After the Metro reached the stop closest to the Eiffel Tower, Tessa exited the train and smiled as it pulled away from the stop, after which she climbed out of the station before looking around. She looked across the street and gasped as she looked at the Eiffel Tower, feeling both awestruck and small in comparison, and she thought it looked much prettier than any of the pictures of the Tower in her French phrasebook. She made her way across the street before paying for her ticket to the top, and she looked at the monument some more before finding the stairs to the second level, which she climbed with occasional stops along the way.
"Est-ce ta première fois ici?" ("Is this your first time here?")
An older gentleman asked on the first level when he saw Tessa's wide-eyed amazement at everything, and she looked at the gentleman before nodding with a smile stretching across her face.
"Oui, monsieur. Ma mère et ma grand-mère sont venues ici il y a des années, et c'est maintenant mon tour!" ("Yes, sir. My mother and grandmother came here years ago, and now it's my turn!")
Tessa spoke in her best French accent, which she hoped would cover up the fact that she was American. The gentleman didn't seem to catch Tessa's fake accent, and he tipped his fedora before going along his way, to which Tessa nodded respectfully to him before continuing her climb to the next floor.
After getting a picture of the Eiffel Tower's shadow from the second level, she got in line for the elevator to the top floor before riding it, where she was left in awe at the view. After thanking the elevator worker for the lift, she climbed out before walking around the observation area, where she was awestruck by the panoramic scenery. Even in the middle of the day, Paris looked so beautiful from the third level that Tessa wanted to take some pictures, and she had taken a couple when she started to cry at how beautiful everything looked.
"Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, mais... vous allez bien?" ("Excuse me, miss, but... are you okay?")
A man's soft voice asked from behind, causing Tessa to turn around before gasping at the sight of the stranger. While wearing a hoodie and jeans with a messenger bag over his shoulder, his appearance was so charming that Tessa thought she was looking at a fashion designer's model, but she focused as she tried to explain the reason for her tears. After the man kindly asked her what her main language was, Tessa apologized for her awful French accent and admitted that she preferred speaking in English, to which the man said that he spoke English as well. While telling her that he had the same tearful reaction several years ago, the man chuckled and patted Tessa's shoulder, which made her mind glitch a little since she was still trying to not swoon over him. When he asked if he could take some pictures for her, she nodded before handing him her phone and posing for a couple of pictures, after which she took a few of him with his phone.
After getting a couple of photos, the man gave Tessa her phone back before looking at his watch and saying that he had to go, to which Tessa nodded before they said goodbye to each other. With a wink of his dreamy eyes, the man walked away and left Tessa both curious about who he was and smitten by his charm, especially for someone in a hoodie and jeans. Once she had gotten back to the elevator, she took it down to the second floor before taking the stairs back to the ground level, stopping every so often to see if she could spot the man again. After she crossed the bridge near the Tower, she wondered where she should go before deciding to head to Notre Dame, but her plans were about to change.
YOU ARE READING
L'amour En Rouge
RomanceWhen Tessa Parker goes to France for fun like her mother and grandmother did, she thought her mother's hopes of her finding a cute boy there was a joke, but that was before Florian Lucien came into her life. After a meeting at the Eiffel Tower, she...
