Shawn L. Bird

I own The Best Hat in the World.  It is a Tilley hat, of course.  My particular model is the Tilley TH8.  It has travelled with me to Mexico and France.  It stays on in the wind and shields me from the sun and the rain.   It has a lifetime guarantee, and it is really cute.  I love my hat.

Correction: I ownED the best hat in the world.  On March 21st I rushed off the train at Valence, France and raced for the connection to Lyon.  Five minutes after the train departed I realised I was missing my hat.  It had been above the packs on the racks above our heads.  When the bags were pulled off and set onto our backs, it had slipped behind and wasn’t noticed by the tall man I travel with who is supposed to check the high places…

Drat.

All is not lost.  Following the Tilley hat rules, my name and phone number are recorded on the label in the crown.  Inside there is a message from Tilley asking the finder to send it to them.  Tilley has me on file, and will send me my hat if it gets there.  They have already heard from me about my lost hat and have their fingers crossed as well.

When I reported the loss at the Lyon train station, the attendant was supportive.  I would have to call or fax officially for them to send it to me.  I knew I was not going to have phone access until I got back to Canada. I must have looked glum because he said, “Avoir courage, Madame!”  🙂  You’ve  got to love that kind of service.  I have since faxed to Lyon and requested them to send it to me “service contre rembursement”  (i.e. C.O.D.) though I greatly fear that the bill will be more than I paid for the hat.

Wish me luck!  I”ll let you know how it all works out!

Last recorded moments of Me and my Tilley hat together- in front of the Church of the Cordeliers in Avignon, where Laure de Sade is buried.