On the day of strike in St. Etienne, we had the morning off. Which meant time to explore the town. The company that was transporting the set from London down to St. Etienne was also taking the set up to Paris, which meant they were sticking around town with us for the week it took to install and perform our show. Which meant we had a van at our disposal.
This van had three seats, though, and we were seven people. So most of us packed into the back of the van, sitting on spare tires, leaning against bikes bungeed to the side walls. We left the van door opened, and proceeded to try to claw our way out of the city for a brief breath of fresh air.
After 10 minutes of driving and about 300 left turns (and not a single right turn), we saw greenery. Then it was into the magnificent foothills of the Alps, through forest and valley, overlooking fields of cattle and forested hills.
We stopped at a park with a nice trail system, winding around a small stream in a forested valley. It was a beautiful day for hiking, and we enjoyed ourselves wandering through the woods. We stopped for a picnic lunch on some logs.
All of a sudden, a group of people drove up the logging road, stopped in the glade next to us, and unloaded a large picnic. A couple women in stripped shirts sauntered over. Apparently, it was a hen party, or a pre-marital tradition, or their own bridal shower prank. The bride-to-be, in drag and named Robert, was to greet and kiss as many men as possible, then have them sign her shirt for good luck.
Always an adventure...
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