Kee en Janus naar Parijs

Summary

Kee has been a widow for seven years when she meets the jolly butcher Meiblom, who wins her heart because, like her first husband, his name is Janus. After some time she tells her daughter and son that she intends to marry for a second time. The wedding party is attended by Rinus, Hein, Gerrit and all their other friends from the Jordaan, the working-class quarter of Amsterdam.

The honeymoon is to be spent in Paris. On the way, while Janus is sleeping, Kee spies on the activities of two thieves whom she manages to throw off the train. In Paris a guide takes them to an hotel where a party is in full swing and the guests make fun of them. The next day they make a sight-seeing tour of Paris, visit the Eiffel Tower and end up in the "Moulin Rouge". There, under the hypnotic influence of Professor Roland, Kee and Janus perform a Jordaan dance, to the great amusement of the audience. Leaving Janus at his table, Kee goes to get some fresh air and is kidnapped by apaches who force her to change clothes with one of their girls. During a police raid, the apaches and Kee are arrested, and it is only in the police-station that Kee and Janus are reunited.

On the way back to Amsterdam they are relieved, remembering their difficulties with the language spoken by the Froggies, to hear some fellow passengers speaking Dutch. However, this meeting ends unpleasantly because the gentlemen are confidence crooks who, during a game of cards, relieve Janus of his last few cents. Nevertheless, Kee and Janus can always boast that they have been in Paris.