When I lived in Paris, one day I found myself with a luxury... a day off with no one to answer to. My girlfriend and her brother were off buying stock, and as it was quiet, we had awarded ourselves a business day off. It was a gorgeous sunny day in early October, but it was lovely and warm. I decided to be a tourist for the day and to go see the sights of the wonderful City. Even though I had been in Paris for a few months I had only touched on the centre as I had been concentrating on the business that my girlfriend's brother was building up.
So, I had a nice breakfast in a cafe in the Montmartre where I lived. It's known as a hippy area, and is a quirky place to live. I took the Metro into the city and wandered around. I walked up the Left Bank of the Seine, looked across to Notre Dame Cathedral and watched the boats cruising up the river. It was a wonderful day; I had a spring in my step. The trees were a glorious colour and the streets were clean and remarkably quiet. I'm not an arty person, but I had never been to the Louvre before so I walked up to it. It is truly impressive. I found the correct entrance after a while and bought a guide. I followed the directions to find the Mona Lisa. It's actually quite disappointing when you see it, but at least I have seen it now. I spent a couple of hours wandering around but it is so huge you could easily spend a day in there.
I left there and walked up to the Arc de Triomphe which looked majestic against the blue sky. The colours of the French flags were vivid, it is a fabulous building.
I found myself walking towards the Place de la Concorde at the end of the Champs Elysees. This is really a massive square and has several monuments and statues on it. There is a huge obelisk, several pavilions and Government buildings as well as various sculptures, and right smack bang in the centre of the huge square are two fountains. I remember reading that they were supposed to be copy fountains of the ones in St Peters in Rome. They have these two structures coming from them at different heights, and the water is so powerful you can hear it from 100 yards away.
This is a truly beautiful place and tourists normally flock here, but today it was eerily quiet. I had been walking for an hour now and my feet were beginning to feel it as I walked over the hard cobbles of the square. At the back of the fountains there are stone benches built into the side where you can sit and touch the water, I thought I would sit there and take a break.
The bench on one of the fountains was empty, so I sat down and lit a cigarette. As I relaxed, I had a sudden urge to bathe my feet in the icy water of the fountain. I slipped my shoes off and rolled my socks off. I had a quick check to see if I was being watched...couldn't see anyone. I wasn't certain if this was permitted but as it was so quiet I thought 'fuck it'. So I turned and lowered both feet into the cold water. Jesus was it cold, but as I stirred my feet around they got used to the cold and it became very pleasant.
I was lost in my thoughts when a voice near to my left shoulder said "Do you know that is not permitted?"
I spun round, and saw a tall female in a long black coat over jeans smirking at me. First impressions I'd say she was around 40.
"Is it not?" I stammered..."I didn't know."
I had automatically taken my feet out of the fountain in reflex. I turned round fully to face her as my wet feet made puddles on the cobbles. There was something about her I couldn't place.
"Yes, you can get in trouble for bathing in the fountains; the police are very strict on it. But today as it's so quiet I'm sure you will be ok; just thought I should warn you." she replied.
She had a French accent but spoke English very well. She looked classy; blonde hair up in a ponytail, red scarf round her neck, jumper with her jeans, boots and coat. And she was very good looking with a nice figure.
"Thanks for the warning, how did you know I'm English?" I asked.
"You can just tell," she replied. "Plus I saw you in the Louvre and heard you asking for an English guide."
That's it!! I thought I could remember seeing her before, albeit briefly, as I was going into the Louvre. I did think at the time she looked attractive, but that was it. So what is she doing down here? "Oh yeah," I smiled. "Very good and observant of you. As you know the lie of the land, do you know the nearest place for coffee?" I asked. "I'm parched."
"Of course I do. I'm going there now. Do you want to come with me?" I joked about how could I possibly refuse and I followed her to a path at the side of the square bordering the gardens. The trees at this time of year were turning red and gold; the gardens looked stunning. Paris in autumn is amazing, and on a spectacular day like this it feels like paradise.
We walked to the pavement cafe about 300 yards away making small talk. I still hadn't found out why she was there and in the Louvre, but I wasn't complaining. I'd clocked a wedding ring and some nice jewellery; she really was classy. She kept an amused look on her face as we spoke, and she gently probed on what I was doing in Paris. She was surprised to find I lived in the Montmartre and that kept us busy till we reached the cafe.
We ordered coffees, sat down outside. I reached for my cigarettes. She looked and asked if she could have one. I offered her one and she asked me to light it for her. As I passed the lit cigarette to her, she ran her tongue round her lips to accept which I found amazingly sexy. This was one hot lady. Where is this going?
We chatted for around 20 minutes; she was easy company. She had taken her coat off in the warm sun and revealed a nice red jumper which outlined her full figure. She kept looking at me with piercing blue eyes as we spoke. I was beginning to feel a stirring. I suppose we were gently flirting as she played with my lighter on the table with her long fingers and red nails. Our coffees were long finished when she looked at me and asked what my plans were for the rest of the day. I told her I was planning some lunch and more general sightseeing as I didn't get the chance very often. She then dropped the bombshell.
"Well, I have an apartment on the other side of the gardens. I have salad and nice ham. I'm sure I could rustle up something you'd like."
"Of course" I stammered, taken aback. "How could I say no to such a generous offer? That's very kind of you." We then set off and as we walked she explained that she lives 'out of town' and she uses the apartment mainly at weekends or when her husband is away on business.
I asked if he was away at the moment; she looked at me and said "Of course" with a grin. I grinned back, mainly because I was becoming so excited it was difficult keeping my cool.
We were soon there. We walked round the side of a 3 storey building and through a courtyard full of gorgeous flowers and shrubs, with intoxicating smells. A really beautiful spot; also with a fountain in the middle. I joked that I could have bathed my feet in there. She laughed and said that I could make myself comfortable inside. She punched in a code, and we entered the hallway. There was an elevator on the right, stairs in front.
"I'm on the top floor and use the elevator." she said, as she pushed the call button.
