“Pierre, je suis de retour.” Gabriel called, opening the front door and entered into the living room looking as fresh as a daisy. "Où étais-tu?" Pierre questioned looking up from him on the couch.

“Je suis chez Mathilde hier soir. On a bu beaucoup d'alcool et maintenant je ne me sens pas bien. Je pense que je suis ivre.” He admitted plopping down on the couch beside him. “Tu veux fais quoi aujourd'hui?” Gabriel questioned turning to him and palm his face exhaustedly.

“Je crois que je veux aller au musée. Tu veux venir?” he asked as he put on his coat and opened the door. “Bien sûr, laisse-moi prendre mon manteau.” He said as he got up and slipped on his coat as well.

They walked out of the apartment and Pierre saw Camille getting ready to go out. She turned to him and smiled. “Rebonjour.” she greeted as she kept her keys in her bag and looked at him contentedly.

“Rebonjour. Ca va?” she asked politely.

“Ca va tres bien.” he grinned as he turned to his best friend awkwardly.

“Mec tu es prêt? Qui est cette belle meuf?” Gabriel asked as he shut the door behind him and glanced at her happily.

“Mec, c’est Camille. Notre nouvelle voisine. Elle a juste emménagé hier.” He said as he introduced her to his friend joyfully.

“Salut, moi je suis Gabriel. Enchante.” he greeted as they gladly shook hands with each other. “Camille. Ravi de vous rencontrer.” she beamed as well as shaking hands with him.

“Where are you guys heading?” she wondered with a huge smile on her face.

“We are going to the museum, do you wanna come with us?” He suggested walking to the narrow flights of stairs. “You’re inviting me?” she twinkled walking down the stairs with Pierre and Gabriel together.

“Yeah.” he said, looking at her. “Okay.” she smiled as they joined them to go to the museum.

They looked at each other as they slowly walked down the stairs at an easy rate.

“Alors, comment se passe ta journée?” Pierre questioned turning to her happily.

“C'est très bien. Comme d’habitude.” she smiled as they walked down the Montmatre’s staircase to the nearest train station.

“Gabriel…” Pierre called as they suddenly stopped in their tracks. “Quoi?” he asked, turning around baffled.

“Tu vas où? La gare est par ici connard.” He chuckled, pointing to the right direction. “Ah ouais? Désolé mec, je suis perdu.” He apologized walking straight to the metro. “Is he always this lost?” Camille asked giggling at their hilarious remarks.

“Not at all… he’s always been the crazy one.” Pierre replied honestly as they made their way down the metro.

“Pierre je vais acheter des billets de train. Bouge pas.” He said as he moved to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. “Bonjour, trois billets pour Musée Du Louvre s’il vous plaît.” He demanded politely.

Camille leaned against the wall and scrolled through her social media. “Tu fais quoi?” Pierre questioned standing next to her. “Rien. Tu m'as suivi sur les réseaux sociaux?” She wondered looking up at him, perplexed.

“Ouais, j’ai fait… tu prends beaucoup de belles photos.” He professed going on social media as well. “Merci. T’es vraiment gentil. Toi aussi. J’adore votre compte.” she beamed softly.

“Merci…” he thanked her and waited for Gabriel to come back for the tickets. Luckily, he’s finally back with three tickets in his hands.

“Camille. Voici ton ticket.” he said as he handed her her ticket.

“Merci,” she began, taking a ticket from Gabriel delightedly.

“Pierre. Je peux te parler avec toi pour un moment?” He asked, looking at Camille and back to him.

“De quoi?” he questioned, rolling his eyes.

“Camille. Marche avec moi.” He turned to Camille and smiled at her. “We’ll be back in a few minutes." He recalled as they walked to an empty corner a metre away from Camille.

"Et alors... Tu veux quoi Gabriel?” He folded his arms around his chest and looked at him furiously.

“Je pense qu'elle est parfaite pour toi.” He smirked looking back at Camille and to him.

“Quoi? Elle est juste une amie.” He said bewildered.

“Elle est parfaite pour toi.” Gabriel twinkled softly as he repeated the same opinion earlier.

“Nan, arrête. Je suis quand même amoureuse de Marine.” Pierre grinned as he visualized Marine’s face in his mind. "Marine est une chienne ennuyeuse. Mais Camille, elle est plus attrayante que Marine.”

"Elle n'est pas mon goût dans une meuf. Mon goût est différent tu sais."

“Par exemple?” He looked at him furiously.

“Tu sais, les yeux bleus, les cheveux blonds qui s'appellent Marine."

Gabriel turned around and punched him in the face. “J'suis ennuyé d'écouter son nom tous les jours. Tu n'avance jamais. C'est pourquoi des meufs quittent-toi."

Camille came and saw the guys fight. "Arrête, que s'est-il passé ici?"

