A check up for the car!

If you are regular reader of my blog you will know how I described the registration of our car here in France so it now has French number plates(plaques!). In France, car that are 4 years and over have to go every other year to a local testing station where something equivalent to the British MOT is undertaken. We were fortunate that when we got here the car was 3 years and 7months old so we did not have to submit my beloved Scenic to the French system. However 5 months on - well you do the maths....
Thanks to our wonderful friends Chris and Mary we knew what the procedure was and so last week Joe went to one of the centres in Cluny to book the car in. The dy was Tuesday at 11am. Conscious that the car had been much neglected since we have been here, Joe got up really early and emptied the car and cleaned it, blowing up the old vacuum cleaner in the process! (Yes it was that grubby!)
I was very nervious about what might be found. Over the last few weeks I had found myself listening to the engine every time we went out and imagining hearing strange noises.
We arrived at the test centre clutching our Carte Grise - the French log book for the car, and waited for the mechanis to come and see us. I looked at the long list of things that have to be included in the test - a whole A3 sheet of them and wondered how many hours it would take...and how much we would be paying - both for the test and for any resulting work!
What an efficient system. The testing centre is just that, producing a report at the end of the test outlining any problems. Depending on what they are you wither get a list of things that need to be looked at but not retested or things that do need attention at a garage and you then have 8 weeks to put them right and return for them to be retested so that the certificate can be issued and a sticker put on your windscreen and the Carte Grise too. Everything is fine we were told - the car has passed. We only have 3 minor items for attention and they do not need to be retested! Phew! - and the cost 59 euros.
Another hurdle surmounted - and another 2 years before the next test!