Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Tuesday, Sept. 05, 2006 - 2:02 p.m.

I went to the Eiffel Tower today and found the perfect place to take pictures. It was on the west/southwest side. There's a park there, and there was a big section of grass. It had a little 2' fence around it, but there was a couple at the far end lying down on the grass making out, so I figured screw it, I'll sit on the grass there and take pictures. Easier than squatting or sitting on dirt and rocks where people have let their dogs pee and poop, right? Paris is kind of a minefield of dog waste and human urine, so you have to be careful about where you put yourself or your stuff. Mostly it's dog waste, but some of the men here are vile pigs who feel pretty comfortable whipping it out against a tree or building, so you have to be careful, especially on little side streets or in corners. I saw a man peeing out in broad daylight the day I went to Notre Dame, in the middle of a square where people were shopping. Just stepped over to where a tree grew close to a building, turned his back and totally did his thing right there. I have to question a society where that's acceptable behaviour, but I suppose men in America would do the same thing if they thought they could get away with it, and I'm sure more than a few have. Still, those of you who do? The world is not your fucking urinal, so cut it the fuck out.

But I digress. The grass seemed pretty safe, and the view of the tower was pretty much perfect, sun behind me, beautiful golden light, not too many trees blocking the shot, gorgeous blue sky, just pretty much all 'round perfect. So down I sit - laid down, for a while, actually - and start snapping away, happy as a little clam. After a while, I notice with my peripheral vision that there are people walking toward me across the grass from the far end. I figured it was the couple and just kept snapping. When they got to within 10 or so feet, I realized there were 3 of them, all male, and yes, they were walking over to me, not just crossing the grass. So I think, "great, now I have 3 guys to ward off, instead of one," I take a deep breath to get ready to tell them to go away, I'm working, and I take my eyes of my LCD and turn my head enough to make eye contact.

With three men in army fatigues. And big, black, automatic weapons.

The front part of my brain went, "Uh..." because it's all eloquent like that. The rest of my brain - the part that operates under pressure - went, "Don't. Move."

They didn't look necessarily irked, just stern. And like they were definitely about to say something negative. Which they were.

One of them (the cute one) asked if I spoke french, and I said yes, a little, and what I got the gist of was that I couldn't be doing what I was doing. I asked if they spoke english, and they said not really, so I said, "Ce n'est pas acceptable," indicating the grass, and they said no, so I said okay, I'm sorry, got up, and exited the grass, with them right behind me. They were very polite and continued on their way once we were standing on gravel again, and then I look over and realize the couple that was on the grass is still lying on the grass, so I have no idea whether I'm just not allowed to take pictures from that side of the tower, or what. I ran into a guy who works in the tower and asked if it was acceptable to take pictures of it, and he said yes, so I have no idea what that was about. But let me tell you: the sight of three soldiers coming at you with big black guns they have their hands on and are clearly willing to use is not necessarily an experience you really want to have, especially when you don't speak their language. Even if you aren't doing anything you think you'll get in serious trouble over, it's just a little unsettling.

I was bummed I had to move. Turns out, that was absolutely the best vantage point ever for photos of the tower. I might go back and try from the other, non-grass side of the fence on another day. But I am definitely not snapping pictures from the grassy side again. Because um, no - once was enough, thank you! :)

Peace out,
Katie

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