Gypsies

Thursday was my first day back at work from the vacation, Toussaints (All Saints). They gave us 10 days off, I love France. It was a little difficult getting a move on, I got on the bus and riding along, some of my students mounted the bus and gave me a big smile and a "Allo!" So I, relishing in the next 20 minutes of freedom, continued to day dream. I got off the bus, there was an overly smelly person sitting near me, so I escaped to the tram. Once on the tram, I had maybe 6 minutes until I had to get off. My student came and sat next to me with a big smile. We were chatting about the vacation when I heard something coming from the back of the tram. Right away I knew the sound. It was an accordion. Yes! I am in France! I asked my student, "is someone playing the accordion?" She said, "yes," in a somewhat annoyed fashion. I looked back in excitement trying to get a glimpse of the musician. Instead I saw only un-enthused mugs, so I decided to tone down the excitement a tad. I waited as the music made its way closer to me. A little boy maybe 10 years old had a white plastic cup at hand, shaking it in front of people asking for money. After him came an adult man playing the accordion (quite beautifully), probably the boy's father. Following him was a woman, probably the boys mother, playing a one-stringed guitar (she was the rhythm I'm guessing?). They appeared to be gypsies. With my luck, we got off at the same stop, and I got to hear the boy give his father a praise like "we sounded great!" That seriously made my day.