Today had a very pleasant start. Breakfast was included in the moderate tariff at our quaint little B&B in Chalons. Fresh croissants and cake (which Lee-Anne did not indulge in), a huge pot of coffee which was very nice. We booked out and headed off for the car which I had parked in a car park just up the road. We'd paid a couple of Euro to cover from the time we arrived till 7pm and displayed that clearly on the dashboard, and now we on our way bright and early to retrieve the car and be on our way before 9am when we would have to pay for more time.
Imagine our dismay when we arrived to see an empty car space where our car should have been! There was a market being set up. Somewhere written in French the day before there may have been a notice that you must vacate by 5am (or there abouts) or be towed away, but my French is very scant so I did not see any such sign. We asked the nearest guy setting up a stall but he did not understand any English. We kept looking and found a man who took us to the local police station. They could not help and said it was something the national police look after - they were another 10 minutes walk down the road so with all of our luggage being carried / wheeled along behind us off we go again.
We finally found the national police station and they did not understand much English. A local farmer trying to sort our a speeding ticket who understood enough English was able to translate our sad story and the lady got the message. Luckily Lee-Anne had grabbed all the papers to do with the car and put them in her bag so she was able to produce them which is just what was needed.
Well, with the help of the farmer, we found we had a 35 Euro fine to pay, and then a 110 Euro towing fee. We could not pay the fine there in the police station on the spot. He took me to one newsagent looking shop and they directed him to another we I could pay the fine. He then took the fine notice and stuck the stamps on it that we had purchased and we drove to another spot where there was a yellow post box type of thing with some words I recognized as a spot to deposit such notices. Then he drove me off the the local Peugeot dealer who has a two truck and there I was able to retrieve the car and finally drive back to Lee-Anne about an hour after we had started. A very different start to our day. I am sure it will be one of those experiences which will really stick on our memories.
After that we head off to Sedan where the largest fortified castle of Europe is found.
Entry into Walled City
View once inside.
One of the tunnels
And a great view from the top.
Till tomorrow.
Oh what a pain having to go through all of that mucking around because of the car, but a marvelous rest of the day at the fortified castle. Magnificent!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny, it was a start to the day I do not wish to repeat, I was so nervous that Kevin had gone with this stranger that we meet in a police station. Thoughts of never seeing Kevin again kept racing through my mind, it was a very long hour of time to pass. Just think of the lengths we go to for a good story.
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