Surprise: Reliable french craftsmen?

43° 23′ 16.2494” N 4° 48′ 11.61” E

July 29, 2015

We pinch ourselves in the arms. What is with the French? All craftmen actually showed up at the agreed upon time. We explain what we want done, and they promise to submit estimates on tasks within a few days.

The motor man has a spontaneous laugh when he goes down to the engine room and sees the universal joint, as we have twice had it repaired in northern France. “What happened here”? he asks, as he had finished laughing. He does not believe, it is a viable repair that we had made. We doubt that ourselves, so we ask him to do an estimate on a new installation. New spare part. New installation.

When we receive his offer by mail later in the day, we must pinch ourselves in the arm again. New parts: 4,000 DKK. Wages: 2,000 DKK. Devil and Hell. At the garage mechanic in Epernay the cost of the spare part was 12,000 DKK and the total repair amounted to 23,000 DKK (approximately 3.000 €). Life is full of hard lessons. It is important to learn as much as possible along the way. So we do.

At 10 o’clock we say goodbye to Ronja, leave the keys to Florence at the port office, and put Jørgens car in gear bound for Denmark with a few nights spent in postcard-beautiful Eguisheim in Alsace, where we take two nights to savour the beautiful Alsace wines, to celebrate Hannes’s birthday and to gather strength for the last day’s drive to Denmark.