Seeing Trent leave and no where to stay prompted us to take a risk in
getting from Amsterdam to Barcelona/Madrid in a single day. This proved an
impossible feat and not wanting to pay 77 euros extra for the over night train,
we were stranded halfway in the both wonderful and awful French capital, Paris.
after tossing up numerous options yet all looking to hurt our back pockets we
reserved a seat to Figueres (spanish border), where branches to both Barcelona
or Madrid were possible come lunch time the following day. Faced with the
options of getting a hotel room or sleeping at the station we elected to do the
latter and see the Tower once more at night. Armed with my camera, tri-pod and a
full battery, I was happy to line up the tower through the view finder one more
time before I left the amazing landmark. We relieved our spines by dropping our
packs at the luggage storage, before setting out out on foot, which was a nice
change considering we had been sitting on the locomotive all day. The mild sun
beat down on our heads and I felt more perceptive walking along the river seine
than the previous times, enjoying the street performers as they busked jazzy
tunes, the Latin dance lessons on the riverside and the sound of boats creating
light wakes while couples drank wine and laughed on the decks. This area I can
assure you does not speak for the entirety of Paris, merely covering the
overpopulated, dilapidated, crushed urban scape in which residents gobbled up by
the machine that is Paris reside, but I loved the covering on this night.
Stranded in Paris is not the worst situation that has ever happened to anyone as
long as they have some money and wits. We walked for three quarters of an hour
and we had hardly put a dent in the journey, so a few beers were in order to
take the edge off our stress ridden day. We disappeared into a small Irish pub
to chat and regather over a beer that went down better than ever, giving me a
collected mindset for the rest of the travel. The sun was going down and the
Towers lights could be seen from a distance. The monument in sight is not an
indication of being there, The shear size of the landmark creates a perception
of being closer than you really are. It seems the same size for half an hour
after you first see it and being my third visit to the tower I was not fooled.
We got there eventually and grabbed spot on the grass where we lay with a bottle
of wine I bought from a gypsy, in silence letting ourselves take in the lights
and atmosphere the tower emits. After a glass of red, a brief talk with some
girl I gave a huge glass of red (the gypsy red wasn't much chop) we took our
last look at the tower before commencing the return journey. This is where we
met him.
Walking the streets of this side of Paris at night is not a hassle. the odd
homeless or rambling drunkard, but you'll find these people whichever city in
the world you're in. we strolled along chatting for around a quarter of an hour
before walking up behind a man with large white headphones, relaxed tweed
shorts, surf t shirt with a stone washed shirt over the top. He was around 25, 6
foot one, lean, a marginally brown complexion and a small non tight afro. A
pretty cool, relaxed looking dude humming French tunes and smiling. He stopped
after seeing our shadows removed his headphones and said 'hello'. We greeted him
back and before long we were chatting whilst we walked. We had only been
chatting for around 2 minutes before he asked us where we were intending on
traveling to come morning. We explained our situation the prior day and told
him that we were catching the first train out of Paris to Spain. I never saw the
next words from him coming, and I don't think even the highest credentialed
human behaviorist could have. He said "I'll come". We all had a laugh and when
he started laughing excessively I began to get a little concerned with this guy
and his mind. He almost had a serious glint in his eye about the whole, going to
Spain with us notion. He said that he was nearly home when we had caught him,
but the idea of having lunch in Spain the following day was too exciting to
resist. We walked in silence for a bit before he took off his head phones and
introduced me to his favourite 80's French band. It was pretty average, but I
said that I liked it. He gave us a history lesson with his perfect English on
every building, bridge, restaurant and sight we passed. He had a unique air of
intelligence and charisma. It became apparent about three quarters of the way
home that we knew nothing about him although he had been talking the whole time.
I asked him of his profession to yet another reply of laughter and "I guess I
sell some things". I initially thought drugs and began to further distance
myself. He continued laughing to the point Kris and I were getting really
uncomfortable. A madman indeed. He said he cannot help it as he loves seeing
peoples reactions when he laughs for a minute straight. some laugh with him,
some freeze and some run he explained. We just stood there. Does this guy have a
Job to go to in the morning? it's 2.00 am on a Monday night for god sakes. We
made it to the station to find it completely closed. The front entrance was
lined with homeless, drunks and no-gooders, some sleeping others hanging around
and a group of them playing cards. We decided to get out of there for the moment
and asked the man whether he knew where a place to buy food was. He wasn't
certain, but started off down a main street, chatting the way. A drunken bum
rambling and stumbling down the street with a bottle of wine and an impressive
beard walked past, at which point I turned to the man and said "is that one of
your friends". He laughed and replied "haha Yes, I'm that crazy". I was on edge
with him after that. Finch and I every now and then had been turning to each
other behind his back and miming things like "what the fuck" or "Who is this
guy" under our breaths. The whole thing was weird. He pulled out his blackberry
and called a friend for his birthday, but being 2.30 am understandably got the
answering machine. He said happy birthday and that he would see him after Spain.
he put the phone to our ears to give a little message. We were growing
comfortable with him by now so we sent our best wishes to his friend Charles as
we walked. He found us a couple of cokes after persuading the closing up shop
owner with his charm, which hit the spot. We walked back to the station but with
just over an hour until it opened we lay on our back packs near the Gare de Lyon
Mercure. The safest looking spot to sit and wait. We chatted with him further and I asked him in all seriousness what his job was. He laughed and
explained that he was a entrepreneur who had made it with a website
offering discounts to events, restaurants and products around France. He
explained that he makes a commission from the companies that list the deals on
his site. It was the only thing that made sense and I completely believed him.
