Perdita Perdue, thrown overboard a yacht while attending a meeting, washes ashore at the feet of a meditating Buddhist monk. Fighting unconsciousness, she feels the warm breeze, the coconut water on her lips, over there fishermen with baskets of red herring, receiving euros from buyers. "Where am I?" She asks. "Canton," responds the bilingual yet laconic monk, holding up one finger. Delirious, she murmurs, "I...am...in...meeting..." to which the monk responds, "Exactement!" Where is Perdita?

lanfranco

Could be the island of Reunion. The vicissitudes of your heroines are beginning to remind me of "The Perils of Pauline." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9union Oh, wait, we're talking about old Canton? Hmm. I must do a little more thinking .... Aug 17 08, 8:22 PM

kitkat121080

Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wettingen_Abbey Aug 17 08, 9:39 PM

looney_tunes

Reunion Island is the most likely spot. It is a canton of France in warm waters in the Indian Ocean; French is the official language, and the monk clearly speaks English as well, missing the subtle difference between the synonyms 'meeting' and 'reunion' in English. As the Easternmost outpost of the European Union, Reunion was the first place in the world to use the euro as currency. Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism are well-established religions. And there are plenty of red herrings in the question! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9union Aug 17 08, 9:48 PM

Baloo55th

Actually, Reunion isn't a canton - it's a departement containing 24 cantons. http://flagspot.net/flags/re.html and Frankie's post above. The euros would rule out Ohio and Switzerland, and not many herrings are landed in either anyway. However, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring fishermen on a beach are unlikely to have baskets of red herring to sell, as the red herring is a processed fish better known as the kipper. Or perhaps this is a red herring? Perdita must be in a Canton numbered 1 in its Arrondissement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantons_of_the_R%C3%A9union_department unless the monk is being rude. Aug 18 08, 5:38 AM

edmund80

Excellent work all of you ! Kudos to balloo55th for evading that kipper I threw at him and getting everything right. The doubly lost Perdita Perdue washed ashore in a 1st canton somewhere in Réunion, most likely the seaside Le Port, 1st Canton Nord of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis in Réunion, France. She is now clambering back up the yacht to find out who threw her overboard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Reunion Aug 18 08, 9:59 AM