What a giggle! There we were, returning to England, crossing our fingers that the forecast of snow and ice would not stop us in our tracks. But first, there was the short skip and jump to get us from chez nous to the Channel Tunnel. It seemed that we were the only ones wanting to get home on Saturday morning. Empty lanes led to the checkpoint. Credit card inserted and out rolls the piece of paper to dangle from the car's mirror. Drive on to the French passport control, where they normally could not care less, don't really look at you and wave you though.
This time, with a couple of cars in front of us, nothing appears to move. Then a gendarme appears and makes everyone reverse into another lane. Mission accomplished we wait and wait while nothing ahead moves and we run the risk of missing the next train. Since this blog writer is never without wonderful solutions to solve every problem and seeing that the next lane also has a green arrow to welcome you through and no car waiting, I have the bright idea of simply moving the cones, separating our stagnating lane from the empty one.
Well, you should have seen the feathers fly! Quicker than you can say Jacques Duhamel, the flic who had waved us back in the first place, was at my side. "But madame, you can't do that. You are not allowed to do that. Imagine if everyone took the law into their own hands" etc etc.
He was no doubt disconcerted a have a five foot nothing woman of a certain age perpetrating this crime. The fact that I said that we didn't want to miss the train and that that lane had been empty, cut no ice and we had to move back while he solemnly replaced the cones.
He must have felt bad because he finished off by wishing us bon voyage and a bonne journee. As for us, I am afraid we could not stop laughing.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)