Photo Courtesy of Sandra Crook
L’amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules
As a college student, I lived in France for several months. While there, I did my share of solo touring and site seeing. Sometimes, I was pestered; sometimes I was left alone to take in the lovely scenery. Some of these moments came to mind when I saw Sandra’s photo of the amphitheater in Lyon. I was reminded of some of the more colorful attempts to connect.
Word Count: 100
Such Gall
This amphitheater dates from the second century, built by Romans. Imagine sitting here to watch a performance….
Allo? Pardonnez moi. Would you mind if I walked with you and talked with you? Would it bother you?
Oh no…how am I going to shake this guy? I just want to look around in peace.
Allo? Do you speak English? Ou peut-etre francais?
Crud. Now I’ve got to politely get rid of him. Think fast. “Non, je ne parle pas francais. I speak Chinese.”
Quoi? I don’t understand.
There – that ought to confuse him for a while. Now to quickly move on…
——————————————————————————————————————-
This conversation really happened. When I said I spoke Chinese in English to his question, it confused him so much he stopped walking with me and talking with me. It worked.
Please check out the links to all the other Flash Friday Fictioneers, which can be found here.
© Erin Leary
erinlearywrites 
Ce pauvre bougre. C’est la vie.
🙂 That’s one way to get rid of them. Nice one. (When you get a moment Erin can you tell me how to access accents/symbols in WordPress).
I did it the easy way – I went to a web page that had it written correctly and cut and pasted it. A work around,, but it was easier than trying to figure out another way.
I shall have to try that trick…hmm, or perhaps tell it to my daughter.
I don’t think he wanted to waste anymore time on someone as clearly confused as I appeared to be….
Dear Erin,
An enjoyable read. One of my favorites this week. Great job of thinking on your feet. Some things can’t be made up. 😉
shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks, Rochelle. I felt like it was a bit of a dodge because it was just a snippet of my experience, not true fiction. I almost got back up in the middle of the night and started over. Sleep won out, however, and your words this morning made me feel better.
Dear Erin,
Perfect solution to a thorny problem. Loved your use of the French, especially the word, ‘quoi’.
You background intro and notes at the end of your story dovetailed nicely.
Aloha,
Doug
I think I neede more than 100 words for the story to make sense, so I made liberal use of the chance to set it up and close it out. Sometimes 100 words feels like a straight jacket, other times it is a beautiful corset that forces things into shape.
Je ne peut parle francais parce que j’ai un carrotte dans ma oreil gauche. Try that one next time. This was funny, darling.
One of my favorites was “va te faire cuire un oeuf.”. Basically, go cook an egg. So many colorful ways to say no thanks.
Nothing’s quite like the real thing. you did great wonder if he still ponder what happened…
I think not – he was probably on to the next target with no thoughts to the past. Thanks for reading!
It’s been a while since I had to get rid of a fella who was pestering me. Thanks for the memories. 😉
I know, right? It’s great to remember those days. They are good memories to have.
Your title reminded me of what our family used to say–that someone had unmitigated gall. That would work here. Great brush-off technique.
janet
I tried to do a play on words – Gaul, gall. I know it’s a stretch, but I figured it was worth doing.
Ce n’etait pas un fellow. C’etait moi! (My French has deteriorated a bit since those days I was hitting on you.)
I could understand it….you looked a lot different back then!