A lemon

Our car has been giving us little problems since we bought them. However, in the middle of this week it escalated to a bigger problem. In normal mode the auto gearbox could not find fourth gear to change into. In sports mode it could.

Anyway, the car has been sitting at the workshop for a day and a half and they have found the problem. Apparently what is known as a hydraulic distributor has failed. This is a sealed unit and the new part is going to take two and a half hours to fit and cost in excess of £400 for the part alone. Thank goodness we took out insurance against such things when we first purchased the car.

Now it is up to the insurance people to agree or otherwise and then hopefully we will have the car back before the middle of the week.

But this is the last straw for me. Once repaired we are trading in the car for something better. No more Renaults for me. And the funny part is, we're not the only ones. While waiting down at Renault I spoke to another man who already had his replacement car on order from Toyota. He was getting rid of his Renault very shortly.

I also overhead another couple complaining to the service manager. And the Renault dealer's car park was overflowing with cars waiting to be serviced. Are Renault's such an unreliable brand? The evidence would seem to suggest so.

So in the next couple of weeks we will be looking for a Toyota or a Mazda. Both of which have excellent reputations here in the UK for their small cars.

Travels

I recently traveled to Paris for work. To get there, the Eurostar train is the best way... usually.

With the train delayed by almost three hours in departing London, and very, very full, it was up to each passenger to make the best of the situation.

It was therefore good to see a couple of Aussies, probably backpackers, setting themselves comfortably on the floor of the bar carriage with some amber ale to keep themselves relaxed until our eventual arrival in Paris - at 12:45am.

One thing the Parisians at Gare du Nord have not figured out yet is how to supply adequate numbers of taxis at the station, especially when they have over 800 passengers arrive on a train in the early hours of the morning.

But all in all I am, for the most part, enjoying my qyarterly visits to Paris.

A date to remember

Well today is an anniversary for Natalie and I.

It is two years since I asked her to marry me. She said "yes" and I guess the rest is history.

But really, I should mention what a great wife I have in Natalie. We have grown together over the last two years and I am looking forward to more adventures in the years to come.