The top three cars sold until recently in France have been (1) Renaults, (2) Peugeots, and (3) Citroëns. Now German cars like Audis, VWs, and Mercedes are getting more popular, especially among younger people. French cars used to have a bad reputation for reliability. Well, I'm still driving a 24-year-old Peugeot that runs great and is fun to drive. And I also drive a 2007 Citroën, which looks like a new car and is very comfortable. I see so many Citroëns on the road these days. And they don't look or ride like the old 2CV cars.
(Above) three Citroëns, ours on the right under the carport (we also have a garage where we park our other car); one greenhouse that needs to be emptied out and re-organized (when the weather gets warmer and drier); two piles of oak logs that gradually get fed into our wood-burning stove (we also have central heat — a boiler and radiators).
It's wood-burning season. We ordered and stacked a truckload of firewood a month or two ago (Walt did most of the stacking). We had a scare with the wood-burning stove around that time, but we found a company that could send us the replacement part we needed. It took them a month to get it to us, but it only cost 50 euros and fit perfectly. Having a wood fire nearly every day as a heating supplement is very nice and atmospheric. Besides, wood is much less expensive than the fuel oil we have to buy to run the boiler.Other news: the dollar is soaring. Right now the U.S. dollar will get you 96 eurocents. That means $1,000 U.S.will get you €960.00 (euros). That's almost parity. The dollar hasn't been this strong in 20 years. Also, let me say that according to a French weather site I track, we have had about 28 hours of sunshine this month. That would be about 4 days with sunshine out of 31. Tomorrow I'll post some pictures I've taken on our foggy days.
I have a nostalgic soft spot for the "Deuche" (though more so for the DS - much more comfortable and grander). That said, I actually had and enjoyed (till it rusted beyond redemption, and there wasn't much point keeping a car once I moved back to London) a Renault 4 - masses of convenient interior space.
ReplyDeleteHi Ken, living in Perth (WA), I'm driving a Peugeot 508 and I'm very pleased with it ;-)!
ReplyDeletehappy new year.....
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should pre-pay next summer's hotels in Euros? Happy New Year! I owned a Renault back in the 80's, it was a fun car. and the mechanics hated it and could fix simple things on it.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to French cars here, because all the mechanics know how to fix them and keep them running.
DeleteSo happy that you had a little sunshine and great news about the US dollar. I’ve not been watching it lately so thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteHappy New year to you, Walt and Tasha!
BettyAnn
Good news about the strong dollar. Japanese cars are popular here. We enjoy our Prius. I liked our little Clio rental.
ReplyDeleteToyotas are becoming popular here. Some models are built here in France.
DeleteAudis and Mercedes are most likely far less reliable than any French car. I speak from experience. Who else would put the fuel pump inside the gas tank so if the pump goes ban the whole gas tank has to be replaced? Now I drive a Japanese car. Good news about parity. It increases the odds of a vacation. Finally, Ken, the sun will come out tomorrow. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think my Peugeot's fuel pump (there may be more than one) is inside the gas tank. It has a diesel engine, and the mechanic who repaired the pump (called la pompe de gavage) didn't have to remove the fuel tank to replace it when the original pump gave out. I had trouble with the Opel I owned that no U.S. mechanic was able to fix. That was back when Buick dealerships sold Opels (a German make). I had trouble with troubles with two VW Passats when I lived in the Bay Area. And I learned there that Subarus were originally German cars. The factory in Germany was dismantled and shipped to Japan, where it was set back up and started making cars under the name Subaru. I can't remember what the German brand of those cars was called. When a German mechanic told me this story in the Bay Area, he told me the German brand but I can't remember it now.
DeleteI found this on the web about pompe de gavage. It just means fuel pump...
DeleteUne pompe de gavage est aussi nommée plus communément pompe à carburant. Sa fonction est d'alimenter le moteur en envoyant du carburant depuis le réservoir. Elle est située dans le réservoir et n'est pas toujours facile à changer quand elle ne fonctionne plus.
That's interesting Ken! And I had no idea about Subaru....quite a fascinating history!
DeleteI bet the German cars were avoided by the generations above those buying them now, because of a bad feeling about the Germans after WWII. Even the parents of our generation may have passed down an avoidance of German cars… I had a Jewish American friend, when I was in college, whose parents had lost family to the Nazis in the war, and my friend warned me to park my (very old, very used, very beat up) BMW down the street, so his father didn’t see it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get sunshine again soon! At least you have the nice smell of the log fire, for ambiance.
HAPPY NEW YEAR’s EVE!
This is true Judy. I knew people in the 70s and 80s who refused to buy German and instead bought Lincolns and Cadillacs for luxury cars. Back in those days I had a Honda Civic, which was passed onto my youngest sister and eventually hit 250,000 miles.
DeleteThe wood fire is almost a luxury. As long as Walt is willing to stack most of the wood, split the big logs, and keep the fire doing in the stove, we'll keep it.
ReplyDelete