It normally takes some time to travel from Le Havre to Paris, but fortunately, Jean and his uncle own a boat with enough space for them and their invention, so they could travel on the river Seine, which leads them directly into the city of Paris in about 2 days.
It´s a completely amazing sight for Jean. He has never been to Paris before, but now being on the boat and floating on the Seine through this world famous city, he can´t help but being in awe. First of all, he is impressed by the architecture of the buildings he can see from the Seine, they´re simply beautiful, with some being already a few hundred years old and having been built in the 14th or 15th century already, but of course Jean realizes that most of the buildings have been constructed during the French revolution and the following reign of emperor - or as the French people say: l´empereur - Napoleon. Jean has also never seen so many people gathered in one place, indicating that Paris must be quite a crowded city. Of course, this could also be because of the World Fair, drawing in people from all over Europe and other continents. But he especially likes the sight of the Eiffel tower towering over the city of Paris as its landmark. Yes, Paris must be the most impressive city in Europe, maybe even in the whole world, although he has never been to cities like New York, Washington, Tokyo or Moscow (but he has no intentions to go there despite its alleged beauty; he has heard terrible rumors of Czar Nikolai II. being a tyrant), so he can´t judge whether these cities are equally awesome. Jean´s uncle notices his nephew’s excitement, and he is mildly amused.
"Ah, yes, you´ve never been to Paris before, right? Well, it´s not too shabby, don´t you think?"
"It´s the most beautiful city in the world! I...I´ve never seen such a place before!"
"Hahaha! It´s in any case completely different from our beloved Le Havre, I´d say."
Jean´s uncle then weighs anchor near the shore of the Seine.
"Jean, I´ll make sure that our craft is all right and functional. Why don´t you take a closer look at the city?"
"Really?!"
"Of course. I think you´re intelligent enough not to get lost here. Just look for our boat at the shore."
"Okay! See you later!"
Jean then leaves the boat, hopping onto the crowded streets of Paris. He’s walking around a little, gazing at his surroundings. Of course, he is still impressed, but that changes quickly, as Jean sees something he never would have dreamed of: a few meters away from him, he sees a girl, so beautiful that his heart is immediately beating faster and his breathing is getting heavier. The girl has darker skin than Europeans usually have, so Jean thinks that the girl might be from India. She also has rather short, dark blue hair and stunning green eyes. Heck, he could get lost in these kind, deep green eyes. Her clothes are looking like those a girl from the upper class of the bourgeoisie, and he thinks that she must be pretty rich. From his position, he notices that she doesn´t wear make up or jewelry, only some nice looking earrings. This is indeed the first time ever Jean is in love, and to his surprise, only after he saw her for the first time. It is clear that he has to talk to her, no matter what. But as he attempt to approach the smiling angel-like girl, she walks away through the crowds. She didn´t even notice him yet, but that won’t hold Jean back. He follows her the best he can, although it is quite problematic to keep track of the girl, mainly because of the crowds. After some minutes of following her, he arrives at a wide place of Paris, and he knows why: there’s a huge circus directly in front of him, and he sees that the girl is walking into it. Of course Jean runs towards the entrance, but to no avail since he’s suddenly being held back.
"Hey, kid, where’s your ticket?"
Jean looks up at a big, muscular man standing at the entrance of the circus.
"Ticket? I...I have no ticket!"
"Well, you´ll need one in order to get in there. Buy one, or beat it, kid!"
"I...I have no money with me! Could you please make an exception?"
"Shut up! No money, no ticket, no circus! Now get out of my sight!"
The man shoves Jean away in a rude manner, causing him to fall onto the rough paving stones. Damn! He had to get in there and meet the girl! But how? Then he gets an idea: his shrink-ray gun! He opens his pocket and takes the gun out. That could help him solve his problems. When he shrinks down to tiny size (according to his calculations, the gun should shrink him down to about 1/2 of an inch), he can easily sneak into the circus and search for the girl. He has never used it before, so he has no idea whether it works, and more importantly: he has no idea whether the reverse will work. But he had no choice, he had to do it. He also hopes that the gun will shrink with him, so he can use it later to grow back.