Car Problems

Some of the boys were in town for a week of skiing. I have been keeping house (badly) and cooking meals (simply), minding kids. Thrilled to have an excuse not to ski with the boys, cos they will insist in all sorts of off-piste, skiing-through-the-trees a la Sonny Bono shenanigans
So I gladly throw myself into the mothering role...a la Cher...only bigger.

We have 2 cars....mine a sensible people carrier type thing with snow tyres...will drive up vertical slopes through an avalanche...ugly, totally uncool but extremely effective.


Hubby has a boy-toy (will only drive on dry motorways...very pretty but not at all effective) which he tried to sell, to discover that the market for those types of cars has collapsed. So we had to bring it with us....it would cost too much to put snow tyres on (€1000)....so we haven't....it would cost too much to reregister and get french insurance...so were are leaving it 3rd party on the irish policy.


Well today being a clear day with perfect roads, the boys took my car up the mountain (more room for stuff) and left me with the fancy car. I tootle with picnic and kids up to little ski station with bunny slopes for kiddos...it suddenly starts to snow heavily, I realise the fancy car will not cope with the conditions. So, I do a u turn and make for home, pronto. It's snowing heavily and I get stuck fast about 500m from the house in a very tight, steep, little village road. I have no control either forward (up-hill) or reverse (down-hill) ...I have about 4 inches on either side of the car to the village houses.



I call a friend for advice and her swedish hubby comes with his 4 wheel drive and tows me, with great difficulty as far as he can...picture expensive but worthless fancy car slipping and sliding around at the end of his rope. sort of like a water-skiier in a canal.....veering millimetres from stone walls, totally out of control. Friend's hubby is from the artic circle...therefore a great snow/ice driver...and he says he has never driven a car which is worse in snow...says we have no choice but to abandon it at the side of the road. Beside the bins! He gives me kids and dog a lift home.


Meanwhile...the big boys have gone up 3 ski-lifts into the next valley....they fail to notice that the only lift to bring then back is closed due to weather....and try to get a train and a bus home.

So now 2 abandoned cars.

I rang 3 taxi companies all of which refused to bring me up retrieve to my sensible car. I pray the snow-plough won't scrape the side off the fancy car.(remember only 3rd party insurance).


The thing that bothers me most is that the boys had invited us out for pizza tonight with kids and now I have to cook....as we have no car to get to restaurant.

Epilogue
Well the boys miss the train and hence the bus, but do succeed in getting a taxi (€45) back up to my car and retrieving it.
We have transport to restaurant.
En route home there has been a thaw and we manage to retrieve fancy car too.
All's well that ends well. I'm not driving that fancy car for the remainder of the winter.