For some reason, when I jumped up and got a picture with Robert Duvall before he left our roundtable discussion (which was more of a forum than a roundtable), I heard several laughs and wondered why. Apparently, it’s because I struck a pose for the picture, which I didn’t think was such an odd thing to do. Chris, my co-worker, said that I could probably smooze my way into getting a picture with the Pope if I wanted to. I’ve taken so many pictures on this trip, many with other AmPav students, a few with celebrities, but the majority of my pictures have been with random French hotties that met on the street. It all began the night of the SAGIndie party at the Student Union. A bunch of us decided to get a bottle of wine and sit on the beach for a while once the party was over. As I made my way inside the bodega (I’m not sure what the French call these little shops, tabacs perhaps), I kept meeting eyes with a hottie sitting with some other men. After a while, I realized that the saying “take a picture, it lasts longer” made absolute sense. I got a girl from the group to translate and was able to get a picture with my hottie. After that, my mission has been to get pictures with as many hot French men as I possibly can. I have yet to be turned down. Sometimes they speak English and sometimes they don’t, but pulling my camera out and pantomiming seems to work all the same. My friends all think I’m crazy and out there, but I feel like it’s ok because I’m in France. Voila!
Editorial note: This blog was written by another of the AmPav students who nicely helped us out, Jai Hayes. I (Darrien), in fact, was NOT taking pictures with various hotties. I forgot my camera.