Wednesday 19 March 2008

Driving the wrong way

With kids having to be in different places at the same times I have had to take the plunge and drive this week. Roger has no trouble handling the driving, but I was nervous to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Surprisingly it was not the driving on the right hand side of the road, but the driving on the left hand side of the car that has confused me the most. Both of the Marcoux's cars are manual (I prefer to drive an automatic and our car at home is automatic) so I wasn't too keen on the gears. The gears have to be changed with my right hand, and I regularly find myself reaching down to the left when I need to change gears. Hill starts are tricky too, with the hand break on the right hand side. It is something that you learn and it becomes second nature so that you are no longer conscious of how it is done. But change the rules or the situation a bit and my mind has gone into overdrive.
Nevertheless I have managed OK, although after the first trip to La Buissiere (only a couple of kms down the road to Bonnie's school) I hesitated before I returned. I sat in the car and thought "how did I do that?" and wished I could wish myself home again instead of having to drive myself there.

Roger at ease behind the wheel of the VW.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quelle aventure!!
Roger a l'air très à l'aise derrière le volant de la voiture! bon courage à toi Caro, pour la conduite à droite! ce n'est pas facile non plus pour moi, avec la conduite à gauche, mais je suis surtout gênée par la voiture automatique et je cherche sans cesse le levier de vitesse!!
Vous serez bientôt de vrais grenoblois!
Have fun!
See ya...
Mariedo et stef

Anonymous said...

Gees Rog you look like you belong there! Geoff

What does Caro get up to all day that has you running after everyone all day. I hadn't realised you'd swapped roles as well as lives!

Jesting aside, your experience in France seems to trip from one glorious moment to the next. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Amelia and Joseph are now wishing to take a holiday adventure in the snow.

The Telfers at Warragal Park said...

I just swan around in my slippers sipping coffee and reading magazines. (ha, ha, not!) The main reason Roger does all the driving is because he is more capable than me because he is a man (and don't tell him otherwise or he'll expect me to do the driving...)

He is realising that it is much harder to look after a family than a farm...

I'd recommend a holiday in the snow. Michelle will organise it for you...