Chapter 5

We took a cab to the airport and were soon on our way to Paris. We were checking into one of Kensington’s nicest hotels. Hotel de Crillon’s L’Écrivain Suite. It was a nice apartment on the top floor. Neither of us wanted to sit in the room so we went out and took a cab up to Sacre-Coeur.

Tiffany was feeling good so we bought a ticket and climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the basilica overlooking the entire city of Paris. She got out her camera and took a few pictures. We also walked around the inside of the church. The whole city was downhill from there so we just walked down the hill towards the river. We stopped at a cafe for some food and a glass of wine. I had the chicken Friand and she had the quiche Lorraine.

It wasn’t a full meal but it was enough to tide us over for a while. We continued our walk and ended up doing some window shopping at Tiffanys and then continued to the Louvre. We made an appointment to have a private tour of the museum. The Museum closes every day at 6:00pm. Our tour would start just past 6pm. They said that we could go that very day or come back either of the next two days. We’d just eaten a late snack and told her that tonight would be great.

The tour cost me more money than a small car but we’d have an art professor from the university come and give us the tour. She’d done hundreds of tours and worked at the museum as a consultant. She had access to places that others didn’t. We could take up to four people on the tour without an additional charge and it would last two hours. It also included food and passes to allow us to come back as often as we wanted for a week. The plan was to see the highlights and pieces normally surrounded by hundreds of people up close and personal. The high level overview of the other areas would give us a start for when we came back to explore on our own later in the week.

We had a couple hours and went out front to the park that paralleled the river. We were sitting on a bench and just people watching when two girls walked by. They both had on backpacks and seemed to be new to town. One had on a FSU t-shirt and the other had on a UF t-shirt. I said, “Go Noles.” They both stopped and looked at me.

“Go Gators,” the one girl said.

“Go Knights,” came from Tiffany.

“Hi, I’m Brad and this is Tiffany. Are you just getting to town?”

“Yes, we just landed and took the train in from the airport. We’re doing a hike around Europe before school starts up. It was a graduation present from our parents.”

“Where are you staying?”

“There’s a hostel a few blocks from here. We have a couple beds for tonight. We didn’t feel comfortable leaving our bags there. We need to buy some locks.”

“We have two extra tickets to see the Louvre tonight if you want to go on the tour with us.”

“Really, that would be great. We can save some money and cross something off of our todo list. I’m Amy and this is Kim,” said the Gator.

“Kim, I go to FSU. Tiffany is down at UCF.”

“We both graduated from Winter Park High school and will start at college in the fall.”

They sat down and we talked for a while. We were in the lobby and had the girls bags in the lockers before the start of the tour. Kim was watching the people leave and heard the announcement saying that the museum was closing and to make your way to the exits. She said, “I thought you said the tour started at 6:00. The museum is closing.”

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“We just met.”

“It hasn’t cost you anything except the locker rental so far. I can give you a few bucks now to cover it for you.”

“Just get us inside the museum, please.”

We met at the desk and a woman about 30 years old was waiting for us. She said, “Are you Brad?”

“Yes, I’m Brad. We’re your 6pm tour.”

“As the last of the visitors leave, here are your tickets for tonight and they’re good for the next week if you want to stop by and see the things we miss or want to spend more time looking at. I’m Dr. Gabrielle Boucher. You can call me Gaby. Who do you have with you, Brad?”

“This is Tiffany, Amy and Kim. We all live in Florida back in the states.”

“Great. I’ve worked at the museum since I was 16 selling tickets and have moved up and am one of the top art consultants here as well as a professor in art. I do these to earn some extra money but more because I love to walk around here without the crowds and share my knowledge with others. If you have any questions, just ask. It looks like the last people are out and now we have the museum to ourselves.”

Kim and Amy looked at each other and smiled ear to ear. The Louvre’s collection includes more than half a million pieces of art, 38,000 of which are exhibited, but this evening, just two hours long, is about savoring a handful of the highlights, such as the ancient Greek statue “Venus di Milo” and Jacques-Louis David’s “The Coronation of Napoleon,” who was the official painter of the namesake emperor.

But there are a few surprises along the way, including the ballerina dancing on the staircase leading up to “The Winged Victory of Samothrace.” The marble Greek statue dating back to the second century BCE is considered one of the most prominent sculptures in existence today.

