Friday, February 14, 2014

Art Girl dates french man who hasn't heard of the Mona Lisa

The date was going so well.
Until I told him I had been at the Louvre earlier in the day, and had seen the Mona Lisa.
"Qui?" he asked, his tone casual.
"The Mona Lisa," I said. The music in the bar was loud, he probably just hadn't heard me.
"Qui?" he asked again, smiling this time. "C'est un de tes amis?"
I gulped. He'd just asked if the Mona Lisa was one of my friends.
"Non, c'est le Mona Lisa, la peinture." Only the most famous painting of all time...(!!!!). "Tu ne la connait pas?"
"Ummm, Mona Lisa? Non," he said, still smiling.

Deeply concerned. Art Girl does NOT date men who have not heard of the Mona Lisa. And the fact that this guy was French was adding insult to injury. I excused myself to the bathroom, taking my purse, plotting my subtle escape through a sidedoor or backdoor or hell, a trap door.

Peed. Didn't find any doors besides the main door. Returned to date to tell him I really must go. He was looking at his cell phone. You french-poser-head-in-the-clouds-art-ignoramous.  I sat down on the stool next to him, ready to bolt.

"La Joconde!" he spouted, eager, holding up a photo of that famous smiling lady on his phone. "Tu parle de la Joconde, mais oui, bien sur je lui connais," he said, chuckling.

I sighed a deep sigh of relief. He did know the Mona Lisa, she just has a different identity on this side of the Atlantic.  French boy could order another round.



No comments:

Post a Comment