Le Contrôleur de Bonheur à Antony!

Le Côntroleur de Bonheur

On my way to Paris on Thursday afternoon, I had the pure fortune of meeting a man who is a bit of a celebrity to me! Alex had seen him on the RER B some months back and told me about him... He's the man who makes you smile-- LITERALLY!

Le Contrôleur de Bonheur, aka Emmanuel, is the man who puts a smile on the faces of many, or at least makes his best attempt, up and down the RER B line (maybe the metro, too) in Paris. He looks like a literary intellectual type and sports a very French looking cap, if he were around in the 20s and 30s, he could have easily been mistaken for a Fitzgerald or Hemingway "type," (That's my impression, in any case). I haven't had the privilege of seeing him "in action" so I will have to save that for the next post). Maybe, I'll get to do a follow up story about him and do a "ride along!" That would be fantastique!!! Here is his below in French "Société!"

So, how did I "meet" this Mr. Controleur de Bonheur, you might ask?! Well, it's a funny story, really because just several days ago, I spied him on the quai at the gare d'Antony and as he was talking with another person before the train arrived, I had this sneaky suspicion of who he was but I didn't make my move to meet him, as I wasn't certain. Once on the train, I realized more and more that it was him and was really excited at the prospect of riding up to Paris and seeing him "in action!" Well, I had to get off at Bourg la Reine, and no sooner than I did.. but he took out his megaphone speaker and begin his spiel... Oh DRAT, I thought! Missed him!!! Okay, another time. Well, it must have been in my cards/destiny, or what have you to meet this many right away... Because... yesterday... as I was on my way to Paris, I ran into him on the street in the center of town and literally STOPPED dead in my tracks, turned around and ran after him yelling! I caught up with him and asked him if he was indeed the Contrôler de Bonheu and YES-- BINGO... he was!

So... after giving you that nice recount above.... I FINALLY got to meet and speak with this man, Emmanuel ... who has become a celebrity in my eyes... and get to know a little more about him and what he does! Fascinating and very charming, I must say, and I am indeed just thrilled that I made his acquaintance!

So... with no further ado, I present to you, Le Contrôleur de Bonheur.... (drumroll please!) - Mr. Emmanuel A. Here is a link to his blog and I hope that you will check it out, it's in French and if you don't speak French, you can have a look at the pics. For the link to his blog, please click HERE (Le Contôleur de Bonheur). It will explain more what he does!

A pleasure meeting you Emmanuel! A bientôt, j'espère!

All pictures used in the post were taken from The Côntroleur de Bonheur's blog.