This experience will make me a professional stalker

One of the things that I have learned over the course of this class is that a flaneur is, in many ways, a professional stalker. I started to suspect this early on in the class, when we read about people who would see a building they found interesting, go in through the door, find the people inside, and lurk in staircases and closets. My suspicions were confirmed when my professor asked us to stalk people for class.

"For Wednesday's walk," he said gleefully, "we're going to go to the Rue de Rivoli. There, you will find someone who you find interesting. Then you will follow them for half an hour."

"Um, so we're going to be stalking people?"

"No! You're going to be a flaneur!" So--a stalker.

There are three national sports in France: petanque, eating, and people-watching. Ever wonder why French people love cafes? It's because they provide a socially-acceptable outlet for watching people. You pick a place on the terrace, not just because the weather is nice, but because the best people-watching places are outside. You order a coffee. In France, unlike in America, you can order a coffee and sit at the table for as long as you like without having anyone give you a dirty look. So, you sit there with your coffee, perhaps a newspaper if you want to give the impression that you're not actually staring at people, and you watch.

I will admit that I have done some extracurricular stalking in my life. Sometimes there are people who you like, who you find attractive, and who stir your imagination. Then, at least in my opinion, your natural response is to, well, look at them, watch them, and make up stories about them in your head. Right? Is this just me? See! I even took a creepy picture of Clark when he was grocery shopping...that's normal. Right?

So, yesterday we went to the Rue de Rivoli, stood on the corner, and prepared.

"The choice of person is very important," Clark told us. "You can't just pick anyone. It's a real art."

This is very true. You can't just follow any Joe-Shmo in the street; you need to find someone who sparks your interest, and who might have some interesting character ticks. We only had 20 minuts to choose and follow someone, which, in my opinion, was not sufficient to find a good victi--I mean, subject. I settled on a Fripster, which is my newly-coined name for a French hipster, who I expected to be much more interesting than she was. She went shoe shopping, and went to the metro stop, where she proceeded to sit for 15 minutes. Next time, Madeleine, next time...

My personally-preferred method is to sit next to someone in a cafe and watch them, mainly because they can't escape and you can observe them for long periods without provoking suspicion. I think I'll give that a try this weekend.