March 4, 2011, Here it is, and the second tentative step of the trip has been taken. We put a deposit down on the car, a Renault Wind. France stiffly taxes its own citizens when buying a new car, but an American can buy one without the tax. He can use the new car for up to 6 months, and then sell it back to the company for about the cost of having rented it. The Frenchman then can buy the car without the stiff tax, because it is now classified as “used.” It seems everyone but the French government comes out well. The “Wind” is a two-seat roadster with a hard retractable top:

Ours purports to be a 100 hp, 1.6 liter, turbocharged, 5 speed with 10 cu. ft. of luggage space. After hauling all of our gear on the bike to Canada and back, we think we can fit everything into that sized trunk. Our deal with Renault Eurodrive is from 5/30 to 8/8 or 71 days. The first 21 days runs $1,999. The additional 50 days are $1.150 - or $23 a day. Over-all, it is $33 a day. That looks to be about the beginning price for rentals, before they begin adding insurance and other fees. None of the rental companies are willing to work a deal through all 16 or 17 countries we have in mind, especially in eastern Europe.