It took me 2 attempts to join (both thru fort de Nogent )
1st time, in Octobre /November 81....i was 16 (in Scotland, you are considered as adult at 16 )
I went thru Dover, with a 72 hr excursion pass (for shopping purposes ).
I landed at Calais, it was cold and wet.I was hungry and thirsty and i had about 50 francs in my jeans.
I walked, non stop, to Arras, till late in the night. ..am tired, soaken wet, hungry and in dire need of a cup of tea.
I gets to the out skirts of Arras, its pitch black. ..after the last row of terrace houses, i stumble upon an allotment garden. ..i take shelter and tried some shrivelled roots, to eat (forget it )
Sun up, me too. ..and i weary on
Found the motor way, i hitched a lift (tho illégal )
Gets to Paris,finally. ..walks the street, with the same back pack,the same shoes, always the same shoes and i still haven't eaten
Asks a flic avec képi /a cop with a képi, "where is fort de Nogent "..he laugths and calls his superior.
Brings me into the cop station, asks me why i want to know where is fort de Nogent. ..i tell him i want to join the légion!
He showed me a métro map and indicated the directions to take. ..
He asked me if i had eaten...i replied, non!
He fetched me a sandwich, jambon fromage / ham and cheese with a glass of limonade Birra
Asked me if i smoked. .." Aye,please ".
He gave me a less than half a packet of Gitanes, no filtres
I get up to leave,goes to the door and leaves. ..steps out sides, turns left and walks. ..after a few, steps, looks back and sees this cop with other collègues looking at me. ..some are smiling or smirking, i do not know wich
Finds the métro, spend the rest of the day riding it..north,west, south, east. in circles. ..who knows ?
At last, am where i should be,but it is late. ..i find the fort, i chap. A person repliés, "fermez, come back tomorrow "....ouch!
Looking for à solution and decides. ..to sleep where i was (a few trees by there, just next to the fort. I make me comftorable. ..and the rain begins again. I wrap my towel around me and shiver till. ..the end of time!
When i awoke, ît was with a startle...buses were leaving the fort, full of legionnaires
I watch them drive off,some look towards me.,looking just like a wanna be drowned rat. ..i pick up my kit and arrange it in my back pack. Smoked a dreadful Gitan cigarette . The party is over, its time to know, lets go !
I approach the big wooden door, its open. I knock on wood. .."hello", I let myself be heard.
A legionnaire, with beard, in winter parade uniform (not that i knew this at the time) appears. Looks at me in a way that the Woolworths store détectives do...says some thing, i understand, papers
I hand him my papers, the 72 hour excursion pass, that i filled in myself at Calais, with out control. He takes my papers and pops back inside. ..few minutes later, a caporal chef, képi noir comes out and says, " sorry, but you are to young ", come back when you are 18 or 17 with your parents approuval. ..No words can describe the déception i felt at that moment
What happened to me after,is an even more intresting ..Chas said some thing about déception being a oppertunity for better things. ..could be true ! If you are a persisting bugger, like me, it might not. ..but thats another story
Le petit caporal
