Travel Report

A day with the circus

I meet them as I am pushing my bicycle through the pedestrian zone of Apt: Two guys and two girls, juggling, singing and playing the accordeon. People are passing, pausing, throwing some coins. I stop. Julien looks at me, at my bicycle. "Where are you going with this?" I tell him. "You know where to stay tonight?" Not yet. "No problem. You can stay with us."

Camille, Julien, Aleksi and the others are part of a group of young French people that have decided to live life a different way: For many years, they have been travelling by bike through Europe, overwintering in Turkey or Morocco, earning money with music, juggling, small shows - or occasionally working on farms. "We are about fifty people, travelling in small groups, sometimes meeting others, sometimes separating - but never alone." This winter, they want to stay in France. Where exactly? "I don't know. It's not important".

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For most of the passers-by, Juliens bicycle is the main attraction. He constructed it by himself. "We had a tandem and another old bicycle. I combined the two and now I have the highest position on the road." He adjusted the handle bar, adapted the gear shift and left some hooks for the luggage. "I can do about fifty or sixty kilometers a day - enough for me".

As the evening proceeds, we retreat to an old house. The table in the small room is full of food - vegetables, fruits, meat. "These are recupérés from the garbage cans of the supermarkets. The food is still perfectly good, but they are throwing it away - only because the expiration date has exceeded." Washed and cleaned, the recupérés serve as a simple but tasteful dinner - healthy and balanced.

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Later, we sit around small bonfire. While some are practising the guitar ("you can get it in Bulgaria for 20 Euro"), others discuss about languages, travel and the consumer society. In one corner, two guys are talking about another dream: That of finding a place to settle down and start another new life. "Sometimes it's good to have a base."

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Travel Report

A day with the circus

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