A Stranger at the Louvre
"Take it, you can just get in, it's free," he tried to convince me, "I don't need it anymore."
I didn't know his name, but if I would hazard a guess, I'd say he's in his mid- to late 20s. He seems to be travelling alone, which doesn't explain how he's offering the two tickets to get in to the Louvre, just an hour before its closing time.
I can still hear the distant sounds of the violin being played by the street musician in the Passage Richelieu, amplified through the the structure with the perfect acoustics; the chatter of the tourists around the famous Pyramide du Louvre courtyard, trying to take the perfect picture in front of the house of some of the most famous paintings in the world.
I was one of those tourists, in the semi-warm twilight of the late summer evening, posing and giggling on my second day in Paris. Now that I look back on that night 3 years ago, it's funny how I could have still managed that after a full day touring the Versailles vast complex; a little hungry, perhaps, but still very much excited.
It was then that the stranger suddenly approached us (I was travelling with a friend) and offered the two entry tickets. I didn't know what to think. Every National Geographic's Scam City episode that I had binged watched before my trip and every warning that have been instilled into every child, including me, was to never talk to strangers. Especially one bearing gifts without expecting something in return.
The stranger explained, in english, that he had just came out of the museum himself, and that we can have his tickets to get in. It was strange, that between the hundreds of people surrounding the courtyard, that he would pick us. Still unsure, and quite honestly, untrusting, we said no.
"Are you sure? It's really for you, you don't have to pay anything. I would just throw it away if you say no." He said again.
And again, we shook our heads and said no, thank you. Maybe he did look at us a little strangely; who wouldn't want something for free?
So we resumed taking our photos, and head back to our hotel.
3 years later, I wondered to myself what would happen if I did accept those tickets. I may have been able to see Venus de Milo or the Monalisa with my own eyes. Maybe I could have been detained by security for trying to enter the museum with false tickets.
And maybe, the stranger had been in earnest, trying to help out two kids who looked like they can use the money for something else. Maybe, I had been too cynical; too untrusting.
There are many more maybes, but just maybe, strangers aren't all bad.
xo,
Maria
I didn't know his name, but if I would hazard a guess, I'd say he's in his mid- to late 20s. He seems to be travelling alone, which doesn't explain how he's offering the two tickets to get in to the Louvre, just an hour before its closing time.
I can still hear the distant sounds of the violin being played by the street musician in the Passage Richelieu, amplified through the the structure with the perfect acoustics; the chatter of the tourists around the famous Pyramide du Louvre courtyard, trying to take the perfect picture in front of the house of some of the most famous paintings in the world.
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| The Louvre Museum |
I was one of those tourists, in the semi-warm twilight of the late summer evening, posing and giggling on my second day in Paris. Now that I look back on that night 3 years ago, it's funny how I could have still managed that after a full day touring the Versailles vast complex; a little hungry, perhaps, but still very much excited.
It was then that the stranger suddenly approached us (I was travelling with a friend) and offered the two entry tickets. I didn't know what to think. Every National Geographic's Scam City episode that I had binged watched before my trip and every warning that have been instilled into every child, including me, was to never talk to strangers. Especially one bearing gifts without expecting something in return.
The stranger explained, in english, that he had just came out of the museum himself, and that we can have his tickets to get in. It was strange, that between the hundreds of people surrounding the courtyard, that he would pick us. Still unsure, and quite honestly, untrusting, we said no.
"Are you sure? It's really for you, you don't have to pay anything. I would just throw it away if you say no." He said again.
And again, we shook our heads and said no, thank you. Maybe he did look at us a little strangely; who wouldn't want something for free?
So we resumed taking our photos, and head back to our hotel.
3 years later, I wondered to myself what would happen if I did accept those tickets. I may have been able to see Venus de Milo or the Monalisa with my own eyes. Maybe I could have been detained by security for trying to enter the museum with false tickets.
And maybe, the stranger had been in earnest, trying to help out two kids who looked like they can use the money for something else. Maybe, I had been too cynical; too untrusting.
There are many more maybes, but just maybe, strangers aren't all bad.
xo,
Maria
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