As I swore profusely at the insanity of the inconvenience, I did realize of course that all I had to do was call a cab. But Alas folks – this is one of the most nerve-racking things I try not to do in a foreign language. You see, even though I can converse in French just fine – however – the thickness of my anglophone accent makes it usually a painful dialogue that goes something like this over the phone: “madame repetez s’il vous plait” “pardonne je n’ai pas bien compris” etc.
So, as I twiddle my thumbs thinking of what my next move should be!! I almost laugh out loud when I realize that all I had to do was request for an UBER pickup. In hindsight, it may have been due to the stress of being in a different environment. However, whatever it was, I got over it and hurriedly dragged my suitcase down a precarious flight of stairs and headed to the front entrance to wait for my UBER driver to arrive. As I get to the gate, I am alerted that my UBER is here and with a sigh of relief I check to make sure i’m still within time to catch my flight and scout the street for the driver.
I really did see the “Lady” in the black cab pull up in front of my gate, but my “biased” brain refused to process the information I was seeing. So, I kept scouting the street for what I thought would be the UBER cab. Within minutes, I see from the corner of my eye a petite young lady with the biggest smile and sunniest disposition walk straight up to me and gripped my hand in a firm handshake. She croons “Bonjour Madame” and proceeds to grab my suitcase – which I must add was almost the same size as her small frame. I couldn’t help but smile as she waddled with my suitcase to the trunk of the car and escorts me to the backseat of the car.
I look at her in awe, and we start a fun filled conversation for 30 minutes about the fact that she is the first female UBER driver I have had the pleasure of meeting on either side of the Atlantic ( in France and in the United States). She shares in amusement her various encounters of passengers that squeal with shock when she pops out of the car and they see that she’s a Girl. Putting the unexpectedness of her gender aside, she is well aware though that her being a Girl and an UBER Driver is smart business. By the time we reached the airport, she had presented me with her business card, her contact details, and wanted me to spread the word about her chauffeur services.
So Folks – there you go!! If you are ever in Paris and need a ride around town for business, pleasure, airport pickups etc….allow me to introduce you to this smart young lady Hanane – owner of Chauffeur Privee Femme and I think the most Adorable Uber Driver in Paris.
Your Girl, Juanita Nene xoxoxoxoxo
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