He had been so honest and sincere with everything that he had told us
previously. I began to warm to him and his quirks and kind of hoped that he
would come to Spain with us, but was still skeptical about things. My human
instinct had labelled this odd man as a threat. somebody I couldn't understand,
work out or fit into any category. An entrepreneur that had conquered the
world, without a great deal of toil, leading him to live instinctively and act
irrationally for kicks had never occurred to me. It was the only thing that made
sense. He was interested that I was taking psychology, "I bet you couldn't
profile me”. I replied “mate you’re not wrong”. He said quote “with people you
won't stop studying for a life time”. He was wise with his words and I took in
everything he said that night. He knew so much about Kris and I, but now I
longed to know more about him. He told me that there was nothing better in
life than silence. He was too interesting to ignore. The three of us were
growing weary so we lay against the barrier poles on the curb looking up at the
impressive and illuminate clock that shone above us. The concrete was hard on my
back, but despite this I couldn't keep my eyes open. I wrapped my arm around my bag
tight to prevent anyone from taking it before letting myself drop off.
Finch and
I woke up 15 or so minutes later to find him gone. We sprung up and checked our
stuff. I knew he hadn't taken anything. He came laughing out of the terminal
saying "it's open, but I didn't want to wake you". At this point I said "Sorry
mate, I never caught your name, I'm Tom" to the reply "ahhh that's because I
never gave it to you, mine is Jonathan". Yet another remark I found interesting.
He searched for an open machine for a ticket, but they were all closed. He
bought one croissant and filled up Kris' drink bottle. He offered us the single
croissant before taking the first bite. We lay and tried to sleep in the
terminal, but funnily enough couldn't drop off like we had earlier on the
street. I had my phone on charge and Jon asked politely if he could listen to my
music for a while. I put on some God is an Astronaut, which he was really get
into with a few head bobs. Finch and I went and grabbed our bags, to find
Jonathan gone. He reappeared 5 minutes later with a ticket to Spain, a book on
spirituality and some water. He had the clothes on his back, his headphones, his
phone and his new book. The essentials for 5 hour international trip. We
discussed where we were going to stay and when I mentioned a hostel, he thought
that it would be great idea as we could save money. Saving money, not the
characteristics of an internet tycoon. We boarded the train, with him two seats
ahead of us. I was mainly sleeping, but every time I looked up he was further
and further into the book. He didn't utter a word to us for the entire trip. He
finished the book before arriving in Figueres and didn’t even look tired. No
wonder his language was impeccable. departing the train we had no idea whether to
head to Barcelona or Madrid and lacking the spontaneity of Jonathan we
momentarily sat calculating the best move to make. He couldn't sit still. In
this brief period he struck up a conversation with the most beautiful Spanish
girl. What ever he was saying in Spanish, he had her full attention. He has a
gift when it comes to people. Finch and I discussed what to do while he chatted
with everyone he could find. The girl was off to a reggae festival he informed
me and said that it looked pretty good. He went and chatted to a few guys
outside and had made yet more friends. He moved onto the Bus drivers, chatting
away before coming back to us and saying "Hey guys, I'm going to jump on that
bus it was nice meeting you, I want you to add me on facebook". He ran to the
service desk wrote his name down on an old lotto card and said "don't be
surprised when you see me on TV" before turning to chase down the already in
motion bus. The bus came to a halt, let him on and that was the last we saw of
Jonathan. Kris and I in shock at what had just happened were speechless. A man
we were speaking to on the street in Paris after 2 minutes spontaneously decided
to come to Spain for no apparent reason on a Tuesday morning after
sleeping under a clock in Paris, then leaving on a Bus to who knows where, to
never be seen again.
We bewilderedly walked to the shops in the station and ate while we tapped
into the Mc'donalds Wifi. I removed the scrunched up lotto card from my pocket
to search the name Jonathan Besnainou. The results shocked me as I read. Jonathan
Besnainou is Ceo of 300 million euro a year company ohmydeal.com. His
company is set to move around 8 billion euros in total in 2012, up 3 billion
since 2005. I watched a video of him on Youtube. The same curly hair, the same
intelligent speak, the same quirky mannerisms, the same exact man lying next to
us sleeping on the concrete under the clock tower in Paris. I still can't
believe it. I can honestly say that I have met one of the most interesting men
on earth.