A popular classic
This family of giggling tourists was having a great time yesterday on a 15-minute spin around the heart of Paris in mythic open-roof Citroën Deux Chevaux automobiles. The trio of cars stayed close together while tooling around Île de la Cité on a sunny morning photo-op escapade.
An icon of the French car industry, the Deux Chevaux, or 2CV, not produced since 1990, is a cultural reference and a symbol of a free-spirited living style.
Vocabulary
une roue: a wheel
un parapluie: an umbrella
bip-bip: beep-beep
klaxonner: to beep one's horn
un klaxon: a horn
©2013 P.B. Lecron
Joan and I had a second-hand one in 1962 as we tootled around to various provincial libraries examining manuscript of the Roman de la Rose for my dissertation. In Reims we had a flat tire, and a group of locals stood around in silent admiration as I tried to jack up the car via the front bumper, which of course broke off. (There was a little slot in the middle of the chassis for jacking purposes, but nobody told me about it.) My experience is that the French refrain from offering advice only on those rare occasions when it might be helpful.
ReplyDeleteExcellent observation!
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