Unknown - Montpellier, France

Camera Twelve

"I had to collect some friends from the station in Beziers so I thought that would be a more likely place to find a stranger than my village! I approached a man on the platform who was quite willing to take part.

I asked him if he was waiting for the TGV. Yes, he said, to Paris. I thought he might be visiting family there perhaps. Oh no, he said, it's just one night and then we're off to Indonesia! So I was there at the start of a great adventure.


He explained that he and his wife want to go to as many distant destinations as they can, while they can. They worked, had children to put through college, and now feel they are free for the first time.

So far they've been to China, India, Cambodia,Vietnam,and Peru. I wished them bon voyage - he described himself as 'vraiment du coin' i.e. just a local lad, and I left pondering this mix of local loyalty and yearn for travel."

Stranger by: LoJardinier