Braces emergency in Paris

I was talking to Wany on Skype (video conferencing) and munching on grapes when suddenly one of my rubber bands on my braces fell out.. The coloured part. And I can feel the wire poking me.. I can't even talk properly, let alone eat!

I googled "59 rue de l'abbe groult to orthodontist", which is basically my address to a dentist who does braces and an address pops up. The closing hours is until 7pm, so I rode my bicycle there in record time without calling in to make an appointment or finding out more about the building.

The moment I hit the streets (around 5.15pm), I realized I don't have contact lenses on.. everything looked blurred but I refused to go back to put them on as I am afraid I don't have time to go and do my braces so I just cheong down the street... When I arrived, it's a cluster of buildings and there's no proper signboards! I asked a few locals but they went there walking their dogs and don't know anything -- though they were very friendly and tried to speak English to me.

Panicking, I ran into one of the building and saw two little girls who were very shy but they managed to understand me and helped pointed out the correct place.. 

Reaching the door, I rang the doorbell twice before someone came.. it's around 5.35pm at this point.. A lady opened the door and said "We are closed", but I explained to her about my problem and asked her for help. She was very sweet and let me in, asked me to lie on the dentist chair and she will do her best to help me.. 

She checked my tooth and she replaced the rubber band for me and helped me tighten the wire.. in less than 2 mins she said "Voila!".. I thanked her, and before I left, I took out my wallet and asked her "How much should I pay you?".. She said "Don't worry, it's free!".

OMG!

I asked her again how much she wanted, and she refused my money!

I gave her a big hug and thanked her profusely before leaving.. She just smiled at me and said "Enjoy Paris!".

Can you believe it? Firstly, I am in Paris and the people are supposed to be stuck up.. Secondly, she helped me outside her consultation time (she said the clinic closes at 5pm) and lastly she did not charge me!!

I am so blessed to meet nice people like her. :)

Based on my personal experiences here, almost everyone is friendly and nice! The garbage collectors will wave and say hi to me everyday, the grocer will greet me in the morning, everyone is always smiling at me and I've never encountered any stuck up people at all! I think it's a misconception the world has of Paris.. I love this place and I really wish I could speak French so I can communicate better with the locals!