Merry Christmas from France

Everyone with a camera loves Marco Beach in winter. The sun is on that wonderful southern slant and the lighting is golden and perfect for photography. The island is also traditionally slow before the middle of December and with the combination of superb southern lighting and the lack of hotel guests and beach traffic, two of the Marco Beach Boys received a gift from France that will always remain unforgettable in the Beach Boy Chronicles.

Once upon a time during the quiet days before Christmas and the December holidays, Marco Beach was deserted. The early morning was quiet with only two Beach Boys on duty. This is when a crew of four photographers arrived and approached the beach hut.

“We are here to produce a commercial. We have traveled all the way from France.” One of the thin young men explained in heavily accented English.” Yes, we have permission from the manageress at the reception and we would prefer to set up here.”

The young man who was dressed entirely in black was pointing to his colleagues who were also dressed in black. The other young men were carrying an impressive selection of black boxes, electrical cables, and tripods of umbrella-looking lighting equipment.

“Yes, we have no problems here?”  The young man appeared overly intent upon receiving our approval as his compatriots were already setting up their equipment and stringing cables. With all the activity taking place near a palm thatched hut nearest to our beach hut the level of our curiosity was rising.

“Yeah, sure,” was our combined reply. “We have no problem with that. You guys can do whatever you want.”

After receiving our apparent requirement of approval, the flamboyant young Frenchman smiled, nodded, and offered, “Merci! Ashante!”

He then joined his fellow photographers and proceeded to produce the beachside commercial setup. All during the morning, the preparations continued with the sound of gushing and enthusiastic French drifting over the sand and into our beach hut. Elaborate cameras and light meters were checked and the big umbrella flash lighting was tested repeatedly. After a carefully organized set of three chaise lounges with colorful towels was arranged and the four French guys were looking at their cameras and waiting, three of the most beautiful girls ever walked down the sidewalk and stepped onto the beach. The French models all appeared as if they were magazine cover girls that were suddenly in motion. The redhead was tall with a sprinkle of freckles. Her piercing green eyes were a shining beacon that could reach across the beach. The blonde with Nordic features and blue eyes was stunning and the brunette with the eyes that smiled could have easily melted the heart of any man or boy within a thousand yards. 

Meanwhile, only a few steps away, the only two Beach Boys in the very near beach hut were transfixed and starring. Especially after all four of the French guys and all three of the French girls with their perfect makeup and hair began pecking each other on the cheeks and the ladies took off their big white terry cloth robes. The starring Beach Boys then received another jolt of - anything can happen on Marco - when all three girls handed over their robes to reveal swimsuit bodies. All three of the girls were wearing animal print string bikinis that could have probably been packed into a carrying case about the size of the very small boxes of hair product that was the subject of the photo shoot.

For the next hour, on the almost deserted Marco Beach, the Frenchmen that were the photographers fussed with their cameras, coached the girls in French and clicked away. The lighting engineers flashed and adjusted their fancy umbrella lights, and the three French models in their scanty swimsuits giggled, stretched, smiled, and posed, all the while displaying the colorful boxes, tubes, and bottles of the world-famous hair product exported from Paris, France.

All during the grandiose filming, two healthy young Americans were completely transfixed, mesmerized, and enchanted, by the three models from across the ocean who were about the same age as the Beach Boys who were watching. 

After about two hours of posing, primping, and elaborate staging of the Parisian hair products in the most perfect scenarios possible, the spokesperson for the French troupe extraordinaire loudly announced something in French and all four of the Frenchman set down their cameras and equipment and broke into applause. After a questioning look and raised eyebrow from the flamboyant Frenchman who spoke earlier, The Beach Boys managed to pull ourselves together enough to step out from under the shade of the beach hut to join the Frenchman in their applause of the young ladies and their efforts before the cameras.

After the applause was over, the leading Frenchman, in French, introduced the three beautiful girls to the two American Beach Boys. After receiving a handshake and a fabulous cover girl smile from each of the young ladies, everyone began to disperse. The photographers and the lighting engineers back to their gear and camera containers and the Beach Boys back to their hut. Then it happened. The three French models that day, on the nearly empty beach, did not really disperse anything other than their string bikinis when they approached the nearby beach shower. With the flamboyant Frenchmen, apparently unimpressed, and continuing to pack up their equipment, the three girls, began washing each other’s hair with the shampoo they had been advertising while the tops and bottoms of their bathing suits rested on the grass next to the shower on the beach.

Before the girls finished washing their hair with the hair product from Paris, the leading French photographer approached the beach hut and the Beach Boys that would never be the same. The Frenchman then smiled, winked, and said, “I think I can say. . . Merry Christmas Beach Boys!”

Tom Williams is Marco Islander and the author of two books: “Lost and Found” and “Surrounded by Thunder—the Story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men.” Both books are available on Kindle and Nook.