Our Story Takes an Explosive Turn...

Car explosion at 174 bd. Robespierre. Sure didn't see that one coming.

I was on my way home for a spot of lunch and some coffee, when I began to notice an unusually foul smell in the air. Toulon is almost always smelly, and because they often burn their garbage, the smell of smoke isn't all that uncommon. Yet, this smell was so acrid that I couldn't help but think it out of the ordinary. A few blocks from my apartment I began to see clouds of smoke rising in the distance, and in jest I asked myself, what if my apartment building were on fire? Did I leave the burner on? The heater? No, definitely not. What if my good-for-nothing neighbor set the place ablaze, maybe exploding a speaker while listening to Dido at full blast, as he is often wont. And, if my building were on fire, would I run in and try to save any of my belongings. I had to admit, I don't have a lot of valuable stuff. Nothing worth risking my neck on. Well, maybe my computer, my external hard-drive with all my music on it. When I turned the corner up my street and saw the firetrucks parked directly in front of my building, I felt like I was going to faint or puke or both. Just by imagining it (I imagined), I had made it true! Agast, I continued up the boulevard, and with great relief, I realized that my apartment was not on fire, but that a car parked directly in front of my building was. As you can see from the photos, the little sedan had been so engulfed by the flames that all that was left was a charred skeleton. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and word on the street was that the car "a pris feu" spontaneously. Ever wonder why you don't see French cars for sale in the U.S.? Not anymore, eh?