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Article: Freewheeling through FRANCE
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- June 2, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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LA TILLAUDERIE, France Just beyond nowhere, on a donkey farm up a
dirt road, the rental car went on strike.
Repeated cranking of the ignition key brought only tantalizing
coughs and growls, while a red warning symbol glowed mockingly on the
dashboard. My dim grasp of French couldn't penetrate the Renault
Storia's driver manual, whose text block revealing the mystery of the
red light produced merely a shrug and a rueful smile from Jacques,
the research farm's wiry manager.
So much for the joys of a freewheeling offseason vacation along
the untrammeled byways of France.
On this chilly December day, in a nation hamstrung by
public-transport strikes, it seemed that my wife, Marcia, and I ...