Well today was an adventure.

I headed out to meet the Alliance Française Cultural Group for the Balade. I checked my email several times, and the only address it gave was the school’s address. Now, I know from past experience that their events don’t usually meet at the school, but I saw no other address, so off I went.

When I arrived at the school, the gates were closed/locked. This isn’t unusual because it’s the weekend. But, no one was there. No group. Oh no, not again. (I had done this when I first arrived last year!) Another gentleman was standing nearby, and he looked at me and asked me if I was going on the Balade. Yes, I responded… but I’m thinking they’re not meeting here. We introduced ourselves and found that we were both from the U.S. His name is Ravi, and he’s a total beginner in French. He checked his emails and found another address for the meeting place, so we dashed off. I was like, follow me, I know the route. Two Métro rides later, and we were there. (I felt like such a pro.) But I also knew there was little hope of catching up with our Group if we could even find them.

We arrived at Rue du Rivoli, and began walking. No Group in sight. Hmmm… Well, he said, I’m game to explore things together if you are. Sure, why not! So, we went across the street to the Louvre. Once inside, we bought tickets at one of the machines. He paid, so I said I’d buy lunch. We headed to the café since we had an hour before our « timed tickets » kicked in. No crowds. We shared our life stories and had a lot of laughs, mostly at our crazy day. Ravi is a software engineer, having gone to grad school in the U.S. after growing up in India. I did all the food ordering, so just to remind you — all of this was a major role reversal from a year ago. I mean the whole scenario! It was great for me to feel like I was paying it forward a little. I paid for lunch, and we left to go upstairs to visit Mona Lisa, Marianne, Josephine, and others.

I joked, do you have your ticket? At this point, Ravi’s face dropped. He couldn’t find his wallet. WHAT? OMG! You used it to buy our tickets, and we came straight here. It seemed impossible. He couldn’t have been pick-pocketed, we barely went anywhere after his purchase of the tickets. The restaurant was really quiet. No one was NEAR us. Ravi doesn’t speak French, so we made our way to the Office, thanks to the serveurs who told me where to go. We entered and started a dialogue with the staff to report the missing wallet. I felt so bad. This sure put a damper on things. He had his phone, at least, but what an awful feeling when you lose a wallet, right?

Unbelievably, and in a matter of minutes, the staff member looked up and said, « We’ve got it. » WHAT? Yep. Someone had found it and turned it in. All the cards, cash, etc., still inside. I told Ravi, we have to go back to the café and let them know you recovered it because they were so upset. We did so, and exchanged pleasantries with the restaurant staff before heading to the galleries.

By now I know the layout of the Denon Gallery, so I took him to see Winged Victory first, then Mona Lisa, Josephine, Napoleon’s coronation, and Marianne (Delacroix) — and lots in between and after. We had a great time. Then we decided to head back, and stopped at a café near school to grab a glass of wine, toasting « the finding of the wallet, » and shared more stories. Both East Coasters, each with two grown children, and both in love with Paris. What a great day!

I had been planning to go to a museum tomorrow, but I awoke today to an email from the prof, and she’s added more homework. I now have to write a story, submit it for corrections, and then practice presenting it on Wednesday using all the right liaisons, rhythms, and phrasing. So… I think my weekend is over. Lol!

Maybe I can work late tonight and get a jump on this very unexpected assignment. Stay tuned.