It happened one night, while I was on holiday with friends -- two weeks surfing on the CΓ΄te Sauvage. The beach was Plage Valentin -- a wide strip of soft sand backed by a promenade, and behind that a huge forest of pine and oak. We'd surf most of the day, but in the heat of the afternoon we'd escape into this forest, drink cheap red wine, and fall asleep until late evening. By eight -- nine at the latest -- we'd be ready for a shower and a night in the bars, trying to pull laughing French girls with what little language skills we had.
But on this night, I woke up alone. It was still warm, but very dark in the forest. I'd wandered off at some point, drunk and sunstroked, and this time they hadn't found me.
I could see one of the wood-planked paths that cut through the forest, though, just ahead of me, lit by the moon that shone through the cleared space above the path. Each one led back to the campsite eventually, so I set off, jogging -- to clear my head, of course. Nothing to do with the darkness of the pine forest.
After about fifteen minutes, it was clear I'd got it wrong. I was back at the beach. It was amazing in the moonlight. The surf had dropped, and the beach was empty, apart from a couple of young guys walking along the very edge of the surf.
I was hacked off. No mates, no food, no girls. I wasn't going to try my luck navigating in the forest again -- this time I'd walk along the promenade, straight in to town. But the guys were walking past, by now, and I was enjoying being on my own. So I stood still, invisible against the dark forest, and let them walk by.
They both looked like surfers, by the branded shorts and beach-bags, but French -- I could hear them talking softly. They were about the same age, around twenty, but one was taller -- maybe 6'1, and broad-shouldered. The other was slimmer, and only about 5'7, with a wiry build. They were clearly different characters -- Tall-guy ambled along, like a rugby player. The wiry one moved more like a dancer, or a gymnast. Very precise, with a bouncing step. Tall seemed to be shy: Wiry was very excitable, mock-punching his mate as they walked, ducking the return blows easily.
I walked about a hundred yards -- maybe more -- behind them, intrigued. At one point, Wiry landed a punch even I could hear, and ran off up the promenade steps. Tall chased him, catching him up by an open-air paddling-pool built-in to the empty promenade. The smaller guy fought back, laughing, but not with any real resistance. Tall quickly got him in a full nelson, with them both kneeling on the ground. Wiry fought back, but Tall's torso was on his back, and he soon quietened down.