Part 1
This is a continent-wide celebratory weekend that basically allows all Federal Buildings to be open to the public for 2 days and that most museums and monuments are open and free of charge. My host family insisted I take part of this once-in-a-lifetime weekend to go tour some buildings that were only public for these two days. Of course! I'm not one to pass up an opportunity that will be gone so soon.
Thursday and Friday night consisted of thoroughly researching the places that were opened solely for this weekend and that would be interesting to see.
My weekend adventure begins at the Concorde fountain. Just a funny little story I'd share.
I was waiting for my friend to meet me off the Concorde metro stop, so I stood off to the side of the fountain and commenced in people-watching. It is literally an activity that you just can't help but be a part of.. Anyways, I watched as people had their mini photo shoots in front of this giant fountain. They would start out, usually a couple, talking, discussing their plan of attack. Then the swapping of coats, cameras, phones, and bags occurs which usually leaves the husband/boyfriend looking like a pack-mule and the woman very cold from shedding layers of raincoats and sweaters. The woman, who's significant-other-turned-photographer is shuffling to get the right angle and not drop the phone under all the weight he has accumulated, finds her perfect pose. Turn a little to the left, then the right, head up, tilt chin down, cross legs, take a pretend step forward, work with the gust of wind....It's textbook posing. But it's so funny to watch! It is honestly people of all ages!
There was even this one woman, I'd guess like age 25 with someone who looked like her mom, maybe 50 years old, and she was literally having a photoshoot with her mom as the iPhone photographer. I mean, stand her, kick your leg up, pretend to laugh, flip hair this way, then the other side, "ok mom stand over there now!", take hat off, pretend to walk forward, look down, look away, look at camera, smolder, smile...It was ridicules but hilarious!
So after 30 minutes of this, and me shuffling to get out of these photoshoots, another guy off to the side and I were particularly chuckling about one couple. They were a German couple, looked about early to mid 40's, very ritzy people. The wife was blonde, perfectly done up, not really looking like her shoes would survive a day of trekking Paris, but beauty is pain, no? And the husband with his pointed-toe shoes, pressed polo shirt tucked in, leather jacket, gelled hair and expensive sunglasses. This couple was very put together, to say the least. Well after her photoshoot of 20 different poses and facial expressions (you'd think she was a teenage girl), they finally swapped roles and the husband landed a picture in front of the fountain, too. The random guy standing off to the side laughed as he walked away and said to me in French, "Are those your parents?"
Um, no. I'm not blonde or German looking and I definitely didn't come from that selfie duo!
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