The story I am going to dive into this week is the story on a trip from England to France that seemed like it was straight out of National Lampoon’s Vacation series. It was the summer of 2013 when my family had plans to fly into England at Heathrow Airport and from there to go to Paris and then drive to Normandy and then back to London. This was the plan of the trip at least, but the way it worked out was not as flawless as it seemed. When we flew into London and everything seemed great until we realized the rental car company had only stick shifts. That was okay because my dad drove stick when he was a kid and knows it like no one else. However, one thing was different, the stick shift was in his left hand. He had never learned how to drive a stick with his left hand, which made all the difference.
We pulled out the lot in our yellow Fiat 500 and my dad stalls almost immediately due to putting the car in the wrong gear. With people beeping behind we start the car again and head down the road to a parking circle. This became one of the most stressful things because parking circles are just so complicated when the driver is on the other side of the road. Meanwhile, while this was happening my sister and I was white-knuckling in the back of the car scared for our lives.
We make it out of London alive and we are on the roads driving to the white beautiful Dover cliffs to take a Ferry across the English Channel. With our luck we somehow drive straight to the part of the tunnel in which trucks can cross underneath on this complex train, however, we were not meant to do that. We pulled off to the shoulder on the road and my dad could not turn around for it was one-way traffic. We put the car into reverse and he floored it backward for 5 minutes to get to the nearest turn around the ramp. All I have to say from this to never ever use Apple Maps. I was scared for my life because while we were backing up, trucks were wissing by us, sometimes blasting horns. I was scared for my life. Once we went on the ramp and turned we found ourselves on a country road which was great until my dad realized that we were not in the United States and we nearly slammed into another car head-on. This trip ended up being a great deal of fun other than the parts where we almost crashed a few times.
Wow, that sounds so stressful! I don’t think I would trust my Dad to drive a stickshift on the left side of the road. I’m glad you made it out of London alive and had a great trip and stories to tell. I’m surprised you remember the trip as well as you do, considering it was seven years ago, my memory is not that great. I liked the way you told the story because it was interesting and kept the reader engaged.
This might be one of the funniest blog posts I have ever read. It started out so peaceful and happy, followed by scare after scare in the car; I can hardly imagine what this was like to experience! I feel like I would be pretty traumatized after something like that, but I am glad you guys made it out in one piece and enjoyed the rest of your trip. Going abroad and having to drive seems like a terrifying challenge, one that I would not want to face, so I respect your Dad’s willingness to give it a shot.
Really fun read! I can’t believe you had to go through that! It’s funny to read right now, but I imagine I would be so scared if I was actually sitting in the car seat, reversing in one-way traffic. I think my dad’s a good driver, but I’m not sure he would’ve been able to get my family out of that situation, so kudos to him! I’m glad you’re all right, though, and this does make a great story to tell!
Great story! The car ride sounded like a stressful one. I had a similar experience in the Cayman Islands when my dad had to drive on the opposite side of the road and never had before. Fortunately the car wasn’t stick, so I’m sure my situation wasn’t as scary as yours. Overall, I’m glad to hear you and your family made it out safely!