A sunny day in Paris -
Our family (wife, son and daughter) was stopping by Paris for a few days on our way back home to New York from Bordeaux.
I had called Keith in  London to let him know we were going to be in Paris and was hoping the Ferreiras would be able to visit that week too.

We did not know each other’s plans. We were to call each other and see if we could schedule a time and date to meet if they could make it to Paris

On our first day, the four of us were doing as tourists do, casually strolling around the park, taking in the sights, indulging in the local souvenir stalls and heading towards the Eiffel Tower, each enjoying in our own little worlds, taking in the surroundings, smells of foods as did all of the thousands of tourists around us.

We made our way closer to the Eiffel tower and separated a bit while walking the cross section which was busier than the most crowded part of New York.
 
Sameer (my son) was bringing up the rear and as we were reaching the other side of the street, out of the blue we hear someone exclaim his name, “Sameer?!”.
We all stopped and tried to locate him in the fast-moving crowd before the light changed,  stunned and wondering who in the world could have stopped our 17 year old on a crowded street-crossing near the Eiffel tower when we could barely see him through the bustle.  
Once again, we heard the eager voice exclaim – with a little more assurance and excitement – “Sameer!”
We were all astonished that anybody in Paris knew Sameer.
We back tracked, avoiding the fast moving pedestrians and as we came closer, we saw Yuki with her hands on Sameer’s shoulders, giving him a joyous hug  in the middle of the street, as people walked past quickly. 

Our families were crossing each other at one of the busiest tourist spots in the world, and would never have known that we were in the same spot, until Yuki recognized Sameer (she had met him a few years ago when he looked much younger when they visited our home at Princeton)
 
We all embraced each other and marveled at the coincidence of meeting in one of the most crowded areas without any coordination; completely amazed  that Yuki recognized Sameer years later, most pleasantly surprised with such an open hearted, zealous, and warm reunion with Keith, Yuki and also Alex who had grown so much.
 
The next few days were spent with the seven of us all ( Lalwanis and the Ferreiras ) strolling around Paris together and enjoying the “gastronomical” delicacies, our families getting to know each other better, and spending what would be a most memorable few days in Paris.