Today we spent the whole day at a car repair shop in Caen here in France. I attempted a few words and phrases in broken (and largely forgotten) school French and Peter reinforced it all with sign language. In the end, there was further conversation via Google Translate in the workshop's office... haha.
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ShareCooling water leaks
Some people complain that it is difficult to get by in English in France, or that people here are 'reluctant' to speak other languages. Our experience is that many people speak English, but not all. Those who don't, however, have been accommodating in other ways, like here at the car dealership where we communicated via Google Translate.
The most urgent problem we have is that the engine cooling water is leaking through a hole in a hose. We have an appointment tomorrow morning at 08:15 to fix it. So those of you who are jealous of our sleeping in can breathe a sigh of relief: tomorrow the alarm clock will be set early!
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solveig rhann says:
Now we're rattling around with a motorhome, but 35 years ago we were in the same neighbourhood as you are with a bright green Citroën. We became experts in finding workshops with hotels right next door. Hope it works out for you, following your nicely written blog, currently from the Algarve coast. Greetings Solan Rhann
08 December 2014 - 20:16
Matts Torebring says:
I'm sure they understand, but they don't want to show that they do. Hugs
08 December 2014 - 20:43
Rolle o Carina says:
Just show them the light and they'll understand!
And a hose should be easy to change in that tight space!
Hope it works out,Take care......
08 December 2014 - 21:51
admin says:
Solveig, thank you for your comment and nice words about our blog! The Algarve coast sounds nice! We will get there in time!
Matts, haha maybe it is... as long as they fix the car we are happy!
😉
Rolle and Carina, yes, there has been a lot of pointing! He did not have time to fix the hose today, but will do it tomorrow, and it should not be too complicated!
08 December 2014 - 21:59
BP says:
Yes, you can have more fun if you say so. Tyr that you have a whole year to make up for this lost day;-)
Google Translate is BINGO. It has worked great for us in Spain. What did people do before the internet... really?!!!
Good luck tomorrow morning. Hope the car will be ready tomorrow.
PS. Did you know that Kenneth Andersson played football in Caen? No, probably not, but now you know. Now you just need to know who Kenneth Andersson is;-) Peter might know;-) DS.
08 December 2014 - 22:13
Elisabeth says:
How sad when the car breaks down. It is on other things you want to spend your time. Keep your fingers crossed that everything will work out tomorrow. Elisabeth
08 December 2014 - 22:23
Nils-Åke Hansson says:
Now we hope that it will work out. We have also been to a workshop in France and it went well to point no one spoke English.
Goodbye
Nisse
08 December 2014 - 22:48
Ditte says:
Now things seem to be working out...I hope! You may have had time to visit the Carrefour in Caen. If you haven't, check it out tomorrow. The cheese counter there is incredible and the seafood counter too, at least they were when we were there a few years ago.
Good luck!
08 December 2014 - 23:23
Lars Permelin says:
Look on the bright side, it's good that the errors are discovered at the beginning of your long journey.
09 December 2014 - 0:28
Steve says:
These kinds of disruptions are also part of the holidays, of course. I hope everything will be fine tomorrow.
09 December 2014 - 0:48
marina says:
I really hope everything works out for you!
09 December 2014 - 4:19
admin says:
BP, you guessed right! I have no idea about Kenneth Andersson, but Peter knows very well!
🙂
Elisabeth, thanks for keeping your fingers crossed!
🙂
Nils-Åke, pointing goes a long way!
🙂
Ditte, we were in a Carrefour in Caen yesterday, but it was on the outskirts of Caen. I'm sure there are bigger ones, but I think they are generally very good!
Lars, errors do occur, and only that can be fixed!
Steve, yes and especially when you're travelling long distances of course...
09 December 2014 - 8:02
Inga M says:
It's good that you're used to travelling now when things are a bit tricky. I would have just collapsed if a light started to shine 😉.
Fascinating that in France people still don't want/can't speak English. I was in Paris in 1970 and then it was hopeless, nobody wanted/could speak English! And my school French was poor. It was said to me then that most people knew more English than they wanted to pretend, wouldn't it be some kind of prestige or tricky nationalism to refuse English????
Nice to read about how they built a harbour to carry out the invasion. And a great coastline it is.
Looking forward to continuing to follow your journey.
09 December 2014 - 9:20
Yvonné says:
I also think that they understand more than they can talk and perhaps they are ashamed of making a fool of themselves and it is better to be silent and not understand.
Good luck tomorrow.
Hugs
09 December 2014 - 17:46
admin says:
No M, most things usually work out in the end! It's great that you're following us! I think a lot of things about French are the same today... We come across the occasional person who speaks some English, but most people laugh and shake their heads...
Yvonne, it can certainly be like that sometimes! But some people really don't seem to understand... But then we have to make a fool of ourselves instead haha....
Ulla, most things work out in the end! Thanks for the encouragement!
09 December 2014 - 18:20
Ulla widing says:
Nothing to worry about. You can handle it with the experience you have. You can be understood with both arms and legs!
Hugs and good luck!
09 December 2014 - 18:08
Dessan says:
What a shame about the hassle. But they will probably fix it. When we were in Paris 2 years ago...we got a puncture. Oh what a mess before they helped us at the workshop. Finally a French woman, who knew some English... came forward and explained that they wanted to see the registration certificate of the car. Otherwise, we have probably stood there yet 🙂 we spoke English and the workshop guy French 🙂 when they got to see the papers, they started to fix the puncture immediately..pust. 🙂 Good luck
09 December 2014 - 21:02