Chapter 14 - France!
It's the day of the trip is the first thing I think of when I smack the alarm clock as I always do, when I notice it didn't even go off yet.
Odd. It seems that I'm so excited that I woke up early. Now that takes SERIOUS excitement to get me out of bed early.
I get out of bed, throw some clothes on and go towards the bathroom where I brush my teeth, when I remember that my excitement may have been a bit too quick. I still have a bus drive to the airport, as I drove my car to get transported to Europe yesterday, and after that I have a long drive on the plane. Traveling is always nice when you think about it. Unless you're doing the thinking on a plane or bus. Then it doesn't seem so nice.
After those deep thoughts I eat some food and watch television like usual. Probably the last time I'll do something usual in a while. Now that I think of it, we didn't really prepare for this so well. Too late to turn back now.
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After a goodbye to my television, plopystation and most importantly my Silvia I am now at the airport. I hate airports. You're either late or you are on time and need to wait for hours anyway.
''Drake!''
I snap out of my day dreaming about airports and notice Morgan and Cynthia are already here.
''Hey there!''
I just now notice Cynthia seems to have twice the luggage that I and Morgan have. Strange.
Oh wait she's a girl. That's normal then.
''So I hear you already know Cynthia.''
''Yep, we already did some racing on trial mountain.''
''Where he lost.''
''Well... The car was new!''
''Oh really? Then why did... blah blah
Cynthia looks gorgeous... Hmm I wonder when I stopped using 'hot' to define girls I'd do naughty things to. Or maybe I never did and I honestly think she's gorgeous. Or I'm just blocking out her bragging.
Blah blah... and you drove on that track before!''
''Sounds like you had a great time, but I think we should wait in a cafe for the plane and your friend.''
I look at Morgan slightly confused, but then I remember Doug.
''Oooh Doug! Yeah he should come... I think.''
''You think?''
''Well we're not the best of friends, but I'll tell you about that later okay?''
''You're kidding rig...
Suddenly that cafe idea seemed like a fantastic one.
''There's a cafe, let's go there!''
''Yeah let's. I'm getting tired of hauling this luggage around.''
Oh wow. I wonder why.
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A couple of minutes later Doug joined us and I was able to introduce him to Morgan and Cynthia.
''Doug! Sit down here.''
I show him a chair and act friendly to show Morgan how wrong he was.
''Oh so you're Doug then! Hello, my name is Morgan. I believe that we'll be going to Europe together.''
Doug and Morgan shake their hands.
''Yes, I was led to believe so. And you are?''
Doug extends his hand to Cynthia which looks at him blankly for half a second and then shakes his hand like Morgan did before.
''Oh, I'm Cynthia. Sorry, I was thinking about something.''
''No problem Cynthia. So I heard you drive an MR2.''
Cynthia suddenly became more enthusiastic when her car was mentioned.
''Yes I do! And I did some work on it too! It can easily beat Drake's Jaguar around Trial mountain.''
I let out a bored 'mhm' and start drinking my coffee letting Morgan and Cynthia get to know Doug.
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After a long wait and infinite checking of everything from our identity to our luggage we finally made it to the plane.
''This is going to be fantastic! I can't wait to se all the places, meet all the people and most importantly, see some cars!''
''Yeah. We must go and race on the Nurburgring sometime.''
Morgan and Doug continued their chat about the Nurburgring and I started exploring for a comfortable sleeping position, when I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Cynthia.
''Psst, Drake. So about your friend.''
''Doug?''
''Yeah! He looks kind of like a...''
''dweeb?''
Cynthia lets out a small chuckle at my remark.
''Exactly!''
''Don't worry. I'm sure you'll grow to like him more later on. He's a nice guy... I think.''
''If you say so.''
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After that the flight went by uninterupted. Miraculously there wasn't an annoying small kid somewhere near me. If there was I would make a witty remark. The flight was very exciting. If you like clouds and terrible TV.
''Uhh. I hate long flights.''
''Yeah. Me too. What I hate even more is all the security we need to go through.''
*x-rays, passport checks and metal detectors later*
''So how will we pick up our cars?''
''Well first we're going to the hotel. I guess we should ask around at those taxi stand things that are everywhere''
I HATE TAXI'S! They're usually a boring old car with those stupid lamps on their roof and they smell bad and I don't know why I keep driving in taxi's all the time. I have two cars! And they're too expensive. All they do is park somewhere and wait for people like me. People like me then need to pay a rediculous amount of money for anything over a 5 minute trip.
''DRAKE!''
''Huh? What?''
''You were day dreaming. And you looked agitated.''