They stopped fighting and turned to Camille like nothing happened. "Salut, Camille." Gabriel greeted as he let go of Pierre's jacket and dust off his coat serenely.

"On a parlé de quelque chose." Pierre corrected him

"De quoi?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows baffled.

"Choses d'hommes." He smiled lightly.

——

"Prochaine station, musée du Louvre… Prochaine station, musée du Louvre.”

“Next station, Louvre museum.... Next station, the Louvre museum.” the intercom announced vigorously.

“That’s us… Come on guys.” she said as she got up from the seat patiently waiting for the vehicle to halt on the tracks. Once the vehicle came to a halt, Camille grabbed her belongings and swiftly got off the train with Pierre and Gabriel. They walked past the swarming crowd of people and slowly got up the stairs of the metro.

Once they made it to the top, Camille finally saw the huge glass pyramid situated in the centre of the building. “Wow, it’s been years. I can’t believe I'm finally back here for the sixth time.”

“So, you’ve been here before?” Gabriel asked, surprised. 

“Oh yeah. I’m glad to say that this is my sixth time visiting France. And the rest is history.”

“Wow, impressive.” Gabriel twinkled luckily.

They walked into the Louvre Museum and the place was packed with tourists. “Look at the ticket line.” Pierre pointed at the amount of people queuing. “Since we’re already here, let’s just go for it.” Camille said, looking at both of them excitedly.

"Très bien, Gabriel. Tu vas acheter des billets. On va attendre devant l'entrée.” Pierre said as he and Camille sauntered to an empty bench in the middle of the entrance.

As Gabriel went to buy the tickets to enter the museum, Camille and Pierre looked at each other and smiled then looked away. “Ton chien va bien?” she asked courteously, referring to his pet dog Ouba.

“Pardon? Tu peux répéter s’il te plait?”

“Ouba? Ton chien. Ton animal de compagnie? Tu as un chien, c’est vrai?” she asked, chuckling at his silly response.

“Oh, Ouba. Elle va bien…” He grinned tenderly.

They were silent for a few minutes and smiled at each other nervously. As luck would have it, Gabriel came back with the tickets. "Super. Tu es de retour." Pierre said serenely as they got up from the bench and walked to the entrance of the museum at the same time.

"Wow, look at this place. It's like a castle. It's gorgeous." she exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Come on, let me show you around." Gabriel offered as he sling his arms around her shoulders and walked with her along the way. Leaving Pierre behind. He looked at them and began to sigh. Trailing them from behind.

He pulled out his phone and checked his phone for some messages. He suddenly he received a message from his dear mother reads

'Coucou mon chéri. Est-ce que tu vas bien? Quand est-ce que tu vas nous rendre visite à Lyon? On a manque de toi. Bisous.'

Pierre grinned and immediately answered his mother's text.

'Salut Maman. Je vais bien. Je ne sais pas encore. Mais je pense que je retournerai à Lyon samedi prochain. J'ai hâte de te voir et Papa. Gros bisous.'

He put back his phone in his pocket and caught up with Gabriel and Camille standing in the middle of the exhibition.

——

"Voilà Mona Lisa. Peint par le peintre italien célèbre Monsieur Leonardo da Vinci. C'est beau non?" 

"Oui, c'est magnifique. Il est vraiment talentueux." she grinned softly. "Je peux prendre des photos?" She questioned and pulled out her Canon camera from her bag carefully.

"Vas-y." Gabriel replied as he stood back to let Camille take the photo. "Merci beaucoup." she said as she snapped a photo of the painting nicely.

"Wonderful…" Camille said looking at the photo she took. She wore the camera around her neck and continued walking with Gabriel.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks. Gabriel noticed her. "What’s wrong?” he asked, baffled. “Where’s Pierre?” Camille pondered as she turned around worried. Gabriel squinted his eyes and saw his best friend from a distance. “There he is.” he exclaimed pointing in his direction.

"Désolé, j’suis en retard. J'étais en train de répondre un texte de message de ma mère. “Oh, d’accord. Je montre juste Camille Mona Lisa.” he said happily.

“Cool. laisse-moi montre-toi des statues là- bas." Pierre insisted on walking to the one and only Nike of Samothrace The Winged Victory  “C’est intéressant.” she said, astonished, taking a photo of the statue intrigued. “Why don’t you explain the backstory of this wonderful statue here.” she stated, turning to him grinning from ear to ear. 

"I don’t see why not.” he twinkled as he began to explain the history of the sculpture ecstatically. “The statue of the goddess of victory was excavated in 1863 CE on the Greek island of Samothrace by the French vice-consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. The island was home of the ancient sanctuary dedicated to the Great Gods (Megaloi Theoi in Greek). These enigmatic deities received a Panhellenic chthonic mystery cult, on par with the Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone in Attica.” 

“Newsworthy. You really know about the historical events ” she acknowledged listening to the past history of the figure tantalizingly.

