A Night in Paris

French Jig

Tom's POV
We followed the music to a small barn. It was lit up with fairy light's and lanterns and there were tons of people dancing in the rain and having fun. Most of them were older but there were a few children around.

"Boujour!" An old woman greeted us. Ella went up and talked to her in French but I had no idea what they were saying. She patted Ella on the back and gestured for us to follow her.

"She says that we are welcome to stay for food and drinks and it's all free and if we need it, we can stay here for the night." Ella whispered as we followed the woman into the barn where there were tons more people. There were at least 200 people eating, drinking, chatting and dancing. And there was a band that looked like a folk group, everyone obviously taking shelter from the rain.

"Please drink and eat and dance! Eh, dancing is always good for new couple." The woman said in her best English. Neither of us bothered to correct her. We just smiled and thanked her and we got some drinks.

"Are those frog legs?" I whispered to Ella.
"Just pretend you don't see them." She whispered back and put some bread and some gravy.
"I'll never understand you Americans." I shook my head and she kicked me lightly with her bare foot. We got our food and we walked over to a couple of haystacks and sat down.

Ella was next to a family with a toddler boy and a newborn who was being held by it's mother. We were very close to the band and they were just playing some jig music.

I looked at Ella and she was absolutely stunning. Her hair was soaked and it was messy but it was so sexy. She still had my jacket on and she truthfully suited it better than I did. She looked so sexy and earthy and free.
She didn't care that her feet were probably being stabbed by hay or that the newborn baby was crying next to her. She was smiling as she watched the old couples dance their best and she was bobbing her head.

She finally turned to me, "What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked and wiped her mouth.
I shook my head, "No, you're fine." I smiled. She grinned and looked back at the makeshift dance floor.

"Are you two English?" The woman next to Ella asked. She had French accent but her English was very good.
"I'm American and Tom's English." Ella said and pointed to me.
"I'm Claire, nice to meet you both." She said and nodded.
"I'm Ella." She smiled and then looked at the crying baby is Claire's arms.

"Could I hold her?" She asked softly.
"She won't stop crying, maybe you can help." She smiled tiredly as she carefully handed the baby wrapped up in tons of blankets to Ella. Ella was a natural.
She cradled the baby perfectly and swayed side to side, whispering soothing 'shh' and 'whoosh' sounds. Soon enough, the baby fell asleep. Ella turned to me, bright eyes on show.
"She's sleeping!" She whispered excitedly. "You're a natural." I whispered back.
"There's a cot over in the corner of the room." Claire pointed to it. Ella nodded and walked slowly to the cot and carefully placed her in. She walked triumphantly back to us.

"I might have to hire you full time." Claire laughed.
"Maman! Maman!" The toddler rushed up to Claire.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Come dance!" He said.
"I'm too tired," She shook her head but the boy kept pulling on her skirt.
Ella rested a hand on her knee, "I'll dance with him." She smiled.
"I'm Ella! What's your name?" She spoke to the boy.
"I'm Nico! I'm 3!" He held up three fingers. Ella gasped. "Wow! You're so big! Well, would you like to dance with me?" Ella asked. He nodded and smiled.

"This is-" Ella stood up and Nico finally saw me and gasped.
"Are you..." He walked up to me and whispered, "Spiderman?"
I looked around and then I whispered back, "Yes! But you can't tell anyone!" I put on my American accent.

"I promise." He said sincerely. I held back the biggest grin as he nodded and took Ella's hand. "Spiderman!" She mouthed as Nico took her to the dance floor. Nico jumped and danced and Ella spun him around and they were the centre of attention on the dancefloor.
"I might need her permanently." Claire laughed next to me.
"How long have you two been together?" She asked. I looked at Ella. Her careless dancing and her wet hair and my jacket around her made her look so goofy and beautiful.
"Not long." I smiled to Claire.

Nico and Ella's dance finished and they both came back in the need of a drink. Ella sat next to me and downed her glass of water.
"It's time for the jig! Everyone too the dance floor!" An older man shouted.
"A jig?" Ella said.
"It's a tradition. It's like our country dancing. It's super fun you have to try." Claire said. Ella turned to me.

"Come on." She smiled and held her hand out. "Let's jig." I said and put my hand on hers. We walked up hand in hand to the large circle where everyone was standing.
"Go into two lines! The men on one side and the women on the other!" The man shouted. "Bye Spiderman." Ella said and went to the opposite side of me.

"For anyone who doesn't know how to do the jig: You walk in to the middle and clap to the music then you go back out. You come back in again and stomp your feet. Then you all run in together and spin each other around on one arm then you run back. Then you run back in and spin one another on the opposite arm then run back. Then you run and spin each other with both arms and run back. Then you do the do-si-doe around one another. Then once everyone has done that, the couple at the front will run down together through everyone and then back up and they will join the end of the line. Everyone got it?" The man explained it very fast.

"We've got this." Ella mouthed and I laughed and shook my head.
(Play now) The violinist started playing and then the other instruments came in and everyone started. We walked in and clapped together and then walked in and stomped. Ella was already laughing and smiling uncontrollably.

We ran in and our arms wrapped around one another's and then spun around then we did the opposite arm and then we did both and I spun her around harder than needed and she nearly fell over.

We were both doubled over with laughter and then the front couple ran down, hand in hand down everyone and then back up. Then we started again. And again. And again. And then Ella and I were the front couple.

"I'm so happy!" She shouted to me as we spun each other around. Then we held hands and ran sideways down everyone, laughing and smiling at each other as we did. We ran back up and then we parted to either side and walked down behind everyone until we were opposite one another once again at the bottom of the line.

"This is so fun." I shouted to her.
"I know!" She shouted back. We soon finished the dance and everyone was puffed out and ready for bed.
"I haven't had that much fun in so long." She panted.
"My face hurts from smiling so much!" She cupped her own face.
"Will you be staying?" The old woman from earlier asked. Ella looked at me then back at her.
"We'll definitely come back." She smiled. The old woman held her hand and squeezed it. "You two are beautiful! Wait a moment." She walked away and Ella and I shared the same confused look. She came back with a piece of paper in her hand.

"Go here." She said and handed it to me. "Merci beaucoup." Ella said.
"Au revoir!" The woman said.
"Au revoir!" We waved at her and we left the barn. I opened the piece of paper and it was a cut out piece of a map. It showed the Eiffel tower and then it showed a hill that was close by and it was circled in red pen.

"I guess we know where we're going next then." I smiled to Ella. She wrapped her arm around mine.
"Let's go."