For the last twenty years, France has been my life, both personally and in my business. How did this happen to a young lad living on the other side of the world in New Zealand?
My father died nearly thirty years ago at a relatively young age. I adored my father. I had heard through him that I had a distant cousin living in France with the same name as him – David Reese.
Not too long after my father died I travelled to France with the purpose of finding this man with the same name as my father. I was travelling in the north of France with a friend of mine in a campervan, when I stopped at a phone booth and called France Telecom to see if they could provide me with the number of this man with a very non-French name, Reese. Surprisingly they provided me with the only “Reese” they had who was living in Corsica, an island 30 minutes by plane from the south of France.
I made the phone call, and this stranger on the other end of the phone explained that “if you want to meet me you better be quick because I leave in two days’ time to tour around Europe”. I was in the Loire Valley, and had to find a way to Nice overnight in order to get to Corsica. My travelling companion was told to make his way alone through to the south of France while I raced to Nice. Three trains later I arrived in Nice at 6am. With no time to sample croissants or fresh coffee I raced to the local port to find a boat which would take me to the port of Bastia in Corsica. I made it on to the boat just as the boat was preparing to set off. During my six hour crossing I had time to ascertain from the crew how I would find this man with the same name as my father. This would not be straight forward. On arrival in Bastia I would then need to take the famous narrow gauge railway from Bastia to Ponte Lecchia, and then another train which would take me to the attractive port town of Calvi, where my distant cousin was to meet me.
I was new to Europe, having lived in the comfort of New Zealand, where our oldest buildings were not even 150 years old. So making my way through the port town of Bastia in Corsica was an eye opener for me as I searched for the train station. Constantly passing people sitting on footpaths eating meals and drinking pastis and local wine were sights I had never seen before! I eventually caught the little train “Trinighellu”. The train had open sides, and it began by snaking its way through narrow gorges and tunnels, until it arrived at the rocky mountains running through the centre the island. Then we headed from Porte Lecchia towards the coast where the train continued following beach after beach through to the picturesque town of Calvi. The countryside was glorious, and I soon realised why Corsica was known as the “Island of Beauty”.
This is the train arriving in Calvi - getting ready to meet my man! Photo thanks to http://simplythebest84.centerblog.net
The excitement was building as the little train proceeded along the white sandy beach of Calvi, as I was now about to meet my father’s namesake, David Reese!
The train jolted to a stop on the station platform and out I stepped. The station looked completely abandoned, except that there were two men waiting, with one man at each end of the platform. Hmm, which one is David Reese? One of the men was tall, wearing light cream coloured trousers with a matching shirt which was unbuttoned almost to his tummy button, showing off a bronzed chest that had seen years of dedicated sun worshipping and healthy living, and well coiffured greying hair slicked back off his face. Indeed this man looked like Roger Moore of James Bond fame. The man at the other end of the platform was short, with holey faded jeans and a faded flowery shirt. This man had a craggy face that had not had the care and attention of Roger Moore, and what hair was left on his head was wirey and it looked like he had just climbed out of his cave after having not washed for a week – he could be referred to as Cave Man! This couldn’t be David Reese?
I was fairly comfortable with my genetic makeup and quickly ascertained who my man was! So I walked down the platform towards Roger Moore and promptly put out my hand “so you must be David”. NO. Cave Man was my man!
David Reese turned out to be an inspiration to me and my family over the next twenty years or more, and taught me that in life you must never let anyone talk you out of anything, that you must follow your heart. Anyway, he took me to his village, Montemaggiore, perched in the hills behind Calvi.
Ten years earlier I was selected to travel for a climbing expedition to Darjeeling in the Himalayas. Before I left I had a dream about a village perched in the hills, a dream that was as vivid as being there. When I arrived in the Himalayas I was so disappointed because the village of my dreams was not this one – I had been certain that my dream was leading me to Darjeeling.
As we drove from Calvi to Montemaggiore, he drove around the valley passing villages with such musical names like Calenzana, Zillia, and Lunghignano. Then as we turned around a bend there in front of me was the village of my dreams – Montemaggiore, and I couldn’t speak as tears welled up in my eyes.
What does this mean? Could I have been here before? Have you ever had any experiences like this? Maybe I was a Frenchman in another life!?
Note: I have since been travelling almost annually to Corsica since 1985, and have escorted travellers through this island more times than I can remember. This year from 19 August I have an escorted tour starting in Ajaccio and visiting of course my village of Montemaggiore! For further information contact me at john@france.co.nz.
a great story, well written. Is it true, and ou est-il maintenant?
