Petit ami français

So, as you may or may not know, my mom travels a lot. She gets around. Usually she joins up with a small tour wherever she is going in the big wide world; she tends toward tours where you learn a whole bunch. She reads up on the location before her departure and there is a local guide to lead the tour who imparts his or her knowledge throughout the trip, so, when my mom returns, she knows a lot about said destination.

Her last trip took her to Paris and Barcelona. Poor mom.

It was, if I'm not mistaken, a tour focusing on the cultural, artistic, and architectural gems of the two cities. Poor, poor mom.

Sometimes I don't hear from my mom much when she is traveling. The time difference is often big and the Internet connection is not always terrific. But this last trip was to Western Europe, so neither of those things was a big impediment.

In one of the emails I received from her from Paris, my mom casually dropped this in:

By the way...you would love Louis our guide. He is a light skinned African--very well built--was in the French foreign legion for nine years but seems very non military now. He is not married but has a daughter 16. He speaks seven languages and English is #4.

I didn't really give this much thought other than to chuckle at the "very well built" comment; was she trying to hook me up?

After her return I received this email:

Good. I will drop off gifts. One for C. The girls' didn't make it into the suitcase some how and two for you--one from me and one from Louis.

This is the e-conversation that then followed:

B: Ooh, that is intriguing!
P: I showed Louis your pix on Facebook and the next day he gave me a gift to give you, inspired by the pix
B: Now I'm very intrigued! Must have something to do with raising girls ;)
P: Oh no...all about you!
B: hmm, very intrigued now.....

So, when I got home this is what I found:

A pretty, shiny bag from a gift store in Barcelona

A mini, smiling portly Buddha

And a chunky blue bead necklace

 Really? I mean, I'm quite sure that this is the first time that I've ever received gifts from someone I've not met. The magic of Facebook, I guess.

I sent him a thank-you email, and heard back from him straight away. He sent it from him smart phone. (Envoyé de mon smartphone BlackBerry 10 sur le réseau Orange.).

I just shook my head. I mean, what a nice surprise. Gifts from a French guy named Louis, pronounced Louie (but of course), who speaks seven languages. English is his fourth language, so not his best. But that's okay, right?

My mom sent some photos of him. (Of course she did!)

Something in Barcelona is muy interesante!

Do you think this warrants me learning some French?

How about this?
On se marie? (Should we get married?)

No, no wait, this is much more important:
Tu pourras sortir la poubelle? (Will you please take the rubbish out?)