Subject: Even more on Rental cars......with a twist!
Greetings Fellow Ziners,

We always make sure we are adequately insured on all of our driving trips.....but here is a real twist!

On one of our trips to France, my wife and I decided to do a "French countryside road trip".

My basic travel philosophy is to make as few advance plans as possible. (I always reserve an hotel for a day or two from home at our destination in order to give me time to get my "bearings" to adjust to my new surroundings. And of course, I investigate our destination extensively.) Otherwise, we prefer to strike out on our own and enjoy the adventure of travel! "If you don't have a schedule, you are never late"....and to us, that relieves stress and gives us unlimited opportunity for whatever pops up. In my opinion, travel should be fun and as stress free as possible.

After arrival in Paris, we rented a car from Sixt for a couple of weeks. Our "plan" was to tour the French countryside avoiding large cities. We had a wonderful trip, enjoying small towns in France and staying in the Hotels that caught our eye. Although we don't speak French, we learned a few words which was all we really needed to get housing, food and directions. Near the end of our time in France, we had to drop the car off at the rental agency in Paris.

If you have never driven in Paris....my advice is don't! We had a heck of a time finding the rental agency in the city....we called them on the telephone and they suggested a parking lot near their location. We parked the rental car in the suggested garage, and walked to the agency. The counter person spoke English and helped us considerably. We gave her the parking information for the car, (took digital, dated pictures of the car in detail) wrote down her name and as much pertinent information as I could and said goodbye.

A month later I received a call from Sixt at home wondering where their car was!! I provided them the information I had collected and mailed the hard copies of the information I had saved, (and the dated photos) to the company. They called me back a few days later and told me they had the car and there would be no additional charges.

I was lucky that I did have to pay for a Renault....I dodged a bullet and in the future will ALWAYS have the car checked out by a company Representative, (even if I have to get them to come to me!!)

We have used Sixt on several other European road trips and have always been pleased with their service and the quality of their cars.

Frank Garcia in California