Roundabout Roadblock…

by 6ks5

I’m getting a little suspicious of the lineage of the au pair car; aka, the Black Saab of Death. If it was a person, it would have a leather jacket, a bunch of scars, an eye-patch and probably be smoking. You’d wonder if he’d killed someone in his shadowy past (or at least run into a horse).

We’ve been getting along okay though; I only really resent the BSoD when it comes time to park in a little Fiat-sized spot. However, today three French police officers were all hanging out at one of my roundabouts, and naturally waved us over. Now, we were going 30ish in a 30 zone, and not parking anywhere illegal or running anything over, or even cutting off people with right of way, so I wasn’t exactly worried. Until suddenly I remember le père’s words, “You know, I uzed to race carz in Africa…”

What else could he have done in this car? (or one of the other au pairs…one of them sneakily used la mère’s identity at the health clinic a few years ago, which made her last check-up really awkward)

Well, the police just wanted to see all the papers, and after we did some searching through the glove compartment it turned out that my driver’s license was the only thing that was current. To quote le policier, “Mademoiselle, vous êtes bonne, mais la voiture n’est pas bonne.”

He let me go with some smallish tickets for the parents and a slightly expanded vocabulary.

la contrôle technique – mandatory French roadworthiness test, which must be retaken every 2 years

la carte grise – grey card, which is actually a vehicle registration document

les phares – headlights

rouler – to drive

l’assurance automobile – car insurance

permis de conduire – driver’s license

Anyway, it was weird, and I was really glad that I’d called the French Embassy in Toronto to make sure I was allowed to drive without an international license or any of that. I would also like one of those little police hats. Stay tuned for the awkward follow-up episode where I run into the same officers at the school crosswalk, having clearly not taken the car to the garage.