Like any great performance, there’s a grand finale, and in this case, unsurprisingly, it was the “Mona Lisa.” We could take our time and gaze unhurriedly at the world’s most famous woman as Gaby explained Leonardo da Vinci’s inspiration behind this important work of art.

Following the visit, it was a ten-minute stroll to the Pont des Arts bridge to board a private riverboat for an hour-long cruise down the Seine with Champagne, cheese, caviar and Paris twinkling in the background. (From CNN Travel) The boat wasn’t very tall but it made it under the low bridges as we pulled away from the dock and enjoyed the food and drinks.

Tiffany said, “When they said that dinner was included, I didn’t expect this.”

Kim said, “Thank you both for inviting us to go on the tour and now this dinner. I thought it was the normal tour and we’d be saving fifteen francs each on the large group tour. This must have cost a fortune. I thought you said that you were a student like us?”

“I am. My parents just love me more.”

Tiffany almost had Champagne come out of her nose because she laughed so hard. When she finally got herself under control, she said, “He’s just a trust fund baby. He has some money and isn’t afraid to spend it.”

Gaby was with us and looked a little confused. “I thought you were all together.”

I said, “Tiffany and I bought the tour but they said that it was good for up to four people. We were waiting for the museum to close and just sitting over in the park when we saw these two walk by with their Florida shirts on.”

Laughing, Gaby said, “You spent ten thousand dollars on a private tour and then just invited some total strangers to go with you. This is classic.”

“Ten thousand dollars?” Amy asked.

Even Tiffany hadn’t been standing there when she told me the price and I paid for the tour. I just shrugged. “Tiffany likes art and I like Tiffany so it seemed like a good deal.”

“Awww,” came from Kim and I scored some brownie points with all the ladies.

As we pulled back up to the dock after our river cruise and dinner, we all said goodbye to Gaby and thanked her for a great tour. She declined the tip and told me that everything had been included and she was paid well for her few hours. She enjoyed talking to people that didn’t have gray hair and knew how to smile, laugh and really enjoy the art.

As Gaby walked off, Amy said, “I was going to ask what hostel you were at but you probably bought a house here for the week.”

“Close. We’re staying in a suite. It’s more like a small apartment. You two are welcome to come by. It’s not even 9:30. We can plan tomorrow’s activities. We just got in today as well and have only been up to Sacre-Coeur and the Louvre so far. We did have some wine as we walked from one to the other.”

Kim said, “I’m up for it if Amy is. Is it far from here?”

“No, just down at the end of the park and then a block to the north. Not too far from your place, from what you said.”

As we walked into the room, both girls were impressed and dropped their bags by the door. Kim said, “This is how the rich and famous travel. This is a nice place and look at the view from the balcony. I love the lights of the city. It’s so romantic.”

I said, “Do you want some wine or champagne? I can call down to room service.”

“That would be great. Whatever sounds good to you is good for me.”

After calling down and ordering some stuff for the room, I went back to the living room where they were talking about the tour and what they liked the best. They asked me what I liked. “I thought Gaby’s ass was nice. When she walked up the stairs in front of me I think she added a little wiggle to it.”

“Shut up. I meant the art you, pervert.” Amy said.

“Sorry. I liked the statue, ``Revived by the Kiss of Love.”

“Is that a real sculpture? I don’t remember her talking about that.”

“She didn’t. I just saw it and liked it. I didn’t like a lot of what we saw but that is one that I did like. The Mona Lisa is a nice painting but they hung it so high so that people can see it when there are a couple hundred people trying to see it at the same time. I didn’t like the angle I had to view it from.”

Tiffany said, “I was wondering why it was so high on the wall. I didn’t enjoy the angle either.”

They went on about some of the other highlights before Tiffany said, “So what do you want to do tomorrow?”

“I hear the crepes are good.” I said.

There was a knock at the door before I could get harassed too much about my comments. I was setting up the wine and snacks in the kitchen when Tiffany came in. “Hey, Brad. I know it’s your money but the girls are going to be stuck in that hostel tonight and didn’t know with your dad’s influence if maybe you could get them a room here and then maybe we can help them look for a safer place tomorrow?”

“Let me go down and see what they have. You talk to the girls. Just tell them that I needed to get something from the front desk.”

Down at the front desk I asked to see the manager and asked about the room connecting to mine. He looked and said, “I’m sorry but those rooms are taken for tonight. I see that they’re scheduled to check out tomorrow. We do have other rooms if you’d like one.”

“That would be great and if you could get one of the attached rooms after the other guests leave.”

