Late Nights in Paris

the inn

Our escort drops us off at the small, quaint inn we are staying at. He hands us our luggage and we step out of the car. The inn is called "Le Fontenot Inn", so original, right? 

"This is the inn, dad?" I ask him, slightly judging him. It had a paved walkway, flowers, and small fountains. It looked old and outdated. I wonder why dad chose this one out of all of the many hotels in Paris.

"What? It has a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor." I roll my eyes when dad says this, and we walk into the inn. It's gorgeous and looks huge inside. Inside the lobby there are tons of flowers in vases and porcelain decorations. It's like the cutest little French thing ever. It feels like a dream! 

"Hey, honey I'm going to check in for us. Looks like you like it, huh?" Dad says heading towards the front desk. I watch him check in and interact with the young woman at the front desk. "Hi, I'm David Baker and this is my daughter Ally. I made a reservation to stay here for the whole summer?" Dad tells the woman enthusiastically. She honestly looks confused like she doesn't know what he's saying, but of course she does because she kinda has to understand different languages to be able to do her job. 

"Yes, you'll be in room number 205! Enjoy your stay!" The woman (whose name was jeanette according to her name tag) said with a very French accent but never handed my dad a room key which I thought was strange. Maybe it's something they do in Paris? Apparently, my dad was thinking the same thing because he says, "umm, excuse me can I have my room key please? You never gave it to me." Dad says this in the nicest way possible, I don't blame him. 

"No, no Pascal and Andr-" Jeanette said but never finished her sentence because just at that very moment two men walked in and the older one cut her off. "Bonjour! Bienvenue to Le Fontenot Inn! I'm Pascal Fontenot, the owner, and this is my son Andre!" Pascal said in also a very thick French accent. Pascal's your stereotypical French man with graying hair and funky red glasses. But I actually wasn't really paying much attention to him. I was paying attention to his son, Andre, the most beautiful person I've ever seen. His eyes are as blue as a vast ocean, his hair falls perfectly, and he has the kindest smile. He is definitely the one, I mean Paris is the city of love anyway.

"May I take your luggage? My son will take you on a tour of the inn." Pascal asked us and that was just the thing to snap me back to reality and get me out of my stupid daydream. I try to look into his eyes instead of Andre's but they're obviously not as dreamy. "Yes, of course," answered dad handing Pascal all of our luggage. 

"Bonjour, I'm Andre and I'll be your tour guide." He said guiding us in a new direction and of course he had a beautiful, rich French accent as well. Dad looked at me in a way like if he was reading my mind. A look of approval for Andre as like if we were getting married already. I just shrugged like I didn't know what he was talking about. "Le Fontenot Inn has valuable history. Before my father owned it, his father owned it and so did his father and his father; it's been passed down each generation." While he does this, he shows us portraits of the previous owners. We walk into a new room and follow him.

"Okay, onto our next stop: the 'Papillon Jardin' or in English the 'Butterfly Garden'. This is the best place to relax. It also has a fountain in the center because 'Fontenot' means 'fountain' in French." Sure, enough there was a big fountain right in the middle of this beautiful garden. That's why there were fountains when we walked in. "And to our right is our caffe or place you can get breakfast in the morning. Our chefs make fresh food every morning, I'd recommend getting the crepes." Andre showed us the small caffe with a colorful awning and tables. Then Andre led us up a spiral, rickity-ish staircase. 

"And these are our rooms. Your room is down here." Andre shows us our room and opens it up with the room key. "And that concludes our tour. Here's your room key." Andre hands dad our room key and we exchange smiles. There's something about him that tells me he might be interested in me too. 

Dad and I walk into our hotel. It's nice and roomy with a lot of space. Flowers in vases like down in the lobby, extravagant French paintings, and fragile porcelain lamps filled the space. I can tell they got the room ready for us ahead of time. There was a little coffee table with scones and a coffee maker. I went into my bedroom, and it was perfect. A huge window so I can get a good view of the town and a beautiful, comfy bed. I run out of my room to find dad.

"Dad, this is perfect! I couldn't ask for anything more! Thank you so much," I tell him excitedly and give him a big hug. I love it so much! I wish I could live here forever!

"I know, isn't it beautiful?" Dad asks while still looking around at the place. I guess we were both in shock.

"Hey dad, do you think we can grab some breakfast downstairs? I'm kinda hungry." I asked dad. This is partially an excuse to see Andre again, but I'm actually hungry. Dad looks at me with love. 

"Yeah, Ally. But are you sure you're not tired?" Dad asks me because he's obviously tired. I sit down on one of the comfy couches in the living room and answer him. "Yeah, I'm sure! I'm going to take a shower now." I get up from the couch and move to my nice bathroom. Apparently, everything is fancy in France. So, I take my quick shower to clear my mind and start the day! I change into a new outfit and hurry to the caffe downstairs.

I try to order my food the best I can. "Bonjour! Can I have the strawberries and cream crepes." I order at the counter where the French chef takes my order. I remembered Andre's suggestion of the crepes, so I get one of their many types. Speaking of Andre, he comes right to me and not even noticing him I literally bump into him. 

"Oh, bonjour mademoiselle!" He states with a glorious grin. He grabs my hand and puts me back into my place. What a true gentleman! We stare at each other for a while until I say.

"Bonjour to you too!" I exclaim not really understanding all of this French nonsense yet. We try to make conversation for a while and for once I'm actually glad I "accidentally" bumped into someone. "I don't think I've introduced myself properly yet. I'm Andre and you really caught my eye earlier today." Andre said in a charming manor.  He is everything I've wanted.

"Yeah, you did too. I'm Ally by the way. Can we sit down?" I say and point to the nearest table so I can wait for my food. I was about to sit down before Andre pulls my chair out for me to sit down. He sits down in the chair across from me. "Merci," I say confidently. I've taken a couple French classes but It's still not my strongest language.

"Strawberries and cream crepes," The waitress says and places my plate full of gorgeous crepes topped with none other than strawberries and whipped cream. "Merci," I say again this time to the waitress. She does a little bow and scurries back into the kitchen. I take my first bite of the delicious crepes and Andre decided to continue our conversation. 

"Those are my favorite crepes! Nice choice!" Andre said while I had a mouthful of the crepes in my mouth. He watches me eat for a while which is honestly creepy but then I get used to this strange sensation. I try to make conversation myself- and I also try my hardest not to be socially awkward- so I say something.

"This inn is truly beautiful, Andre. Did you grow up here?" I ask him curiously. He looks down at his hands and answers honestly. "Yes, my whole life."

We talk a little longer and get to know each other pretty well. Once I finished my breakfast I got up from my seat and thank him again for everything.

"Merci again, Andre. You are pretty cool!" I tell him and this is our way of saying goodbye, I guess. He looks at me with his extraordinary blue eyes and asks me a question sincerely.

"Would you like to hang out tonight? Maybe I can show you around town?" That's what he asks me. It was a daring question. I didn't know what to say at first but then I thought it through and said "oui!"