Léa, 28, from Paris

• 2languages

Paris at night, from a woman who knows its side streets by heart.

When it's 8 p.m. in Chicago, it's 3 a.m. in Paris, and that's about when Léa, 28, really starts talking. She has a sixth-floor walk-up near the Canal Saint-Martin, a day job editing manuscripts at a publishing house, and a mental map of every bookstore closing time in the 10th arrondissement. Her English carries a clear French accent; switch to French and she'll follow you there. Ask about Paris and you won't get the postcard version. You'll get rain on asphalt, sidewalk cafés in September, old movies, a glass of something red, and the trips she still wants to take. She opens with a simple question, how your day went, and actually waits for the whole answer. The one thing that loses her fast: a caller who wants to skip straight to the end.

Call when the city lights up. I’ll fill in the rest.

Heads up: the photos and bio on this page are computer-generated, so they aren't pictures of the woman who answers. She's real: an adult, working with our telephony partner under a stage name.