''Uhh... yeah. Sorry about that. Taxi it is.''
-one taxi drive later-
''Oh wow. It's so late already.''
''Well we would have been here sooner if Doug hadn't been negotiating for an hour.''
''Hey. There's a difference between all those taxi services you know. And in the end I saved us about 20 cents.''
''Hey. Maybe we'll buy you a lolipop later since you were so effective with our time. Can we please go to our rooms now?''
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*The next morning (IN FRANCE!)*
*CRASH*
''Aaaah.. What is this?''
Something woke me up from my sleep. It's hard. And heavy.
''Drake! Are you alright?''
I push the object away from my face.
''What happened?''
''It seems a painting fell. On your face.''
''I'm getting deja vu.''
''Huh?''
''Never mind. Is Morgan up yet?''
''Yeah. He's brushing his teeth.''
''Oh.''
I get off the bed and throw the painting into a corner. All I remember from yesterday is staring at the chair in front of me on a plane. That took most of our time, but I also remember one thing.
''Wait. So why did Cynthia get her own room and we get to be cramped in here?''
''Don't you remember? She said she wants to be in her own room as the only representant of the female sex.''
''What? That makes no sense! And we need to be here?''
''Well you can pay for your own room if you want to. You'd have to pay for one with three or four beds though. All the others are full''
I let out a sigh
''Fine.''
Suddenly I hear a knock on the door.
''I'll get it.''
*door opens*
''Hey Doug. Are you all awake?''
''Yeah we are. Come on in.''
By this time Morgan came out of his bathroom after the longest brushing of teeth ever.
''Good Morning Cynthia. Sleep well in your room?''
''Yes, it was very... roomy.''
''Funny. What do you think we should do?''
''You organised all this. There has to be a race track somewhere around here, right?''
''Ah race tracks. Of course. There is one. It's called Cape ring. It's a pretty new track, but is getting quite popular already. We're bound to find some sort of race for us. First we need to get our cars though.''
[INSERT BORING SMALL TALK THAT WOULD FILL UP THE REST OF THE MORNING HERE]
''MY CAR!''
''MY CAR!''
''MY CAR!''
''My car.''
''Awesome! I feel like going to that track right now!''
''Actually, shouldn't only one of us go? Seems like a waste of gas for all of us to get some information.''
''Actually, that's not a bad idea. We'll all get to drive our cars to the hotel anyway.''
''I'll go.''
''You sure Drake? Do you even know where it is?''
''Oh knowledge is not the point here. I have a GPS system.
''
''Okay. If you say so.''
Morgan gives me the adress and I fiddle with the GPS device.
Suddenly there's a sound of a Jaguar XK speeding across Bretagne.
It doesn't seem to last long though. Time flies when you're having fun. And I had fun, so I'm already here.
''Wow...''
The track is filled with racers, spectators and most importantly the sound of cars.
To my dismay though I can't find anywhere I can get a good view of the track. I spot someone with 'staff' written on their jacket. That's good I assume.
''Umm. Excuse me.''
''Bonjour. How can I help you?''
I breathe a sigh of relief. His english seems to be fine.
''I'd like to ask if there are any events scheduled. The kind that people can enter.''
The man points to some booths. I assume they're sign up booths.
I go towards the first booth and talk to the man.
''Hello. A man said I can ask about events here.''
''Yes. What do you want to know?''
''Well I'd like to know if there are any events people can enter and race in.''
''Yes. I have a list.''
The man points towards a list that I haven't seen before.
''Oh. I see. Thank you.''
Hmm. The list is confusing. There's a timetable, but the requirements are in
something called 'PP'
''Excuse me, but what is this?''
''The man in the booth looks at me with a confused face. Those are performance points.''
''Performance what? What's that?''
''Points that your car gets if you get it checked. They are determined by your cars specifications. If you have a list of your cars specifications I can get it sorted for you. These points are used in a couple of different tracks all over Europe.''
''A list? Wouldn't they need the car for that. I could put some false information here.''
''You could, but every car is checked after any race that it participates in.''
''Doesn't that cost unnecessary funds?''
''Admission fees cover that.''
''Makes sense. Thank you. Can I also give you some specifications of my friends' cars?''
''Yes''
I make a quck call to the hotel. Luckily everyone had a list ready by pure coincidence. I wrote them down and handed them to the man with our contact details.
Suddenly the sound of screeching tires can be heard that forces everyone to turn their heads.
I like France already!
Sorry about the delay... again. First there was the PSN thing and then my TV broke down...
And in the end I wrote a chapter with no pictures in it.
On the bright side, this means I can write another chapter because I have the pictures now.
👍 Awesome
