl went with the little boy for a snack, and the French lady held the little girl on her lap and shared their food. Later the five-year-old boy went and babbled at his new friend’s parents while the little girl ate his food with his mom. It was so cool the way the mom treated the little girl like they had been friends for a long time, and when they parted the little girl screamed and cried at having to leave her new friend. This experience showed me that kids will always help create bonds between people and that even though the French seemed reserved at times, all people interact with the same inherent friendliness and curiosity in their youth.