As he made the changes to the reservations he asked, “Mr. Johnson, I don’t see a check-out date for you. Do you have one for this connecting room?”

“I don’t know my calendar. I’ll give you as much notice as we can when we decide to move on.”

“The suite you’re in is reserved starting next Wednesday so as long as you’re out by then, we should be fine.”

“I’m sure we’ll be out by then. We’re traveling and just hitting the highlights of different cities and countries.”

“Very good, Sir. I’m sure that you won’t find it in many travel magazines but something that is truly unique. There’s a company that has started to give tours of the catacombs under the city. It’s done by appointment only. If you’d like, I can make arrangements.”

“That sounds interesting. How long does it take?”

“I’d set aside at least an hour, two if you have time and up to four if you’re really into it.”

“Tell your friend to plan for four people on a two hour tour and then we can take them to lunch.”

“I’ll let her know. Do you have a day?”

“They all seem to be running together but the day after tomorrow sounds good.”

“I’ll have her meet you here in the lobby at 9:00. You should be done at 11:30 and then can have lunch.”

“Perfect. I didn’t get your name.”

“Peter Dubois, I’m the general manager.”

“Mr. Dubois, you’re doing a good job. Keep it up. And thank you for the tour recommendation.”

“Just make sure that everyone that’s going isn’t claustrophobic and can climb about 10 flights of stairs. It will be dark but you’ll all have lights.”

“Oh, do you have any toothpaste?”

“Certainly, Sir.”

When I walked in the girls were all sitting in the living room sipping wine and talking. When the door closed, they all looked at me. I just waved and poured myself a glass. Joining them on the couch I asked, “Is anyone here claustrophobic?”

They all replied in the negative. I said, “Plan on another adventure the day after tomorrow. We meet here in the lobby at 9am.”

Kim asked, “What kind of adventure?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What if we see it tomorrow, with the plans we have?”

“Then we can do it twice if you enjoy it and skip it if you don’t.”

“Well that doesn’t tell me much,” Kim pouted.

As we laughed, Tiffany took a sip of wine and I noticed that she’d taken off her ring. I hadn’t noticed it on or off since she spoke to her husband but I wasn’t paying attention. Amy spoke up and said, “While you were gone, we were talking to Tiffany about your relationship. She told us about the ad in the paper and I saw that ad and told Kim about it. We had a few discussions about what kind of guy would place the ad, your age, how ugly or shy you must have been to place the ad and who would reply. I wanted to reply but Kim was afraid for me and that was what prompted us to talk or beg our parents to letting us take this trip.”

“Go call them both now and let them know you’re here and safe. It’s still only about dinner time there. They’ll be happy to hear from you. I also got you a room on the floor below us for tonight. Tiffany wants you both safe. You can use the phone in the bedroom so you have some privacy. Dial 9 for an outside line and then 1 for the United States before the ten digit phone number. Wait for a dial tone after you dial 9.”

“That will cost a lot and we can’t let you get us a room.”

“My dad works for the hotel chain and the room was empty. I can afford the call and will feel better and sleep better knowing that your parents aren’t worrying about you. When they answer they might freak out with worry so the first thing you tell them is that everything is alright.”

Amy went first and was back 10 minutes later with a big smile on her face. Kim got up and went into the bedroom and Amy said, “My mom wants to come join us. When I told her about our day she said that would be a perfect day in her life. Sipping Champagne on a riverboat cruise with the lights of Paris in the background after having the Louvre to herself to explore. Then sitting in the penthouse with friends talking about the day. Thank you, Brad, for taking care of a couple girls who needed a guide for this big crazy city.”

Kim was out a few minutes later, “Mom and Dad were happy to hear from me. My Dad was sure that we’d hate traveling on a budget and staying in hostels. When I told them about my day they were both amazed and didn’t even have any idea how they’d go about planning something like that. They’re glad that we’re safe and having fun and glad that I called to let them know we were safe. Thanks for making me call home, Brad.”

“You’re welcome. You’re doing something new. Your parents worry about you. It’s easier to make a call and let them sleep well at night.”

“So this whole trip was some kind of experiment?” Amy asked.

“My mom called me Professor Henry Higgins.”

“Does that make Tiffany, your fair lady?”

“I think my experiment was out to prove the opposite of that. I spoke to and met with Tiffany before we left so she could have backed out and not gone with me. I don’t know if it’s much different than a mail order bride, or trading an old car for a washer and dryer. It’s the barter system in action.”