Heros of the Week: My Life in Uzès

The Barefoot Blogger

Updated: October 15, 2024

A new battery, after all

This helpless expat needs to update some stories about my life in Uzès to say “thank you.”

Hoping to drive to Nimes to get my lost phone fixed at SFR, I went to the parking garage in Uzès to pick up Lucy. Soon, I discovered the battery was dead … again. I walked upstairs to ask for help from the garage attendant. Now that I have my own battery cables, the garage supposedly could jump Lucy if I needed it.

The garage manager said the attendant would be right down. Or maybe that’s not what she said at all.

Maybe the manager really said “he’ll be down sometime today.”

Darn that, I can’t understand when they speak French.

Anyway, while spending quality time with Lucy in the garage, I was rummaging around, and … I found my cellphone! It had fallen from the front seat onto the floor in the back, under the seat.

Elated that I had my phone, I didn’t have to buy a new one, and I didn’t have to drive to Nimes, I spent a moment rejoicing.

Soon, the reality that I was still stuck in the garage hit me again. By then, I had tried to flag down every car that drove by me. Lucy’s hood was open, and I was sweaty from head to toe. No one stopped.

I stood in the sweltering underground lot for almost an hour, waiting for the garage truck to pull up. No one stopped to help, even though it’s hard to believe they could miss my distress signals.

In defense of many who passed, it was market day in Uzes. That means most of the cars were driven by women. I wouldn’t have known how to help if I stopped either.

Then, to my delight and amazement, my real estate agent, David, appeared. Sadly for him, he had come to the garage to pick up his car.

In case you’ve forgotten, he’s the one I trapped the day before when he left his office. David had Lucy started in just moments after masterfully connecting the cables between our cars,

Heroes of the week

A friend once asked how I got people to do stuff for me. To that, my reply was:

“People always want to help. You just have to ask.”

Heroes have been with me this year through thick and thin. With friends like these, life in France is easier than it could be. And a lot more fun.

Geoffrey

Geoffrey – For putting up with my antics. For dealing with the trash company about the dumpster. For rescuing me at the garage the first time. For being my translator at the police station, driving with me to Nimes to report the “stolen” phone to SFR, and loaning me a phone to use.

“GG”