A Slow Start - Fat Dogs and French Estates - page 34

7
A Slow Start
The next job was to make sure the car was set up correctly and that we understood the most
important French travel regulations. This was definitely Jack's responsibility. In scanning
the relevant advice provided by the AA (Automobile Association) it was clear that several
of the sections did not apply to us, especially those that dealt with the management of young
children. This was fortunate really because Jack was finding it hard enough to contemplate
spending nearly three weeks confined in a car with me and the two dogs. The thought of
adding any members of the younger generation would probably have finished him off.
However, I did have to succumb to a lengthy lecture on some parts that did concern us.
These included having regard to speed limits, on-the-spot fines, the need to leave a distance
of at least one metre between the car and a bicycle and then a whole sermon on how and
when, to give ' priorité à droite ' (priority to the right). This left me completely baffled and
wondering how I'd ever managed to drive anywhere in France before. Furthermore, how
on earth motorists managed to make any forward progress on roads in urbanisations, with
roads flowing into them from the right, was a complete mystery. Anyway, I endured this
with many sage nods and pledges to look fixedly at relevant roads that joined ours from the
right, in case they had priority. And to drive at a modest speed at all times. Satisfied with his
work, Jack went off in search of his 'compulsory equipment for the car' kit.
Our car had the dubious extra luxury of having a UK SatNav system with software that
seemed uniquely designed to direct us to obscure fields and generally getting us lost. Jack
augmented this by buying a compatible (getting us even more lost) roadmap CD for France.
This was backed up with two hard copy road atlases of the country. One was pocket-sized
and legible only if reading glasses could be located; the other was enormous and later proved
to be an invaluable asset.
Final 'cockpit items' included a mini first aid kit, spare poo-bags for canines, essential
phrase books, books/magazines for the co-driver (distracts from the distress of having to
observe one's partner's driving habits), mountains of tissues, a couple of drinks and sucky
sweets. And then I saw it - the completely non-essential massive metal three-tier tool box
- what a lump! Now I understood why so much fuss had been made about one tiny picnic
hamper.