Outskirts Press, INC.

A naïve young man bicycles into adventure, shock, and personal growth in an unfamiliar world.

In 1968, a college junior hates school, thinks he wants to be an artist, and is resigned to being drafted for the Vietnam War once he graduates. That summer, Wayne bicycles alone over 2000 kilometers in France, staying in hostels and campgrounds on a shoestring budget. He views ancient countryside, visits cities and towns for several days each and observes in amazement the depth of history, beauty of art, and ways of life. He converses frequently with other European “jeunesse,” all filled with questions and hopes of social reform in that revolutionary year. He worries about his own life, what he should do, and what he might want to accomplish. I tell his story to my grandson as I remember it, and consider how those lessons influenced my later outlooks and desires. A series of adventures with meditations on meaning, beauty, art and history occur across northern, western, and southern France. Adolescents, those who remember being young, and anyone who likes the travelogues of Mark Twain should enjoy these stories.