Characters

To keep the reading interesting, this blog entry is dedicated to some of the many interesting characters we observed or interacted with so far on our trip.

Butt Babe
First among the characters was “Butt Babe”. This nickname was bestowed on her by our Fat Bike Tourguide in Paris. She was traveling with her sister and mom from Vancouver, B.C. as part of a 40th birthday celebration. Butt Babe was given this name because she wore the orange reflective vest (that just so happened to match the color of her hair) and volunteered to ride at the end of the pack. She was crazy enough for this role as she had no problem riding across 6 lanes of traffic when the light turned red in order to keep up with the group. She also kept her mom from falling behind by yelling at her to go even after the lights changed and taxis and buses were beginning to fill the intersections. Her mom, who hadn’t been on a bike in 40 years (or so she claimed) was quite a good sport. When we got to the river cruise, Butt Babe told us that we had to go check out the flea market at the end of one of the subway lines (she didn’t remember which one). She and her sister had bought at least 10 new pairs of boots for 10 Euro a pair. When we asked if they brought enough luggage to take their boots home, she said that they had to buy 2 new suitcases for all of their purchases--I hope they weren't planning to take the train! In our conversation, when we mentioned that we would be driving around the country, she told us that they had plans to drive to Carcassonne and stay for awhile. This just happens to be one of our stops, so who knows, we may see Butt Babe again, and if we did, it wouldn’t be the first time. On Monday, we saw Butt Babe again while we were waiting in line to see St. Chappell. Granted, there is always a good chance of running into tourists at tourist destinations in Paris, but for such a large city, it was funny that we saw her again. I will definitely keep you posted if we run into Butt Babe and her sister and mom.

Blue Shoe Guy
Blue Shoe Guy was our tour guide at the winery in Vouvray. I gave him this nickname due to his smurf-colored blue leather shoes (that matched perfectly with the blue stripes in his sweater). Blue shoe guy was the epitome of a flaming Frenchman. In fact, at one point, Anthony asked if that girl was going to be the one giving our tour, to which I replied that the guide’s name is Nicolas, and I don’t think he’s a girl. Blue shoe guy had a very high pitched voice and some other mannerisms that put him beyond European man in touch with his feminine side to European man who vacations in Mykenos. Blue shoe guy was a good tour guide, although the person who served us at the tasting bar said it was too bad we did not have him as a tour guide instead—I have to disagree, as Blue Shoe Guy was a much more interesting Character to write about in this blog entry.

Obnoxious New York Lady
Although I never had the pleasure of interacting with Obnoxious New York Lady, she was enough of a character to write about. She and her traveling companion were staying at the same hotel as us in Amboise. The first morning at breakfast, she was very loud, which was the first clue that she was an American (and probably from the East Coast). After breakfast, she went to the reception desk and asked where they could go to see a Chateau and taste wine (as she is standing in front of a display of brochures, some in English, of the local tourist sights with maps and phone numbers). When the clerk didn’t understand everything she was asking, she spoke louder and slower (as if he was deaf). This was a good example of why American tourists are stereotyped by many French people as obnoxious. This also helped us make the final decision that we would not visit a Chateau as was the original plan, since we did not want to be somewhere with more obnoxious tourists. The morning we were packing up to leave, we overheard Obnoxious New York Lady say that she was from New York (hence, my nickname for her). This time she was at the clerk’s desk asking if they had found her car keys, which she claimed to have lost somewhere on the premises. When the clerk replied that he had not seen her keys, she got louder and said “you mean nobody has turned in my car keys?” Apparently she thought that he had not understood her question the first time, and she continued to ask at least 2 more times until she was finally satisfied that the clerk did not have her car keys! I’m sure the clerk would have been happy to pay for a taxi to take her back to the airport, so she wouldn’t be stuck in France!