After returning from shopping in Spain yesterday we pulled up near the apartment while we unloaded the groceries. As I carried the last of the bags into the kitchen the smell of fresh bread proved too much and we set to lunch. Unfortunately it was not until the next day that we remembered that we had parked illegaly. Sure enough when I returned to the vehicle a plastic bound white letter waited for me wedged beneath the wind-screen wiper.Tearing the document open I feared the worse having received one or two such items previously in London. I scanned the usual bureaucratic verbage and honed in on the fine. €11. Previously received manuscripts from London stipulated that if payment were not made within a week the fine would double, usually £35 to £70. Not so in St Jean de Luz. Besides being more moderately priced, transgressors have up to forty five days to make payment. Additionally, no having to send cheques using a postal service that barely works, one simply visits the local tabac and after stumping up the cost of three large chocolate bars the document is stamped twice (one portion is retained by the perpetrator by way of a receipt).
All done and dusted with minimum hassle. Furthermore, all done for considerably less cost than 24 hour parking.
Basque of the day:- municipal police :: udaltzaingo
