An Expensive Lesson
Last night I was given an extreme reminder of what is essential.
Up until then, things had been going very well – just like I was meant to be here or something. I found an apartment my first day in Sauveterre de Béarn. I purchased appliances (French apartments don’t come with appliances), teeny tiny cute European “white goods”, and bought furniture including an awesome sofa that had to come up through the window because it was longer than my ceiling is high. Last week there was even a traveling “vide greniers” (flea market) where I bought some antique furniture plus dishes, cutlery and glasses.
I had a few difficulties arranging electricity but dealing with the electric company gave me a chance to really practice my French.
At that point I took stock of what I had and what else was essential for my apartment. And of course being an organizer, I made up a list for myself. I am amazed at how many essential things are kitchen related.
When I pictured myself in living in France, that picture included booting around the place on a scooter, but people here told me that it rains too much in the winter to make a scooter practical. Then a week after arriving, I saw a car parked with a for sale sign on it. A 1993 Ford Escort wagon for only 800 euros. Perfect! All it needed was a new exhaust pipe. No problem. So I bought it Friday.
Congratulating myself on everything going so smoothly, I put in an application for insurance then asked the former owner if it was safe for me to drive the car at this point, meaning did his insurance still cover the car? He said yes, I could take the car anytime. I seriously think there was a misunderstanding based on translation issues and my bad French.
Impatient to explore the area and experience a little bit of French nightlife, I decided to drive to Pau to check out the local gay bar.
Bad idea.
I loved the drive into town (very fun curvy driving with lots of gear shifting), but then I got into Pau, a very confusing medieval city poorly adapted (at least from my Canadian perspective) to the modern car. I quickly got lost, couldn’t really tell where stoplights were, what direction the traffic was going nor which way I should go.
Just go home Alex.
But no, I stayed and made the mistake of looking left for a street sign while driving straight, missing the red light on the right corner (about 10 inches wide and 2 feet high). I ended up going into the left front corner of a car turning off the side street.
Merde.
When the police arrived (actually they were right there catching drunk drivers), they asked for my insurance. I explained the situation and they let me know that from the moment I had purchased the car, I needed my own insurance before driving it.
Double merde.
The first accident in my life involving other people and it’s in France with no insurance.
So I focused on the fact that I wasn’t hurt and neither were the people in the other car. My car, however, was done for with a most likely broken axle. Fortunately the other people could still drive their car (just a headlight broken and damage to the bumper – I’m hoping!).
Given that it’s Sunday, I don’t know what will happen other than that I need to pay for their repairs. I’ll find out first thing tomorrow morning.
On my way into Pau, I had seen a sign advertising flights to Amsterdam for 30 euros. My trip to Pau cost me:
- 800 euros for the car
- 50 euros for gas
- 100 euros for the tow truck
- 120 euros for the taxi ride home
- 125 euros in fines
- who knows how much in repairs
- and a car fit only for the compactor.
But everyone was all right. No one was hurt and that’s the only thing that really matters.
Lessons Learned:
- Stuff doesn’t matter. Life and health are truly the only essentials things.
- Patience is not just a virtue but a necessity. If I had just waited until I had my insurance all lined up, everything would be fine right now.
- Don’t rely on others for important information. Check things out for myself (especially when dealing with a foreign country and language).
There were very expensive lessons, but ones I doubt I will EVER forget.
Lunch today:
(Taking a cue from Jane Espenson’s awesome blog on scriptwriting, I’m adding a food tag to the bottom of each posting)
Canned Daube: Beef stew with no preservatives, comfort food extraordinaire (especially with extra red wine and chunks of polenta).
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