We made the tedious journey to Manchester to get our visa, hopefully for the last time. This visa is for a whole year and will enable us to apply for French residency.
Unfortunately it would not be possible to register it in France, so it had to go.
We consoled ourselves with lunch at a favourite restaurant, one with a French theme, in Wirksworth.
We managed some nice walks in Derbyshire.
The best of both worlds. I assume you weren't able able to register your UK in France because it was right-hand drive. When we returned after six years in the USA we were able to bring our l/h drive VW Variant with us (we travelled by the SS France, the French equivalent of the Queen Mary) and to drive it in the UK until it fell to pieces. I already had a UK driver's licence but VR needed to qualify for hers. Turning up at the test centre still sporting Pennsylvania plates was a big mistake. "Don't think you Yanks can come here and pass the test as easily as you did in the US," said the congenial examiner and promptly failed VR. There was some talk of reporting him to the authorities (we are, of course, both Brits) but as it happened a new test was quickly arranged with a new examiner. A quarter of the way through the new test the examiner said, "Drive us back to the centre; you're an experienced driver."
ReplyDeleteIt is perfectly possible to register a RH drive car and keep it in France but one of the things you have to do is to change the headlights.
DeleteOn the Mazda the headlights were fancy ones that did all kinds of intelligent things and to change them was not only expensive (each one more than £1,000) but impossible because it involved rewiring the car. Which is never a good idea. When I asked the Mazda main dealer if they could do the work they said no. So sadly it had to go.
I meant to add that driving test examiners would likely not get away with that kind of attitude nowadays.
DeleteOk I am going backwards I see you are applying for French residency. Well done. Diane
ReplyDelete