My sister, Jean had many friends when she worked in Paris, France. When two of them, Christienne and Christoff were on a tour of The United States, their travels brought them to Louisville just in time for The Kentucky Derby.
Of course we invited them to join us for an Infield adventure.
We explained the importance of the pre-race singing of “My Old Kentucky Home” to the couple, so on the way to Churchill Downs, while they sat in the back seat of my Volkswagon Campmobile, we coached them until they were able to recall the lyrics with their French accents adding a very sincere touch of enthusiasm.
In the Infield, they did not want the head of a horse with a post position number painted on their faces as other visitors requested.
On Christienne’s back I painted The Eiffel Tower and Christoff’s back received my version of the Arc de Triumph.
The sun did shine bright on that Derby Day which gave their backs extra color except where their monuments were painted.
For the remainder of their North American tour, the Parisians proudly walked around with a pronounced pale image of French monuments on their backs that instantly proclaimed their nationality.
Whenever I see those monuments in a book or a movie or a magazine, I see their happy faces and backs while I recall the song we sang and the laughter we all shared.