The Hashish Trail - Chapter 7 - Europe Overland

Before loading up our Peugeot and heading East along the Mediterranean, we shopped for tents and other camping supplies we would need for camping through Europe. Our needs were few: a primus stove, 2 pup tents, cooking utensils and pots, 4 sets of camping dishes and eating utensils. We were still of the mindset that fancy clothes were a necessity, and so cumbersome suitcases took up a lot of our trunk space. Really, looking back I cannot imagine how we managed to get it all into our little Peugeot. We painted a sign on the side of the car that said “Our Everything” because that good old girl carried us faithfully all across Europe and was something we could lock!

We decided to follow the sun all the way to India; we would experience perpetual summer. Rarely did we see a cloud in the sky, so when we did run into a little rain it was a welcome change. We travelled slowly and didn’t hesitate to spend extra time in the places we loved the most. Travelling along the Southern coast of Spain, we camped in a lovely town named Almeria (now a city).We decided to dress up and treat ourselves to dinner in an upscale and historic hotel. I believe it was the Almeria. This hotel has since been completely refurbished, but then it truly gave the impression of walking into the past. Ours was the only occupied table in the spacious and elegant dining room. I will never forget the royal treatment we received there. No less than six waiters hovered just out of earshot and rushed to fulfill the slightest whispered desire. At one point I quietly commented that I thought something would go well with the meal and voilà, instantly it was brought to me. I was embarrassed and shocked that they could even hear me! A lifted finger would bring waiters from every direction, and the wine glasses were never empty. All this for four middle class girls from Canada! Although the food was wonderful, I wasn’t used to being treated so well, and was rather preoccupied with that aspect of the meal. I guess they thought we were rich turistas and would leave large tips, which we did. My lasting impression of this dining room was old world charm. Spain was quite poor then and enduring Franco’s Communist regime; our U.S. dollars were much coveted.

As we drove across Europe we were reading a little book called The Impersonal Life by Joseph S. Benner. This book has been called a manual of spiritual teaching and discipline. It is the book that Elvis "had been looking for all his life." He said that it spoke to him in a clear and understanding voice. In this little book Elvis found food for his soul, and devoured it, as did we. We began to practice objectivity rather than subjectivity, and to begin to discover metaphysics, the branch of philosophy concerned wih the study of the nature of being and beings, existence, time and space, and causality. For me personally, it was a new way of looking at the same truths I was taught as a child, but the difference was that it helped me to identify that part of me that was in the driver's seat with God. You can look inside the pages of this little book at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0875163017/peterrussellA/#Basically, our values were slowly changing from material to spiritual.

We did the usual tourist stops at ancient cathedrals, monuments, and so on in Western Europe and as we progressed eastward, I was more and more in awe of the absolute history evident not only in the architecture, but also in the very lifestyle of the people. They seemed to have a calm sense of having been there a very long time, were more leisurely even in work, and seemed somehow more secure and grounded than people in newer places like Canada. We soon realized that it was really the people and their cultures in which we were interested. We were also eager to meet more hippies and to learn more about the hippie culture. Most evenings were spent making music, eating and visiting around a campfire in our campground, where we met other travelers going to or coming back from the East. From their stories we developed a wish list of places to visit – Greece, Turkey, Afghanistan, Nepal, India and Bali were highlighted as relatively safe and friendly, must see places.

Rural France was and is a lush and gorgeous country, with vineyards and olive groves everywhere, and warm and friendly people just wanting to have a glass of wine with us, or spend an evening dancing in a local disco. But when we arrived in Paris, viewed the Eifel Tower, The Louvre and all the other wonders of Paris, my most memorable impression of that great city was that it was a very cold place indeed. There was very little meeting of the minds, or even ordinary friendliness from the people in Paris, who seemed to regard themselves more highly than they deserved. The best of Paris for me was the food, and to this day French cuisine is one of my favorites.

One of the highlights of our trip through France was the Grand Prix at Monte Carlo on the Mediterranean Sea, adjacent to the city of Monaco on the French Riviera. Our campground was on a steep hillside which had been tiered to accommodate tents and campers. On our first night in this campground we met several young men who were also travelling east. We never would have known about the Grand Prix if these boys hadn't brought it up! So since we were there, we decided to go along for the fun of it. Two of the boys were brothers from Newport News, Virginia. They were sort of hillbillies with a strong southern drawl, and their sense of humour kept us laughing around our campfire well into the night. Another was a sweet blond boy from California. When the first few raindrops fell we all took cover in the sweet blond boy’s van where we smoked some joints and shared our histories and travel plans. Lucky for me, when everyone left to return to tents and campers, he suggested that I spend the night right where I was in order to stay dry, and I did. During the night the other girls were awakened to the unpleasant thrill of a river of icy water and gritty sand coursing through their sleeping bags and collapsing their tents. This torrent was cascading down the levels above us bringing with it sand, stones, pine needles, and various other debris. Needless to say the boys welcomed the girls into their camper for the duration of the night and the next day was spent drying out sleeping bags, removing buckets of sand from our tents, and trying to get our tents dry enough to sleep in that night. I must say that we weren’t all that perturbed about this disaster; it quit raining and the sun was hot and we had new friends! Most of our clothes were safely stowed in our Peugeot so we had something to wear to the Grand Prix the next day.

I remember our excitement as we arrived early in order to get seats on the bleachers set up along the course. We drank coffee, ate some muffins, and talked to people from all over the world who were there for the big race. My lasting impression of the Grand Prix is screaming cars tearing by, the smell of gasoline and exhaust, and a sea of excited people who knew this would very likely be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. I was in awe that we were actually there!

We did put on our “finest silks” and checked out the famous and elegant Le Grand Casino[2] where the rich and famous from around the world part with a little of their worldly treasure or go home wealthier than ever. The point is that they are seen there – it’s a place that implies that you must be rich and famous if you’re gambling in Monte Carlo. What amazed me most was that when one is behaving in a real way, not contrived, with confidence, people feel no threat and respond in kind. We had a great time there and even did a little gambling!

It was time to move on, so we packed up and headed for Italy. We would meet up with the sweet blond boy from California and the brothers from Newport News, Virginia several more times during the trip to India.
[1] http://www.idealspain.com/pages/places/AlmeriaProvince.htm.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_Casino[2]