Then they moved to the other room with many more paintings hanging on the walls and there were more sculptures displayed in the room. “Oh, this is much bigger than the last room we’ve been to.” Camille gasped in disbelief.

She sauntered to the enormous painting of Joan of Arc that was standing fearlessly with all her might. Camille stared at the portrait filled with amazement. “Fascinating.” she breathed as she took another photo of the painting that she adores.

Pierre sauntered to Camille and set his hand on her shoulders. “Are you ready to go home? We still haven’t eaten lunch. And it’s nearly 3pm.” Pierre said as he grabbed hold of his stomach in starvation.

“Okay, let’s go.” she smiled as she kept her camera back in her bag. They met up with Gabriel and left the museum. As they were exiting the place it began to rain heavily. “Oh non, il pleut…” Camille sighed gloomily.

Pierre turned to her and thought of something to make it easier to go out in the rain. Luckily he has an umbrella he brought from home. He opened the umbrella and took Camille’s hand running through the rain instantaneously.

“Attends, je veux faire quelque chose.” Camille told him as they stopped by Champs De Mars. “Que faisons-nous ici?” He quizzed befuddled.

She took her camera out from her bag again and handed it to him. “Tu peux prendre ma photo devant la Tour Eiffel s’il te plait?” she beseeched amiably.
Pierre nodded and took her camera aiming for the Eiffel Tour. “Dis-moi juste quand tu es prêt." she said smiling in his direction. He looked at her and asked for some poses. “Tu peux bouger derrière un peu?" he instructed, holding the camera in his hands. “Ok… je veux une photo complete." she requested going back to her pose.

He nodded his head again and aimed for the right shot. He looked at her once again and clicked the camera button. “Tu as encore fini?" 

He looked at the camera and examined her photo. Camille came towards him and took the camera from him. She glanced at the photo Pierre took earlier and grinned. “Parfaite. Et maintenant avec le parapluie s’il te plait?” she asked, handing the camera back to him.

“Tres bien.” he said as Camille went back to her usual position and posed graciously.

As they were doing their job, a gust of wind blew the umbrella off of Camille’s hand and it’s ruined simply like that. “Merde, mon parapluie.” he cried running towards it.

"Désolé Pierre, c'était un accident. Pardonnez-moi. J'achète un nouveau parapluie pour toi.” she said as she left him wordlessly. Camille walked to the souvenir shop across the street and stepped into the shop drenched from the rain. “Bonjour, avez-vous vendu des parapluies ici?” she questioned looking at the stuff in the shop in exhilaration.

“Bonjour. Oui, il coûte 21 euros chacun."  the shopkeeper simpered tactfully.

Camile picked up a blue umbrella from the basket and paid for the item. “Pouvez-vous un sac en papier?" the man provided nicely.

“Non, merci.” she replied and took her balance back from the man.

“Bonne journée." she greeted as she left the shop and ran back to Pierre.

She got back to him and handed him his new umbrella. “Voilà. J’ai déjà acheté un nouveau parapluie pour toi.” she grinned and handed it to him. Pierre smiled and gladly took it from her hands. He opened the umbrella and they both made it to the restaurant.

By the time they made it to the restaurant, the rain finally stopped. Pierre closed the umbrella and they came face to face with Gabriel at the restaurant and sat at the bistro in front of the Champs de Mars with each other.

“Bon, j’ai faim. S’il vous plaît." Camille called the server as she raised her hand in the air. A waiter came towards their table and brought three menus in his hands. “Bienvenue. Que voudriez-vous boire?" the server asked them in a nice tone. “Nous devrions avoir deux bouteilles de bières s’il vous plaît." Gabriel ordered. “Et toi, chérie? Que voudriez-vous boire?"

“Une carafe de l'eau du robinet et un verre de thé au citron s’il vous plaît.” she commanded in a sweet voice.

"Très bien. Et que voudriez-vous manger?”

Camille scanned the food menu carefully and asked for a Caesar’s salad.  “Je peux avoir la salade de César, s'il vous plaît? Mais peux-tu faire la salade sans d’oeufs? Je suis allergique aux oeufs.” she mentioned to the waiter politely. “Bien sûr mademoiselle. Et pour les gars?” the man asked, looking up at Pierre and Gabriel pondering.

"Ah, oui… je prends du saumon avec du citron." Pierre indicated to the waiter jubilantly.

"Certainement monsieur un saumon avec du citron. Et toi, Monsieur?" he questioned Gabriel who was examining the pages of the menu confidently.

"Ouais, je voudrais un quiche Lorraine s'il vous plaît." he give the order to the waiter affably.

The waiter took back the menus from them and left for the kitchen. “What an enjoyable day today. Thanks for the invite guys. And I’m sorry about your umbrella Pierre.” she grinned guiltily.

“Don’t worry about it, Camille. Stop feeling resentful towards me, it doesn’t matter.” Pierre declared as everything went back to normal.