On Monday I was able to pick up my French car. It is a beautiful 2014 Peugeot 308, silver, wagon. Matthew and I didn’t look too far on our search. Car shopping in France is different than in America. We knew we wanted used, and all I cared about was that we didn’t pay too much and got something safe and reliable. We had been told if we really didn’t want to spend too much money we should look at used utility vans. These are typically two seaters with a back space that had previously been used by a tradesperson. I was kind of psyched to have a beat up van I could throw all my gardening crap in but in the end we chose a car that our family could all ride in.

I had noticed a dealership adjacent to the Cocci Market in my town and I immediately spotted this wagon that was in my price range. It has some miles on it, but that doesn’t really scare me. We took it for a test drive and I easily adapted to the manual transmission so we decided it was a go. I may be leaving out that while trying to turn around on said test drive I nearly went into a ditch. It may also be worth mentioning that after putting the emergency break on, I exited the vehicle so that Matthew could take over with a quick reverse! Silly details….

Matthew really felt like buying a car in my town around the corner from my house would ensure continued support should it need services. We chose and signed for this car nearly 3 weeks ago, Only after we signed for the used car, did the dealership commence all the servicing. That means I had to wait 2 weeks and that is a lot of bike rides to the grocery store! The time was actually increased by my international bank which continues to be a joy to use. Once I accurately requested the transfer to seller, it still took a two days for it to arrive in their account.

So what does a car mean to my life in France? Firstly, I will be more independent! I won’t have to ask friend and neighbors for rides. I won’t have to carry heavy bags of groceries on the back of my bike. I can expand my radius of places to explore. Maybe it means more balance. Maybe it means less. We will just have to wait and see.