How I got randomly asked out twice in Paris

First time, I’m standing outside L’Opera house and just taking in the view and architecture.

Tried to see a show, but my lack of French failed me... :/
After a few minutes, I’m at crossroads about where to go next, so I sit down on the steps to look at my guidebook and decide from there.

As I’m about to leave, a man a few feet away says something in French. I never learned the phrase for “I don’t speak French,” so I stare back blankly trying to remember the pronunciation for “Je ne comprends pas” (I don’t understand). But he gets the hint and asks if I speak English. So we exchange a little bit of convo, where I’m from, how long I’m staying, etc. I’m ready to leave when he asks if I’ve been out for drinks yet in Paris. O boy… I know where this is going now. I try to brush it off causally, saying yesterday I had a long day, I was tired, so no. So then he asks about dancing, have I’ve gone out dancing. Parisians are so persistent! I can’t remember my response, but I knew I had to leave soon before I buried myself too deep in this conversation. Eventually I told him I had to go, and that it was nice meeting him. Au revoir.

The second time I was walking down the street heading towards the Pompidou Center.

Pompidou Center. No it's not under construction. This building by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers is like a building turned inside out. They took all the structure, pipes, and guts of the building, color-coded it and exposed it for all to see.

All of a sudden I hear French being spoken to me. My response is, “No francias, pardon!” So this man starts to speak broken English to me, explaining how he only knows a little. He asks where I’m going, and I don’t know why I answered what seemed to be an innocent question, but next thing I know he’s asking if he can walk with me. I’m trying to play dumb because he doesn’t know the verb for walk but makes the gesture for walking with his fingers. After a while, I say, “you want to walk with me to the museum?” “Yes!” is his response. Ok…

Really awesome escalator on the outside of the building. It's how one gets to all the exhibition spaces

So in my head, I’m thinking, Great, I wanted to see this exhibit in peace. I need to go to Nadia’s room in two hours to get my suitcase and leave for the airport. How am I going to get this man to leave me alone! Thankful this guy was cheap because as we were standing in line, he asks do you need to pay to get in. Yes, you do, but I don’t know how much, I answer. So we make a deal that I would call him in an hour after I’m done. So that’s how I got Jean-Marc’s number. Sorry if he was disappointed that he’ll never hear from me again!

View from the top of the Pompidou Center! So pretty :)

I didn’t know men in Paris are so forward, and that a drastic age difference is no big deal to them. Both of them were at least ten years my senior. Sorry but I find that creepy. Go hit on someone your own age.

more pics from Paris to come…