3. St. Jean-de-Luz on Easter Monday (April 9th, 2007)

As always, it took me a while to find a place to sleep. I considered a church doorway, then I went to the beach. It was actually a very good setting – the lights from the promenade sort of illuminated the beach, but it was dark enough that if you laid down in the sand, you’d be almost invisible to anyone walking by. But there was someone apparently walking his dog further down the beach. I decided to hang out until he had passed by, but after a while it became clear that he wasn’t really walking his dog anywhere. What the heck were they doing? They appeared to be walking, even running, but they remained on the same stretch of beach about 100 meters away from where I was. Were they playing fetch or something? At 3 in the morning?

I’m always suspicious of people doing things at 3 in the morning. Of course, I’m up at 3 AM myself here, and I’m a guy with a trenchcoat, a guitar and a backpack, so I guess I inspire suspicion as well.

I decided I’d look for another place to spend the night. I found a bench. Benches aren’t that great, because they’re hard and narrow. In addition, this one was pretty public. I don’t like sleeping in public places, because you make people uncomfortable and they often return the favor.

There were drunken voices coming from the local bar. A few people were pouring out. Great, I thought. One couple came walking towards me. The girl was holding a flower in her hand.

They were laughing drunkenly, but when they saw me, they fell silent. Then the girl came to me and handed me the flower.

“Merci”, I whispered. They disappeared into the night.

OK, this bench is no place to sleep for the few remaining hours until daybreak. I take my guitar and go back to the beach. That guy is still there with his dog. What on earth are they doing?

I stop caring. I spread out my sleeping bag in the sand and get inside it. There’s a cold wind blowing across the beach, but I fall asleep soon.

I wake up as the day is breaking. It’s Easter Monday. A tractor is combing the beach and smoothing the sand.


The beach of St. Jean-de-Luz at daybreak.