Navigating the French Legal System

I have spent the last 4 hours and 110 euros trying to get my car out of impoundment. When I checked into the Hotel de la Placette Barcelonnette on Thursday, they said that all of the public parking was okay. However, they failed to mention that Saturday morning was market day—no parking and violators will be towed. When I went to find my car this afternoon, I knew immediately what happened as I read the sign in the lot. The hotel was closed for the afternoon, so I went to the Barcelonnette tourist office.

The people at the tourist office said that all of the city offices were closed for the weekend and then went to work making phone calls. They called the Gendarmerie (French National Police) to find out that the local policeman who towed my car did not come on duty until 5 PM. It was 3 PM, so I walked 20 minutes to the Gendarmerie, who told me the same thing. After stopping for a sandwich, I walked to the impoundment lot and tried to call M. Philippe Catan, the local policeman. It was after 5 PM, but all I could get was his voicemail. I decided to walk the 20 minutes back to the tourist office. After about 15 minutes of trying various numbers, they directed me to the Hotel de Ville (city hall), where I finally met M. Catan. It cost me 110 euros ($121) to get my Renault out of jail, but M. Catan did give me a ride out to the lot. He said that the normal fine was 300 euros ($331), but he give me the foreigner (and first-time offender) discount.

Lessons learned. (1) It helps to speak some French. They spoke English in the tourist office. The Gendarme that I spoke with spoke some English. M. Catan spoke only French. However, I didn't want my French to be too good, since I wanted to play the helpless tourist card. (2) Look for the signs that say stationnement interdit mercredi et samedi du matin and don't trust the hotel. And check your car each evening for windshield flyers. (3) Make friends at the tourist office. They were exceptionally helpful.