Miss Lily Keeps Them Talking in Paris

By Susan Stamberg

Published July 26, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT

Miss Lilly says her goal is to get strangers to talk with one another. She has the advantage of speaking at least four languages: English, German, Dutch and her native Hungarian. She can also call on a little Spanish, when need be.

France is a nation of talkers. Intense one-on-one conversations take place everywhere, all the time. To a foreign ear it sounds like pigeons cooing.

In the Luxembourg Gardens, the most beautiful park in Paris, a small white-haired woman sits in the sun inviting conversation. She holds a sign in her lap that reads "Hello! Let's talk."

Miss Lily wants people to talk to each other. NPR's Susan Stamberg sits down for a chat with this former interpreter to learn why she is at the center of so many conversations.