The Incident

Since Paul brought it up and then left everyone hanging, I guess I will fill you in on what happened. I think that I was sleepwalking. That is the ONLY explanation that I can think of. Since Paul and I got here we have both had a terrible time adjusting to the schedule. We sleep all day and are up all night. When I wake up I am never sure if it is dawn or dusk. On this particular night it was late and I was having trouble getting to sleep. Paul and I had split a bottle of wine (maybe more like 1/3 to 2/3) when he decided to go play poker. I remember sitting in bed reading and realizing that it was pointless b/c by this time I was just groggy enough that I wouldn't remember what I had read in the morning and would need to re-read everything. I don't remember putting the book down. The next thing that I remember is standing outside the boat watching it sail away.

On the rhine there are multiple "step offs" in which boats are basically lowered into the next length of the river. They enter a kind of shoot or holding area while the water level is lowered. When this happens, cement walls on both side of the boat are so close that you can actually reach outside the boat and touch them. There are ladders extending from the bottom of these walls to the top. My only guess is that I climbed out of our open window and climbed up one of these ladders while our boat was stopped. The wierd thing is that I probably could've climbed back down and onto the boat but didn't "wake up" until the boat was already down the river.

I realized that I was in big trouble. It was about 2:30 in the morning at this point. My first thought was to see if there was anyone around the levee controling the water and get their attn. I banged on a few doors but no luck. There was a road nearby so I thought I should make for that and try to flag someone down. I had to jump two very tall metal fences in the process. This was very painful as I had on no shoes or socks, just some sweats and a tank top. I made it to the road but there was hardly any traffic. I saw a town about 5 miles away (I was up on a hillside) so I started walking. After about 15-20 minutes a car passed by and stopped. I was reluctant to ask for help because I didn't really want to be abducted! I approached the car and the person inside seemed genuinely concerned. Luckily they spoke a little English and I explained the situation. They said that there was a watch tower type station up the road along the river and that they would give me a ride there. It was a hard decision but my gut said that it was safe, so I hopped in.

The very kind driver took me to the station and waited while I knocked on the door. The worker/guard or whatever answered the door. The driver helped me to explain (the guard guy did not speak much English) my situation. So, I stayed there until the French police came to get me. By this time I had no idea what was going to happen. I did not know if I was going to jail or what. When the police arrived they were very nice, however, they spoke even less English than the gaurd. Finally, it was decided that the police would drive me to the next "step off" on the river to meet up with my boat. We drove for about 20 minutes and when we arrived we went into a building where another guy was working the levee. I can only guess at what transpired between him and the police but I think he informed them that he had made contact with the boat captain and the captain was now aware of the situation. My boat was not going to be at this point in the river for another 90 minutes though.

The police then drove me back to their station which looked more like a fire station. They were apperently the only two officers on duty that day. They took me by a bakery and bought something for me to eat and they gave me some socks. We spent about 45 minutes at the station then drove back to the river. This station was way out in the country so at least the drive was scenic! We got back to the river and waited another 15 min or so, then the boat came.

I was escorted down the stairs and onto the landing. It was so embarrasing. I was standing there with my hair a complete mess, wearing a tank top in 50 degree weather with sweat pants that were ripped beyond repair.. The captain came off the boat and tore into me. He was so pissed! He wouldn't even let me explain that my little adventure was not on purpose. Paul told me later that the captain assumed I had tried to jump off the boat and get back on but that my plan had failed. Anyways, I just put my head down and let him yell. Once back on the boat, Paul and I made a bee line for out room and slept the rest of the day.

Paul thinks that I must have hit my head on the cement wall which is why I don't remember. I had the window open in our room and was singing along with my iPod when he left the room. But I definitley remember trying to read after that. Who knows. I guess it will always be a mystery!