And in between all that, I spent almost an hour being silently terrified.
As I was taking this picture a man stopped and gestured that he would take the picture for me. I was pretty used to this, and always refused because I didn't want anyone taking off with my camera. He gave up easily and continued down the path in the direction I had been heading, but something made me wary. I took a few more photos that I didn't want and told myself I was being silly. I continued on my way, determined to walk to the Eiffel Tower, despite having been told it was still several miles away.
It didn't take long before I caught up with the man who had stopped and offered to take my picture. As I passed him he quickened his step and starting talking to me. The usual. Some comment about the weather followed with him attempting to guess where I was from based off of my accent. I tried to brush him off but he continued so I pointed at his baseball cap with a Canadian flag and asked if he was Canadian. No, no, he was French, Parisian.
Weird that you're wearing a Canadian flag then….
Where was I heading?
Oh good, maybe he'll leave me alone when he knew how far he'd have to walk.
No such luck. First he tried to dissuade me by telling me how far the walk would be, then he said he'd walk with me. I told him that was unnecessary but he insisted, stating he had parked his care by the Tower.
Why would you park there and walk all the way over here?
A few more minutes of probing went by and I started lying.
"Are you here by yourself?
"No."
"Did your boyfriend come with you?"
"Yes."
"Why isn't he with you now?"
"He didn't want to see the Tower, but I have to meet him soon for dinner."
I spotted a water fountain and said I was going to refill my bottle but that it was nice to meet him and goodbye. He ignored me and waited while I filled my bottle.
The extremely sunny, very well traveled, path along the river was feeling cold and secluded. I didn't know what else to do to get rid of this middle-aged man who was oddly sporting the most trusted flag in the world even though he was a native, and who was far too interested in me. I resigned myself to having him as a traveling partner and looked forward to ditching him at the Tower.
I should've known better.
When we reached the Tower he pointed and explained that his car was parked further down the path.
I again brusquely said "Oh, nice to meet you!" and quickly turned and crossed the street to the Tower.
He. Followed. Me.
I stood under the Tower, now not only afraid but also angry that he was ruining my moment at the Eiffel Tower. I took several pictures from odd angles, trying to waste time and bore him into leaving. There were people everywhere and I wanted someone to tell him to leave me alone but who do I tell? What do I say? What if I anger the foreign police? What if they're in on it?
So I try to bore him instead.
He says something about how the Eiffel Tower is not that interesting and how we should go to his car and go somewhere else.
I gush about how wonderful the Eiffel Tower is and how I want pictures.
But I don't want pictures while he is there so I awkwardly shoot lots of bad pictures. He again offers to take my picture for me. I have run out of polite excuses so I stand in front of the Tower and let him take the worst pictures ever, chopping off the top 2/3 of the Tower. Seriously man? What are you doing? I take my camera back and begin to resume my faux photography.
"Let me take a picture with my camera."
What?!?!?
I turn around to see him snapping my picture with his phone.
I am officially on full red alert.
I happen to spot Montparnasse, the tallest skyscraper in Paris. I know it has to be far away.
"Oh! That's Monparnasse!" I exclaim with as much enthusiasm as I can with my stomach in knots. "My tour guide told us it's the best place to get a shot of the skyline with the Eiffel Tower in it! I'm going to go there!"
"I will drive you, come on."
"Oh, no, no, it's a beautiful day. I'll walk!"
"That is several kilometers!"
"I know!" THAT IS THE POINT!!! "Nice to meet you!" Please please please work!
No. He follows me.
But I walk as fast as I can without drawing attention, now fully ready to start running if I have to, even though I'm in flip flops. I turn to look behind me and see him standing, watching me go, as if debating on following me. I walk about a quarter mile before looking again and I can't see him. I sit along the tree line for several minutes, looking through the faces to make sure I can't see him, before I head back toward the Tower.
I tried not to let it affect my day. I took lots of good pictures with my tripod and tried to focus on how massive the Eiffel Tower feels, looming over you. But it did. It overshadows the day.
Because if I had to relive this scenario, I don't know what I could do, aside from never catching up to him or taking a completely different route to the Eiffel Tower, which basically requires knowing the future. Or I suppose, never speaking to anyone I don't already know, which is ridiculous and no way to live.
Sometimes there is no nice and tidy lesson that solves the problem and prevents you from ever being in a similar situation. In fact, it's a much harder lesson to learn how to live without fear in a dangerous world. One I'm still learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment