I don’t believe it!

We had another shockingly early start yesterday. We’d almost forgotten what it was like to rise before the sun was up.

It was time again, following a cold winter, to get our car serviced. We purposely bought a French made car when we came to France to make sure we could get it serviced locally, although we still have to wait a good few hours in Bar-sur-Seine for them to complete the work before we can drive home. Yesterday, that seemed a gloomy prospect, as it’s still cold and damp outside, but our plan was to visit the boulangerie, then go and sit in one of the cafés for a while, before heading out for a stroll.

We made sure we arrived first at the garage, to see if it was possible to get the car back before lunch. To our amazement, and very pleasant surprise, the lady behind the counter offered us a replacement car. Suddenly, we had our morning back. Hoorah!

We left our car with them and drove back home in our newly acquired loan car, a little Renault scenic. Not long after arriving home, she called to ask us something, Brian handed me the phone. I listened attentively to what she was saying, grasping some of what she had asked. I think the main thing was the oil filter needed changing, and possibly 2 of the tyres, which we knew were due. But there was something else, which we would need to bring the car back for next week, but I couldn’t grasp it. I agreed with the plan, not totally understanding the whole of what was said, but it didn’t seem like anything major. She would call again when we could come and pick the car up, we would sort the finer details out then.

It seemed just a short while later when we got the second call to say it was ready, so hopped back in the loan car and set off again.

I’d explained to Brian about the filter and tyres, but we knew we needed to try and understand what else was needed.

When we arrived at the garage the lady had quite a bit to say about our cars service. She only talked in French, and way too fast for us, although we’d asked her to speak ‘doucement’. Talking face-to-face I now understood that two types of filter had been replaced and we were in need of two new rear tyres, which they would need to order. However, there was one thing she said that I just couldn’t understand, or rather my brain would not accept it and I doubted my French. She said, “il faut installer un boîtier à ultrasons dans le moteur, pour empêcher la souris d'y faire son nid”. Initially I could hear they needed to install a box for a mouse. Why did we need a box in our car to carry a mouse? I looked quizzically at Brian. He had also heard the word ’souris’ which means mouse. Brian said, “a mouse?”, in a confused tone and the woman nodded. So it was definitely a story about a mouse. It’s amazing how you stop yourself from understanding just because you can’t accept the situation. After we accepted what it was about, the story started to make sense. She explained it’s an ultrasound box that we need. Apparently we need it to be fitted because a mouse had made a nest in our warm engine, and the box would prevent this in the future. Not really what I expect from a car service, but you live and learn. Just goes to show, I must trust my French a bit more in the future.