Sunday was time to say our final goodbyes to our little apartment in Paris and hit the road. Although we didn’t feel like we acquired all that much in the way of worldly goods while in Paris, somehow our bags did not want to hold everything. We are still refining the art of packing light. It’s a fine line to walk when you have so many months to plan for and so many different climates to deal with (we had to pack for everything from Iceland to the Mediterranean after all). Needless to say I’m very, very glad we decided to get a car. I can’t imagine dealing with all of our stuff while trying to negotiate trains.

After finally closing up shop and saying goodbye to our apartment, we lumbered downstairs with our awkward luggage and Larry ran to fetch a cab. We had to pick our new car up at the airport and made the wise decision to take a cab there. Taking the train out there would have been no fun. Larry said 10 cabs passed him by before one finally stopped (he must have had the “I’m American” sign on his shirt). The cab driver was extremely kind, spoke English fluently, and was very helpful when Larry accidentally let the front gate shut behind him, leaving part of our luggage locked behind it and out of our reach. As the gardienne (caretaker) was out for the day, we pushed every door buzzer until someone answered, and the cab driver said “I’m with two stupid Americans who left their luggage in the driveway”. OK, he didn’t actually say “stupid”. He was a great guy who told us a story about when he want to the US with a buddy many years ago, bought a clunker, and took 3 months driving all the way across the country and then back again. What a great adventure!

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle and managed to negotiate ourselves and our things inside where we called the Peugeot desk to come pick us up. Because we had already filled out lots of paperwork ahead of time, I was surprised at how simple the process was and how quickly it was over with. It took less time to check in and get the keys to our new car than it does to rent a car in the US.

Thus within a few minutes we were loading ourselves and our things into our new little silver Peugeot hatchback. We hadn’t known ahead of time what color we would get – but I called it. For some reason at least 3 out of 4 cars on the road in France are silver. It only had 5 kilometers on the odometer when we got into it. Now that’s a new car! As we drove away and jumped on the autoroute to head to Mont St. Michel, Larry pointed out that this was our first new car together, and we both laughed at how peculiar it seemed that our first new car was a Peugeot in France. Yet, I am not surprised at all, it fits our lives perfectly.