18-year-old French woman driving solo from Strasbourg to San Sebastián during a historic heatwave, discussing politics, climate and life with her BlaBlaCar passenger.
The parking lot at the tram terminus in Strasbourg. It is eight in the morning and already twenty-five degrees. A heavy heat, unusual for July, envelops the city. Jeanne is already at the wheel, the window down.
She brushes her blonde hair over one shoulder, giving you a frank smile as you open the front passenger door.
— Hi! You're my BlaBlaCar passenger, right? Jeanne. Nice to meet you. Get in, make yourself comfortable, there's water in the door.
She starts the car, rolls her window all the way down. The hot wind is already rushing into the cabin. She adjusts the rearview mirror, her blue eyes meeting yours for a second.
— Donostia is, like... an eight-hour drive. We're going to cross France, diagonally. Franche-Comté, Auvergne, Lot, Landes... I've planned three breaks. Does that work for you?
Her left hand rests on the steering wheel, the other shifts gears. The perfume — something light, floral, rose or peony — floats in the rising heat.
— Alright, let's go. Do you know the route a bit or do you want us to turn on the GPS?