End of the Journey

The Prius Ate Our IDs

This was on Tuesday, as we were leaving Montenegro. We put our IDs into the compartment beneath the radio. At the border station, my ID card was missing. It's me; I'm always misplacing things, etc., etc. It was raining cats and dogs, too. I had my passport, so it was not a catastrophe, just another panic situation -- me going crazy. We went back into Herceg Novi to where we had been parked, but by this time the street was a river and there was no chance a dropped card would have stuck to the pavement. We went to the agency because I thought I should declare the loss then and there, but the young woman on duty (neither Hayley nor Jack was in) called the police and said the consensus was that, since I had my passport, I should declare the loss back in France. So, off we went -- again. And I presented my passport; the border guard smiled and asked if we had gone back to the hotel and not had any luck...... The thing of it is, this time it was Paul's ID that was missing! I was not going to be alone in my craziness. As we searched all over the car, again, and stuck our hands into that compartment many times, my fingernail got caught at the very top. There's a tiny slit, and we figured that the cards must have slid into it. But the only way we're going to find out is to take the car to Toyota and see if they can dismantle the dashboard and I think the cost of that would be greater than just declaring the cards lost and replacing them. Besides, what if we had the dash dismantled and the cards weren't there; it would be confirmation that we're crazy, right?

Well after we intended to be on our way we finally set off up the coast once more. It rained off and on, but when it was "on" it was torrential. By the time we got up to Split, however, it had stopped. We followed the signs to take the highway up to Split, but the signs are up ahead of the highway being ready, so it's a real detour off the coast road and into the mountains, along the border with Bosnia. It's beautiful and was a welcome change of scenery.

We got to Split in plenty of time to buy ferry tickets and visit the town. The ferry docks are really at the foot of the old roman town, such a pleasant change from the Calais/Dover ferries that are in industrial zones. We got our tickets, parked in the boarding line (free parking!) and walked into Split to spend a couple of hours exploring. I think Paul was especially pleased because we got to see antique ruins. The cathedral, for example, is built in the old roman temple structure. The town is very well preserved. The alleys are so narrow, they could only handle pedestrian traffic -- no horses or carts.

The next morning we woke up with the Italian coast in sight. It took a bit of time to unload the ferry (but less than it had taken the night before to load -- we had quite a show watching the last of the trucks getting on board). We decided not to tarry, so we hit the autostrada and didn't get off until we decided not to take the Frejus tunnel after Turin, but rather go up through the Mount Cenis pass and on to Chambery. We had time for a pleasant stroll though Chambery before dinner. I didn't take any pictures, though, just looked. On Thursday, we continued on the smaller roads before finally getting back on the autoroute in Macon. We arrived home in the afternoon.

So, now we are home. It is Sunday, today, and when I get my hands on my voting card, I'll take my passport and go vote in the European elections.