7.27.2009

LA MEUSE

French people, especially young ones, are crazy when it comes to cars, or maybe us americans are too lackadaisical. I took a trip to Xavier's ongoing cabin project this weekend, and had the good fortune to catch a ride and not have to pay for a train. We struck out from the Paris suburbs, direction - La Meuse. Before leaving, comments were made about how with five people in the car, it was overloaded and potentially a risky drive, in case the brakes don't work, downshift, use the engine brake, the car isn't used to this load, so be prepared, all good advice, but you just get the impression that you're embarking on something much more epic or dangerous than just a car ride. 10 minutes outside of Paris, we were reassured that the driver had checked the air pressure in all tires, and good thing, because they all differed slightly. The driver commented on how crazy the other drivers on the road were because the had "such a close following distance" "Zero zone de securité, c'est hallucinant, les gens!" We pull into our first rest stop, the driver panics and doesn't know where to park at the gas station, or how to get there ( just keep going straight, until you arrive at the gas station, yes you can even pass through the place where people get gas, not park there, and continue to the parking spot) mini crisis avoided...Arriving in Verdun and leaving the autoroute, then the horror stories of driving too fast through villages began, girlfriends scolded driving boyfriends about speed limits, paying attention to shoulders, and to watch out for the fog. At one point we went through a patch of fog that lasted maybe two seconds, shrieking ensued. After a nice weekend of woodsy outdoorsin' we hit the road for Paris, and the horror, we were stuck behind tractors...on more than one occasion! after quasi panic attacks, we explained that it was okay, and all you had to do was pass, quickly, on the left.

The ride home was less problematic, i think because everyone was too tired, and maybe, just maybe, because they accepted that driving a car with people in it, is actually that easy.

UPDATE : PHOTOS

2 Comments:

Unknown said...

this humors me...

TDH said...

I wonder how they would have felt if 20 college students had been crammed in the back like freedom fries in a super sized box. They may have been ok with it as long as the driver hadn't been drinking heavily all day.