Thanks Steve – true story! I will tell you more about David Reese later. Sadly he died two years ago almost to the day. One of the things he always wanted in life was a glass of wine (or two!) for lunch and dinner. He did this very well and ended up dying of liver cancer “I deserve everything I have got, and don’t regret a moment” he said.
Very inspiring story. My dad’s family is from Corsica (Castagniccia region, 90 min from Ponte Lecchia) and I can relate to your emotions as I am reading this. Beautifully said.
David D’Santo
Frenchie and the Yankee
http://www.frenchieandtheyankee.com
David I really appreciated your comments. I hope that you have explored your Dad’s family’s life in Corsica. I always say that Corsica is like Provence was 100 years ago. My first night ever in Corsica I had dinner at someone’s home amidst olive groves with shepherds tending their goats just beside us in the fields. I love returning there.
John, google and research ‘remote psychic viewing’.
You may then begin to understand in the dreams that seem so real,( but have no connection to any real place in your time, ) you may have been to metaphysically. You’ve been there, but it’s your sub-conscious that has been there.
The other possible explanation may be that the dreams you had of that village, may have been because in dreamstate, you connected with another person, possibly related, and you viewed his impressions.
In this scenario, you haven’t been there before, but you’ve read the impressions of someone who means a lot to you who has.
Fascinating subject.
Wow, that’s amazing Jim. I’m going to read up on this. In this situation I didn’t know David Reese when I had this dream of his village, but I guess that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have viewed his impressions? Fascinating. Thanks so much for these comment.
Very interesting about David Reese and the village of your dreams. Fascinating story! I’m sure that your escorted tour of Ajaccio and Montemaggiore is terrific, too.
Don’t worry Cathy you’ll learn more about Corsica before the year is out!!!! Thanks.
This is too cool! I have had experiences like this too, but never while traveling! Makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! Usually, I feel like my dreams are what give me dejavu. Like, I have actually seen exactly where and what I’m doing, before I did it.
Great story!
Thanks Kelly. The deja-vu feelings are more the norm for me, but here I had the vision, but I had to find the destination!!
Wonderful story John. Sounds like the perfect place to take Matt on our next trip with you. Kate.
Kate, I’d love to take you to Corsica – tell Matt that he can dip his toes in the sea every day!!
What a great story. I love when crazy things like that happen. It makes me think I am right where I am meant to be.
You may have been a Frenchman in a fromer life, but can you explain to me why the first thing I did today was read this post just when I had decided to travel to Corsica (of all places) when I woke up this morning????
Lovely lovely story – there is something about journeys with a purpose that sets them apart, especially when the outcome is favourable.
What an awesome story! Thanks so much for sharing.
What a wonderful story and so glad that you met someone who turned out to be such an inspiration in your life.
Cool post, cool story. It is crazy how things like that happen.
Thanks all for your comments. Inka I always say that things never happen by chance! If you do go to Corsica make sure you contact me!! Robin, Adam, Laurel and Matt thanks very much as always for your comments. Meeting someone inspirational – doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you know it!
Beautiful story. Just goes to show you never know who might inspire you. Imagine if you had never made the call or rushed to meet him? Stories like this make me realize how many missed connections we must have over a lifetime. Lucky for you, David Reese was not one of them!
Maybe we should all pay attention to intuition and dreams a bit more?
Jillian thanks for leaving a comment. Missed connections – how many do we make – very good question? But you’re not going to make these connections sitting at home sitting in front of the TV are you, so you’re in the right place!!
This is a great story John. You described the journey so vividly here. I can imagine the emotion you felt upon taking this quest to find David Reese.
The world has so many surprising places, you never know which one of them will feel like your dream place and which one will inspire you the most.
This place definitely called you!
I want to write “what a great story” but it’s getting a bit repetitive. So… thanks for entertaining and intriguing me. I’ll definitely be back for more.
I hope I can connect with you in 2012. We’ve just organised a home exchange with a family in Provence!
Thanks for your comments. So when will you be heading to Provence, and whereabouts in Provence, and when?? All these questions!! Organising a home exchange is such hard work I think?
Great story John! Incredible how you met up with your long distance relative.
From the description and picture you painted in my mind, I would really love to visit Corsica one day in the future.
I relate to your story. The first time I visited Paris, I felt like I was home. It’s very difficult to explain rationally. I like to think that parts of ourselves exist elsewhere, maybe in a different time…
David Reese and his wife used to let out rooms in his house in Montemaggiore. We stayed there as a family in August 1992, 30 years ago to this day. My sister and I had a bit of a crush on his son, Sebastien. Sad to hear that he died in 2009.
Helen, I’m absolutely touched with your response – to think that you too have visited this special place. if you had a crush on Sebastien I guess you were teenagers (or younger) then!!??