Last week, a group of three of us packed our backpacks
and at 9am, jumped in S’s car, inputted Bordeaux, and got on track.
Our route
We were venturing through France on “Girls Trip”.
We figured we’d give the ole’ wine tasting a rip.
About four hours into our journey,
S’s car rumbled and smoked, like it needed a gurney.
Puy du Dome
As luck would have it, we were near an Aire
which is a “rest stop” in French, if you didn’t know where.
That part was quite lucky. But since highways in French are privately owned,
just any tow truck couldn’t come help, with the way it was zoned.
To see what was the matter, the gals looked under the hood
they got an audience, a few men, who just stood. (apparently this isn’t common in France)
A and I bided our time by taking advantage of the rest stop buffet
It included quarters of chicken, ratatouille, wine, – quite an array!
Wine machine at the rest stop. We didn’t partake. We wanted to.
Having fun with the coffee machine
After an hour, help did arrive.
In a big blue tow truck, he did drive.
He took a look, and I thought he said “Bon Voyage”
but really he said, “C’est la embrayage” (the clutch)
Thank goodness S spoke fluent French.
Without her, A & I would have been in quite a pinch.
We loaded up the car onto the tow truck bed
And drove along Puy de Dome, with concerns of Bordeaux in our head.
S, on the phone, in the tow truck.
In the little town, we waited and sat.
It took four hours to arrange a car, and to wait for a taxi at that.
The dog’s name was Festine. We stayed so long, we got to see her birth certificate.
Sick of waiting
The lady on the phone said the rental car location would be 4 kilometers.
After an hour backtracking and 100 euro, the error was hers.
We were at the airport of Clermont Ferrand
More waiting we did do, at the mercy of Europcar’s hand.
The airport we didn’t fly into
Finally, we jumped into our new car,
stopping at a Q-stop (like McDonald’s) before we got too far.
Yes, we’ll take a round of “Classique” meals
We drove again past the scene of the breakdown, the exact site,
and continued 5 hours to our destination, arriving at midnight.
Saint-Émilion at midnight. Thank goodness.
Before it was time to lay our heads down,
S bought us a bottle of wine, to have a “We finally arrived” round.
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