A Lesson in Trusting Strangers

Why It Pays to Trust in Humanity
(Generally Speaking)

I made some new friends! Let me tell you about Raymond and Christine. They are super nice. They are an adventurous, fun-loving married couple from the area. They've lived in Hyères since the 70's. They love hiking, snorkling, bird watching, bike riding, and sailing. Needless to say, we've got lots in common. And they've got plenty of time to do what they love, since they're recently (?) retired.

So how'd we meet? Funny story, actually.

One day, I walked to the beach. Now, the main (closest/biggest) beach in my town is 20 mins by bus, which figures to be a good hour (you're walking with a purpose) to hour& 1/2 on foot (either you're enjoying the scenery or you've got flip flops on, or both.) So I'd walked there, enjoyed some time sunning/swimming/watching hot volley-ball players/etc, you know, typical beachy things... and I still had energy (and time on my hands) to have an evening stroll back up to town.

So on my way back, after about a 1/2 hr of walking, a car pulls over and the man asks me if I'd like a ride. (Have I mentioned that hitchhiking is more common/seems less risky here? Well, I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy, but anyway...) I figured it was nice of him to stop (even though I wasn't actually hitch hiking, I was just walking), and I decided to get in the car.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!!! HOLD UP!" Is what you might be thinking about now. "Tina, you got into a strange car with a stranger? Have you not SEEN The Lovely Bones?" And to that, my response is, "Well, he didn't strike me as the killer-type. And, no, I hadn't seen that movie yet at the time."

Ok ok, so I lived to tell the tale, so don't even worry about it! I'm not advising the young (or maybe just young at heart) readers out there to hop into cars with strangers. It just worked out well for me this one time, and I'm just recounting the story.

I explain to Raymond what I'm up to here in Hyères, working at the schools and all, and he tells me about himself and his (so-called) wife. (I mean, at the time, I didn't know...he could've been lying!) Well, he wasn't lying. He said they'd be going out on the boat tomorrow, and if it was alright with Christine, maybe I could come with them; he'd give me a call. Heck! Why not?! (I mean other than the whole "stranger danger" concern...)

And it all worked out great! He swung by the next morning to pick me up, we headed to their house, where I met Christine (yes, his wife really does exist) and the neighbor boy, and we all drove out to the port to the boat!

And what's so cool is I've never been on a sailboat, and it's totally on my list of things I wanna do before I die! Check that baby off the list.

12-yr old at the helm. No worries, he's a natural. They even let ME steer the boat too. :)

We sailed out to Poquerolles, had some lunch on the boat, then walked around the island a bit. It was a delightful afternoon :) Getting home was a bit rocky...ummm...let's just say I'm a nervous sailor when big waves become a part of the picture. haha I was holding on for dear life! I thought we were going to capsize! Meanwhile, as I'm stressing out, the 12 yr old's at the helm and Raymond's kickin' back sippin on a cold one (just to give you a more objective idea of the gravity of the situation...) Obviously, we were not in danger. I'm just not used to being on boats that lean sideways!

Yeah, I live here. Pinch me.