Flashback Friday - A European Adventure

In the summer of 1972 I traveled to Europe with a backpack, a Eurrail Pass, and two-hundred dollars in my pocket.  I was joining  up  with a high school friend who moved to Frankfurt with her family the previous year. The plan was to use her home as a base and travel around the continent for two months.  I arrived on my 20th birthday.

After a few days of settling in, we took off for our version of a Grand Tour of the continent.  We traveled by the seat of our pants, going here and there on a whim...traveling by train and sleeping in hostels.  Here I am taking a sunbath in Austria:

By and by we...or more accurately, she...got a whim to go to England to visit a friend of hers. To get there, we had to go through Paris. That's where we would catch the train that would take us to the ferry that would cross the Channel.  As it happened, the train didn't leave until that night so we had some time to kill.  We decided to kill it by going to see the Montmartre district.

It didn't take long for two Parisians to approach us for a pick-up.  My defenses went up but for some reason we decided to go along with them. It ended up that these guys showed us a great time...and showed us the area in a way that only locals could.  Then, at the end of the day, they escorted us to the train, gave us each a rose, and said good-bye. Wow. I chastised myself for being such a distrustful American and vowed I'd be less fearful in the future.  Little did I know I'd soon be testing that conviction.

After spending a week or so in comfort and ease at her friend's home, we took the ferry back to the Continent. We landed in Dunkirk late in the afternoon having never given a thought to the fact that we had  no French currency in our pockets. The local guest houses wouldn't take foreign currency and there were no big hotels...at least none that we could afford. Things were getting desperate as daylight started to fade. Then suddenly we hear a voice from behind asking us if we needed help.  Two men.  I can't speak for Cindy's state of mind, but despite my promises of being more trustful, my defense instincts kicked in and I declined their offer. They persisted, and after a few more failed attempts to get a room, my defenses got weaker and the memory of our time in Paris got stronger...I gave in.  We accepted their assistance to help change some money for us. 

Here comes the good part:

They took us to a nearby cafe. We got dinner and while eating, the two of them were having a conversation in French (one of them couldn't speak English).  After a bit, the one who could speak English turned to us and said his friend had use of his parent's flat and that we could stay overnight there if we wanted.  By this time, we had totally lost our edge and we accepted.  I can hear your moan, but...we were young and invincible...and besides, we didn't see what else we could do. It was dark now.

We walked to the flat...and yes, it was in a seedy area at the docks.  It wasn't much more than a downstairs  living room with kitchenette and an upstairs bedroom/bath. There was an unmade sofa-bed downstairs.  We were to sleep upstairs...they would sleep on it.  Yeah, right. But I still didn't bolt.  Keep in mind I was trying to atone for my past transgression of distrust.

They left and we got settled in. A bit concerned, I asked Cindy "what will we do when they come back?" Her answer came in a rather cavalier tone: "we'll just tell them we're lesbish."  What??? This didn't sound like a good idea to me, but that was her plan.  We latched the door and went to sleep.  We just crashed in our clothes...a fortunate occurrence...because a few hours later, sure enough in they came, bottle of wine in hand. Some latch. 

Cindy saw the wine and perked up, but I feigned sleep. The guy who could speak English sat down on her side of the bed, poured some wine for he and Cindy.  While this was going on, the other guy tried to wake me, calling "Juen, Juen, Juen".  He was totally drunk.  In time and after a few drinks, Cindy and her guy started making out. I'm over on the other side still pretending to be asleep thinking this can't end well.  My guy is still pulling my arm and calling my name. Then...suddenly...Cindy decided that things were going too far. She pushes her guy away. He resists.  She blurts out THE words: "We're lesbish".  Oh no...it's time to get the hell out of there! I sit up and get up and head downstairs. I knew we were in for it now. 

Cindy's guy looked like he had just put his mouth on garbage.  He says angrily: "Why you let me kiss you if you're lesbish?" I never heard her answer. She managed to get around him and out the door behind me and we rush down the stairs only to find the front door locked. We were trapped. 

