1. At the beginning of the year a great big wall dividing my house from my neighbour's fell down. The insurance refused to pay out because it was caused by rain, not wind. I paid up.
2. In August I decided I really needed to do something about the degradation of the walls of my house and take urgent action to stop them deteriorating further. The house is built of tuffeau stone and French houses rarely have a damp proof course. The combination of this and the soft stone causes the walls to crumble. So at enormous expense I have had a damp proof course put in. I now wait six months and if I have any money the walls will be re-done.
3. I was at the top of the Pont de Normandie in Le Havre, having just got off the ferry when I tried to change gear and instead of it engaging it stayed in neutral. I cruised down the bridge and let the car follow the road until I spotted a piece of ground between the autoroute and the route nationale. I phoned the insurance company and explained where I was. I knew it was either the clutch or the gear box. Either way it was not good. While waiting for assistance to arrive I decided to concentrate on the positives. It could have failed going up the bridge, rather than down and that would have been disastrous. Also I was off the motorway and I hadn't crashed. After an hour I telephoned the insurance company again. They said I was so close to the autoroute that I had to call the gendarmerie for breakdown assistance. In the meantime 3 men had appeared to say I had been picked up on the cameras on the bridge. After 2 hours I was hungry and thirsty having had nothing since the night before but most of all I wanted a toilet. Eventually I was towed to the garage where the Iowner tried to explain what he thought but I interrupted him and asked where the toilet was.
It was midday and the insurance company said the car hire company was now closed for lunch until 2.00pim. The garage owner said he was closing up the garage for lunch. Come back at 2.00pm he said. I looked around. Where was I supposed to go? He waved his hand vaguely and said there was a bar about 3 km down the road. Thanks a lot. The positive? It wasn't raining. It was cold though. I walked down a deserted road and eventually reached the bar. There were 6 men sitting at the bar and they stared at me. I asked for an orange juice and without much hope enquired about food. Non, it is a bar not a brasserie. 2 hours sipping orange juice in a bar in the middle of the Franch countryside is tortuous. I didn't even have a book to read.
I had called the insurance company at 9.00am and at 4.00pm I was given a hire car to get me home, a four hour drive. I returned the hire car the next morning and took a taxi to my house. I telephoned the garage. It was the clutch, would cost a fortune and would take 2 weeks at which point I will have to make the return journey to Normandie.
So here I am in the middle of the country with no car for 2 weeks and no public transport. The positive? I can't spend any money.
2. In August I decided I really needed to do something about the degradation of the walls of my house and take urgent action to stop them deteriorating further. The house is built of tuffeau stone and French houses rarely have a damp proof course. The combination of this and the soft stone causes the walls to crumble. So at enormous expense I have had a damp proof course put in. I now wait six months and if I have any money the walls will be re-done.
3. I was at the top of the Pont de Normandie in Le Havre, having just got off the ferry when I tried to change gear and instead of it engaging it stayed in neutral. I cruised down the bridge and let the car follow the road until I spotted a piece of ground between the autoroute and the route nationale. I phoned the insurance company and explained where I was. I knew it was either the clutch or the gear box. Either way it was not good. While waiting for assistance to arrive I decided to concentrate on the positives. It could have failed going up the bridge, rather than down and that would have been disastrous. Also I was off the motorway and I hadn't crashed. After an hour I telephoned the insurance company again. They said I was so close to the autoroute that I had to call the gendarmerie for breakdown assistance. In the meantime 3 men had appeared to say I had been picked up on the cameras on the bridge. After 2 hours I was hungry and thirsty having had nothing since the night before but most of all I wanted a toilet. Eventually I was towed to the garage where the Iowner tried to explain what he thought but I interrupted him and asked where the toilet was.
It was midday and the insurance company said the car hire company was now closed for lunch until 2.00pim. The garage owner said he was closing up the garage for lunch. Come back at 2.00pm he said. I looked around. Where was I supposed to go? He waved his hand vaguely and said there was a bar about 3 km down the road. Thanks a lot. The positive? It wasn't raining. It was cold though. I walked down a deserted road and eventually reached the bar. There were 6 men sitting at the bar and they stared at me. I asked for an orange juice and without much hope enquired about food. Non, it is a bar not a brasserie. 2 hours sipping orange juice in a bar in the middle of the Franch countryside is tortuous. I didn't even have a book to read.
I had called the insurance company at 9.00am and at 4.00pm I was given a hire car to get me home, a four hour drive. I returned the hire car the next morning and took a taxi to my house. I telephoned the garage. It was the clutch, would cost a fortune and would take 2 weeks at which point I will have to make the return journey to Normandie.
So here I am in the middle of the country with no car for 2 weeks and no public transport. The positive? I can't spend any money.
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