It was a mistake to leave my bags with the car. The AA did not call as promised to report on next actions. When I called for an update they reported the car had been moved to a garage 32 miles away that had agreed to evaluate the issue and report tomorrow. I asked them to book an hotel near that garage and tried (with the help of a friendly French barman/hotel clerk) to get a taxi there to pick up my bags.
No such luck. Verdun has few taxis and none of them fancied the job. I tried Uber and they took my money but had to return it when no driver was willing.
So the AA has booked me an hotel in Verdun and I shall have to wear today’s clothes tomorrow. I’m not happy but hey. If their budget Ibis has a complimentary toothbrush I shall call it The Savoy.
The AA says a taxi is on the way and I should get a text from the driver to tell me when to expect him. It’s a 40 minute walk from where I am so fingers crossed on that one!
The optimist in me says a new alternator is no biggie and that it may only be a drive belt. The life-experienced person in me says no garagiste ever let a Ferrarista off lightly.
Time will tell. In the meantime I’m drinking a beer and trying to stay cool knowing any sweat today will still be with me when I dress in the morning. A town with 3 taxis sure as hell doesn’t have clothes for a guy of my stature.
It speaks to my seriousness about blogging etc. that the one bag I did grab from the car has all my tech in it! So you may count on updates from me more reliably than I can count on them from the AA.
STOP PRESS
The taxi driver called me as promised after an hour. His estimated arrival time was never. So I booked a (3rd floor walk-up) room in the very tired hotel where I’d been hanging around waiting for the AA all afternoon. I called the AA to ask them to cancel the room they’d booked at an hotel I couldn’t get to. I’m truly curious to see how they perform tomorrow. So far it strikes me they couldn’t organise a party in a brothel with its own brewery, but who knows?
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
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