Now this one guy is really pissed. He has Cindy pinned up against the hallway wall repeating his question over and over.  While this was going on my guy was trying to pull me onto the downstairs bed. I don't remember how, but he and I eventually ended up joining them in the hallway.  He says something to me in angry French and slaps me across the face.  Holy shit. Meanwhile, Cindy's guy is threatening her with a gun.  OK, I'm sufficiently scared.  I start to dry heave and at that, my guy says something even more angrily and hits his head against the fuse box.  I'm thinking my head's next, but at that, he opened the door and let me out.  Evidently, he wasn't turned on by the heaves.  Then, in a moment, Cindy followed. Our nightmare was over.  It was 4 a.m. 

We walked towards the only place we could think of to go: the train station. As we did, Cindy proclaimed: "I could have handled them". I glared, but  didn't bother to respond.

We slept on the sidewalk until the train station opened and then, took the first train to anywhere.  Anywhere ended up being Brussels. We crashed for 24 hours in a hostel and then went on to Amsterdam where Cindy immediately got her pockets picked.  She decided that was enough. She went back home to Frankfurt.  Me?  I went on. 

More Flashback Fridays can be found here.

Comments

[vaggelis vlahos]

oh what a story!! it could be a very beautiful scenario for movie.

[sandy kessler]

Can't trade those memories !!

[Carin]

Glad everything turned out good, but my what an adventure. Your story had me spellbound for several minutes.

[CableGirl]

Wow! That's an unsettling tale. Glad things turned out the way they did. They could have been so much worse. Guess you're working off some of your 9 lives.

I'd love to hear more about this trip in other FF posts. I'm sure you've got some great tales that don't involve attempted rape or being held at gun point. ;)

Have a great Friday.

[Klaus]

Great read and a bit scary, too! Cheers, Klaus

[Meg]

I've did Europe solo in my 20s and can totally see the potential for this kind of thing. Thank goodness you guys got away. I ended up hanging out with great folks and even thought I'd met my soul mate--a Swiss guy in Interlaken. But he, apparently, didn't think he'd met his soul mate. Maybe he was gay.

[White Rose]

It is such a fine line we have to walk, to learn to trust people and knowing when to protect yourself. So glad, you made it out of there safely! On the other hand, what fun that must have been in the Montmartre district. I have always been fascinated by Montparnasse, especially the 1920's era. So many artists and writers!

[bluemountainmama]

wow, june. what an adventure. i would have been scared to death. i backpacked ireland and some of scotland by myself, and also found myself in some precarious situations. luckily, it was only kind people that came along at those moments.

[Beth]

Oh my goodness, June...what a story! As the mother of a daughter who just turned 20, I must say this made my adrenaline surge. Of course, I cringe to recall some of the naive things I did when I was 20.
I look forward to reading about your further adventures!

[June]

Of course my mother never knew about this episode until much, much later. But even so, she worried all summer...just having me in a foreign land, but worse, that was the summer when train accidents in Europe were happening all over the place. I give her so much credit for not trying to stop me from going.

[Thalia's Child]

Wow. That was quite an adventure. Glad you wound up safe in the end.

[Kori]

Okay, that's scary. Makes me cringe when I remember the stupid things I used to do.

[Becca]

My gosh, that's scary! I had a couple of girlfriends go on a trip like that, and then my friends daughter also did it. I'm sure you learn a lot from those experiences - but sometimes the hard way!

And yes, I bet your mother was worried sick the whole summer :)

[Sandpiper]

Wow! Great story! I would have been scared, but what memories you must have.

[dot]

I would love to hear more. Actually that reminds me of some of the situations I got into when I was a teen.

[Going Crunchy]

Holy cow! I recall diving from a moving vehicle to get away from somebody in my early 20's. I was bloody and scraped up, and just ran screaming up to apartments. What we do, and get into in our 20's gives me the shivers now as a grown-up.

Glad you got through that- - shiver! Shannon