en route

In 1978, my mom's mode of transportation was a navy blue VW bug. It didn't have air conditioning, automatic windows or a navigation system. 

And en route to Spain through the heart of Provence, the little bug broke down, not once but several times.

August 5, 1978
Debbie writes:
"We got on the freeway and headed for Marseilles. We stopped for gas at Cassis and the car conked out. We had to push-start it. We sweated all the way to Marseilles. We made it and spend the night in the hostel! We gave the car a bath, hoping it would work next time we started it..."

August 6, 1978

Pushing the car in Marseilles"We stayed another night in Marseilles to give the car a rest..."

August 7, 1978
"The car wouldn't start. We pushed it. But that wouldn't work either. We got to a gas station and the guy charged the battery. We made it to another gas station where we had to push again. The guys there said we'd have to charge it for three hours! We said, no thanks, and pushed it again. We made it around the block before it conked out again. It's hard work pushing that car! We got it back to that station and the guy told us to go to Peugot and get it charged there. The car made it there. The guy was really nice and told us to come back at three."

It was pouring rain and nearing dark when the bug was finally charged, allowing the girls to leave Marseilles behind them. They got on the autoroute heading east, the bug lurching the entire way.

As my mom and I began to plan our trip to France, we listed possible places to visit. My mom had only one condition: that we didn't go to Marseilles.


"All I remember is pushing that car around Marseilles," she said. "All my memories from there are bad."

Today as my mom and I drove toward Avignon in Provence, our car suddenly emitted a loud beep and a warning light flashed on the dashboard, informing us that the car needed a litre of l'huille moteur--motor oil.

Instantly my mom panicked, recalling pushing the navy bug through the south of France thirty years ago.  We decided to pull over, however, we were on a back country road miles away from the freeway or any sizable town. Every village gas station we passed was closed on Sundays.

Luckily, a few minutes later the warning light turned off but we continued to monitor the Mercedes carefully. I wondered if I would be strong enough to push the car out of traffic while my mom silently prayed that it would hold out to Avignon. 

We arrived in Avignon around 7 p.m. and decided to just park the car. Tomorrow we will have someone look at it. Hopefully their answer doesn't involve charging the battery for three hours or pushing the vehicle around the block.
Today was a long drive but we're finally in the Provence region of France. (Our route took longer than planned because we pulled off at a medieval castle, and once home of Richard the Lionheart, as well as an antique market.) Tomorrow we'll explore Avignon--the oldest inhabited city in France and the former home of the Pope during the Renaissance.