The Volkswagen or How I Learned to Stop Bike Riding and Learned to Love Rush Hour

Some may remember that I was riding my bike to and from work...uphill in the wind and rain...but luckily, that all changed in early March. In a move of desperation and exasperation we sent out an email to all the English-speaking people that we know in France and asked if anyone had or knew of a car for sale. Later that day, one of our friends told us that she knew of an elderly woman who wanted to sell her late husband's car. The price was right, and it was everything that we were looking for - that is, it had 4 wheels, an engine, and a backseat. So, the elderly lady had the safety inspection done (the Controle Technique - required by law), and we paid for the repairs to the headlights and the exhaust/emissions system. Thirteen hundred Euros later we were thrilled to be the owners of a 1992 Volkswagen Golf with 130,000 km.

Yes, it's been almost 2 months since we became a 2 car family, but since the car is almost 20 years old, we didn't want to jinx it by writing about it too early. Plus, today, I finally accomplished all the administrative hurdles to make it totally legal for us to drive it.

First hurdle - the Prefecture - equivalent of the DMV

I know in the US that the DMV is not anyone's favorite government agency, and it has been, along with the IRS and Post Office, listed as reasons not to have government-run healthcare. Well, let me tell you, that in a nation with government healthcare, the equivalent of the DMV is much worse than any experience that I had in Florida or Ohio.

For starters, the Prefecture is the main government building for the entire Departement, and as far as I know, it is the only place that a person can go within the Departement to register their car. Picture everyone in a large county having to go to only one office. Now, let's say that office is only open from 8:30-11:30 on weekdays minus Thursday (not sure what they do in the afternoons or on Thursday, but...) The result is that when the doors open a 8:00, it's a mad rush to get a number from the machine, and if you happen to show up past 8:45, don't even bother getting a number because your wait time will take you past 11:30.

I know this because I had the pleasure of going there twice. The first time, I waited for 1.5 hrs until I got to the window with the person in it who told me that I needed a copy of my lease to prove my address. The second time, I waited 2 hrs and wasn't ever asked for proof of anything. Both times, I was with Zachary, who thankfully was better behaved than some of the adults in the huge waiting room. (A side note about the waiting room... I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a sign for a kids' play area, and then pretty disappointed when it turned out that the play area had been replaced by more chairs for people waiting. It's a good thing that Zachary doesn't read yet.)

In the end, I turned in the paperwork that I needed, waited in another line to pay the fees and receive a temporary registration. The actual registration would arrive in 10 days. To top off that morning of fun, I got back to the car and found a parking ticket on the windshield. Turns out, I was parked in a self-pay parking lot and didn't know, and the man who was obviously LIVING in his van, parked in front of the Prefecture, didn't even warn me. In his defense, he was eating breakfast and taking out the trash.

Hurdle 2- Don't trust the fuel gauge

Not that this had anything to do with the French legal system, except that the fuel gauge reads just under 1/4 when it is empty, an unfortunate fact that I learned on the highway on the way to work one morning. But a tow truck came, not with gas, but happily towed me to a gas station and charged me 1.5 times the normal price because it was 7:55, and normal rates apply from 8am - 6pm.

Hurdle 3- Safety Re-Inspection

Since there were issues that needed to be resolved after the first safety/emissions inspection, we had 2 months to be re-inspected. I was a little worried about this, so I put it off for probably a little too long. I even bought some magic liquid in a can because it claimed to "enable the passing of the Controle Technique." But finally, this Tuesday afternoon I drove the Golf up to be re-inspected. The car passed the emissions inspection but the headlights were not correctly aligned. No big deal right? Unfortunately, this would have been enough to keep us off the road legally. So, I went back to the repair shop (25 minutes away), had them re-align the headlights, and then drove back to the inspection station to have them verify the work was done, and finally received the stamp on our registration, good for 2 years - hopefully, the car lasts that long.

Sarah looks at the car as a total gift from heaven...we desperately needed another car...we sent out an email and twenty four hours later we owned another car! I am a little more tentative...it HAS been a gift so far... I haven't taken my bike since (or worn my biking pants...in public), but whereas she thinks it practically fell from the sky, I am hoping that I won't want to push it off a cliff for at least a couple years. But for now, I'm enjoying warm, dry commutes and the 80's music on French radio.