HEAD BACK TO FRANCE
We left the South Africans off in Madrid and went back to
France across the back roads through the small country of Andorra. We took a few
turns and ended up going on some old dirt roads for hours and across open
fields. We finally found a paved road in France and headed back to the Riviera
and the beaches.
My money was down to less then twenty dollars and I decided
to leave and go alone the rest of the trip. I did not want to just look for
beaches and women, I felt a greater need to seek other things.
I hitched a few rides and ended up back in Paris. I had heard
from some young people I met in a hostel about a ship that was sailing back to
New York City and the price of the ticket was really cheap. I figured I could
trade in my airline ticket home and buy the passage on the ship and still have
about ten or twenty dollars left over.
I had been fasting to save money and my weight was down. When
I got to Paris I found an American Express Office and turned in the airline
ticket in exchange for my ship ticket. The ship was in Germany getting refitted
and overhauled in dry dock. It was taking just a few passengers back across the
Atlantic Ocean. There was no advertising on the trip and for the most part it
was a training and shake down cruise for the crew.
I was given some good advice by the ticket agent who told me
I would find it easier to survive until the ship left by using my last money to
get a hair cut and a shave. I followed that advise and spent my last few dollars
getting clean cut looking.
I wanted to get out of Paris to get closer to where the ship
was leaving from in about four weeks and to save some money. I was down to less
then five dollars cash.
I tried asking a teenage kid how to use the Metro to take me
out of the city. He did not understand my English and motioned for me to follow
him. He ended up taking me to one of the nicest neighborhoods in all of Paris.
It was located just off the Avenue des Champs Elysees and within sight of the
Arc de Triomphe ( Arch of Triumph). He took me up to a penthouse apartment.
His mother turned out to be the top women judge in all of
France. She was some kind of supreme court justice there. She and her husband
were very nice to me. They took all my clothing and had their English maid wash
them for me, while I had a bath. The bath tub was deeper then any I had ever
been in and I really enjoyed getting clean after spending all the time camping
and washing in lakes and oceans.
They fed me a huge dinner. It was served on a table that was
at least twenty feet long. We each had a bell that you rang when you wanted
something from the maid. They also had a cook. This place was all class and they
made me feel right at home.
They played all their Elvis records for me and spoke only
English to each other in my presence. They invited me to spend the night.
The next day they feed me the biggest breakfast of my life.
They then took me on a sight seeing tour of all the places around the city that
had escaped me while exploring on foot. When they finished showing me everything
they felt was important to see, they drove me out of the city and a good
distance towards my next destination of Le Havre.
When they had left I put my pack on and found it was heavy. I
looked inside and found that they had loaded it up with all kinds of food stuff
and cigarettes. They must have assumed that I smoked. The thought about how they
had treated me made me feel warm inside and I knew that I would not go hungry
because my Guru would provide for my needs. I no sooner had this thought then a
car stopped to give me a ride and share a sandwich and a beer. I was off to met
my ship but I had over three weeks to kill. I decided to take my time and relax
and enjoy all that happened to me.
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