Say: Oui-sti-ti!

Thanks to Kristin Espinasse’s blog, I was able to call out, “Ouistiti!” (pronounced wee-stee-tee) instead of “Say Cheese!” when taking pictures of these charming French-American siblings, Morgan and Steven. According to Kristin, this is the traditional pre-photo command in France. Your lips assume a semi-smile when saying the “wee” in ouistiti. A ouistiti is some type of South American lemur or monkey.


When visiting the Tour Eiffel with Steven and his entourage of grown-ups, I was surprised to see this sign on the first platform:
On January 15, Illustration magazine reported: “…the experiment of a young building painter, Mr. Paul Cans, who concocted an ingenious device to move up and down a smooth rope as easily and safely as one would on a staircase. Going by the name of “ouistiti”, the apparatus is a pocket staircase; the inventor demonstrated its advantages by hoisting himself up to the first platform of the Eiffel Tower (187 feet) with the greatest of ease in just a few minutes.”
(Click on the photo of the sign to better see the rope ‘staircase’.)

A quick net search revealed a device called a Petzl Ouistiti as the only current remnant of the Tour Eiffel ouistiti variant. It’s a climbing harness for 4 to 9 year old children, designed to buckle at the rear, so only adults can unlock them. Do you think 4-year-old toddlers really go rock climbing? Or is this just a cover name for a harness that parents at their wit’s ends can use to leash up unruly children? Is it so named because of its Tour Eiffel ‘pocket staircase’ precursor or because kids climb around like little lemurs? Inquiring minds want to know.

Comments

[lisa]

Thanks for a very interesting day at the Eiffel Tower for Steven and I! I learned a lot and Steven was thrilled to finally go up to the top, after having gazed at the tower for 5 years! Such is the life of a little parisian - it takes California friends to get him up there!