Aix les Bain - France

me hitching

Hitchhiking offers the most freedom for travel. Besides meeting hundreds of people that I wouldn't normally have met, I got taken to all kinds of places I never would have gone. People love to take you home to meet their families and friends. No crowded buses, no schedules, no hotel rooms to book; everything happens the day that you stick your thumb out and you never know what's going to happen.

Was I afraid of weirdos, serial killers, perverts? The idea was there and I met up with some creeps, but who you hitchhike with can also have a bearing on survival. I wasn't as willing to get into some cars but then I didn't want to argue or separate with Mary Lynne.

Did we choose where to go? We started with a destination, but it all depended on when we got a ride, where they let us off and what time. Next stop: Aix les Bains.

Claude in front of Mary Lynne

Francois, a trucker who picked us up outside Chalon, stopped at a bar on Lac du Bourget and it wasn't too long before we met a team of young soccer players, one of whom offered to put us up at his apartment around the block. Bingo, he was an innocuous sort for sure. As I was talking with him and others, Mary Lynne came up to me and said she was going up into the mountains to camp with some guys. Do I want to go? 'We're going to drink some wine and play music.' It was dark and when I looked over at the guys I couldn't see their faces. 'I'm not going, it's too late and why do you have to go to the mountains anyway? I don't think it's a good idea.' She tried to convince me to go before turning to them and, in French, said I was boring and never wanted to do anything, rolling her eyes for emphasis. Did she think I didn't understand what she was saying? I told her to do what she wanted, but I was going back to the apartment with Claude.

I slept on top of the bed, Claude was under the covers, the light from the living room illuminating the room. I found it hard to sleep what with his teeth grinding and when I rose to look at him once, blood was dribbling down his cheek on to his pillow. Yikes. I turned over and moved to the edge of the bed and I finally fell asleep. We were both snoring when suddenly the light snapped on three hours later and an hysterical Mary Lynne burst into the room followed by a tall, skinny dude with long, curly hair. 'Oh my God, you wouldn't believe what happened. This guy here just saved my life. He helped me escape.' I saw up on my elbows and yawned and squinted at both of them. Mary Lynne lit a cigarette and collapsed to the floor. 'I had to run to get away from those guys. They just wanted to get me drunk and have sex. It's a good thing you didn't come.'

Arras to Paris

on top of Notre Dame

We crossed over to France from Dover and watched as the famous white cliffs faded into the distance.  Ready for our hitchhiking odyssey to Athens, Greece, the intuitive side of my personality kicked in quickly once I started diving into cars driven by strange men. Not one woman stopped to give us a lift.

France was easy for rides and we spent our first night at a youth hostel in Arras where we met European kids traveling our same route, except on a EuroRail Pass. When we told them our plans to hitch, they thought we were crazy. It's so far! Greece!  But coming from a country like Canada, Greece was a mere day away. The same distance from Vancouver to Calgary. 

So much to see and do in Paris. The Louvre was amazing and well worth a tour. Unfortunately, I took next to no pictures on my trek through Europe.  

The Louvre

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Eiffel Tower

The Arc de Triomphe