Bordeaux deserved a longer stay, but we'd scheduled our next few days in the nearby Dordogne. So come morning we packed our bags and walked from L'Hotel Particulier to the nearby Gare Saint Jean, which is also the location of a Europcar office. Yes, we rented une voiture. While we prefer the train, the one that connects Sarlat to Bordeaux has a sparse schedule, and then there was figuring the logistics to visit several small towns. So a car it was.
While initialing the rental car contract the friendly Europcar lady suggested we add a small fee to our contract to get full insurance coverage. We usually don't, we have our own insurance, but for some reason we agreed to the charge.
You can guess this is going somewhere, eh? Else why would I bother to clutter this tale with the mundane accounting of a contract.
Fifteen minutes out of Bordeaux, with me behind the wheel of the Fiat 500, a perfectly-sized car for two gents traveling in la belle France, the heavy highway traffic left us stopped behind a semi on an exit ramp. We then got a big jolt—we were hit in the rear by a second semi truck.
And then the semi hit us again.
Pinned in. We thought we were toast. But no, after the two strong hits all went quiet and we gathered our wits. Do you sit still, or abandon the car? Traffic was heavy so we thought it safer encased in the metal of the small Fiat. After a few minutes the truck ahead moved. I started the engine then slowly drove to a turnout, flashers flashing, while we contemplated talking with Europcar, consulting the police, maybe even returning to Bordeaux, and all in French. Merde!
Well, here came another jolt: the truck that hit us drove off. So now we had what I'd call a hit and run, no? In Boston it would just be, oh, exercising your bumpers, but surely that's not the norm in France. A bit shaken, a bit puzzled, we pulled into a cafe's parking lot to inspect the car and call the car company. Well, the Fiat had only minor visual damage and the Europcar rep didn't seem terribly interested in the situation. The insurance, we figured, will cover the damage. So on we went as if nothing happened though of course it left us a tad rattled.