Friday 14 August 2009

Detour

Driving through France one year, we decided to travel overnight and reach our destination as early as possible. At 5am our car started to lose power and barely made it up a steep hill, at the top the engine died completely so we had to decide whether to freewheel down the hill in our continued direction or to turn right. We turned right off the main road and travelled down a twisting road, having no idea what was at the bottom. Half way along this road we came across a garage, so we pulled in - it was obviously closed at that time in the morning so we walked down the hill to see what was around - a sleepy little town.
Returning to our car at 6.30am we found the garage owner had arrived and he said he would look at our car straight away and suggested we should go and have breakfast in the town. We found a cafe and although they had not had their bread delivered they went across to the bakery and bought us croissants to have with our coffee. I couldn't believe the service, how everyone was going out of their way to help us.
After breakfast we walked back to the garage and our car had been fixed - it was dirt in the petrol, they charged us the equivalent to £10 for this - unbelievable. We continued on our way arriving at our destination only a few hours late despite our DETOUR. The people we were staying with were so glad to see us arrive safely that they poured us a neat pastis each, it was so strong that I could barely feel my legs when I stood up to go to our room!
This is posted in response to the weekword over at Artsyville, home of the very talented Aimee, go have a look.

9 comments:

aimee said...

fantastic detour nicky! i love that you got coffee, a croissant, and an excellent pastis out of the deal!

thanks for playing along - and lucky you, i've picked you to be the next weekword finder :)

Deniz said...

i love the detours life dishes us out sometimes- especially if they end up as good as yours.
great story- see you on monday for the next weekword :)

Anonymous said...

A lovely story! I'm looking forward to your choice of word.

Veja cecilia said...

a nice little story. could have been the beginning of a real horror but turned out great:) great illustration!

Anairam said...

That croissant looks great. (Actually, this past Saturday I had the best almond croissant ever - it was seriously yummy.) I liked your story about your detour - if one let's go of one's expectations and go with the flow, one often ends up having the best time!

get zapped said...

What a terrific story, I felt like I as with you on this joyous journey! Love the piece, too.

yoon see said...

Lucky you Nicky.
Thanks for such touching story.
God is always there for you and they are so many people willing to help right!
It's such a meaningful and blessed journey!
Lovely style and love to have some for tea! He..he..

Alexiev said...

mmm... It gives hunger me...

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●• Thereza said...

i like your detour :)
your croissant and coffee illu is making me crave for a breakfast combo! it's still morning over here.