This particular hotel, the Ibis Styles, CDG/Roisseypol, is a medium priced hotel with breakfast included, which suits us well.
Breakfast there is comprehensive but nothing cooked....well, that isn't strictly true....there are hard boiled/ready-peeled eggs, which I'm sure come in a bag or container of some kind. Cold cuts, cheeses, pain cereal, baguette, crepes, fruit salad (also out of a bag) fresh squeezed orange juice, dried apricots and Figs (thank goodness for the figs! if you know what I mean, lol), cereal x 3 varieties, milk, yoghurt etc...and best of all coffee machines that make REALLY hot drinks. I am totally enamored of their double espresso...to which I add a container of hot milk. perfect!
We aren't so enamored of the chipped china plates and cups, however, but our standards have to slip a tad when we are here.
Well fortified, we went for our daily walk in the airport train station. It was still only 6am. We investigated the Novotel Hotel which is IN the train station, so that you dont have to get wet when you want an Hotel. This looked a little more upscale than our hotel, and we turned around and resumed our walk for another half hour, when we found that a key card was needed to get anywhere inside the hotel. Good thinking 99!
Waz returned to the room to finish packing and to take another nap, while I decided to get another cup of coffee and read the Nora Roberts romance novel (light reading it is!!) that I had stolen from the 'swap it' book shelf at the Novotel...well, I will be sure to return it when we go back there in 81 days!
My dear mother in NZ has not been well, and we left Florida knowing she had returned home from the hospital, but was still dealing with dizziness due to something to do with her blood pressure meds. My brother is taking wonderful care of her, but she insists on returning to her apartment where she maintains her independence, though more help is needed now. She turns 90 this year, and we are grateful that her good health has continued this far. She is still in good health in every other way, and I'm sure the Docs will sort this BP thing out. Being so far away at such times is never fun, but there really is nothing more that we could do for her, if we were closer geographically. We keep our fingers crossed that the family will all get together for her 90th celebration in September, in NZ.
Our train to Bordeaux didn't leave until 11.40am. We gave ourselves an hour to get to the TGV station and sort out the platform the train would leave from, which is usually only announced 10-15 mins (at the most) ahead of the train's arrival. There is a mass exodus from the waiting lounge area when the platform is added to the departure screen there. We joined them and found our spot to hang out, for boarding.
We decided to sit outside in the cool when we first arrived at the station...ha! cool soon turned to COLD to FREEZING, as the cold air rushed up and into the large vacant space around us, from trains whizzing in and out. Someone definitely needs to clean all those windows! Just my opinion!
The trip from CDG airport to Bordeaux was a long one, having about 4 stops along the way. It took about 3hrs, vs the direct train which takes only 2 hrs and 5 mins. We dont mind the longer one, as it gives us more time to sleep.
We had brought a couple of hard boiled eggs and 2 mini croissants each for our lunch onboard, before settling in...Waz to nap, and me to read steamy scenes....I have decided that I will write soft porn for a living...it appears to be lucrative. For the life of me I cannot decide whether Nora Roberts has watched too many movies with the scenes she describes or she is a very experienced woman. I tend to speed read those anyway! Cant get too hot and bothered on a public train:)
Arriving at Gare Bordeaux St Jean just after 3pm, we immediately made our way to the car rental area, deep in the bowels of the station. We rented our car from here last trip, and had no problems whatsoever.
I desperately needed to go to the bathroom, so trotted up the stairs to the 'paid' loos. Being in a hurry and not able to find the correct change, the attendant took pity on my state and directed me through the 'out' gate and into the available toilet stall. Relieved, I exited and paid my .80eu for the privilege of using the very clean facilities. He even turned the water on for me to wash my hands! Such service! I think he just wanted his money!
Back to Waz outside the rental car office.
And now to get to the title of this blog: I presented the confirmation notice to the Thrifty employee and she went about signing us up and then the problems began.
We rent from Thrifty because their long term rentals, which we favor, are less expensive than the competition. We usually rent for more than 2 months and have no problems doing so. Why there should be today, we dont know. Here's what they said....
1. You cannot rent a vehicle without getting a new contract every thirty days
2. You must return to the depot to renew the contract and for us to check that the car is not damaged (eh?)
3. The price will be 1600+ Euros, not the 912+ euros quoted you, even though it was confirmed on our website...oops!
Having had not so much sleep in recent days, and anxious to arrive at our destination before dark, as it was raining, I was not too happy with the delay due to all these 'rules' and the new euro quote.
I asked if they were going to give me two free days in exchange for my bother to return the car each 30 day period, and to sign a new contract where there was no guarantee of the same price?
I also asked if there was somewhere else I could sign a new contract, other than making the 4 hr round trip to Bordeaux to do so? Yes, they said, you can go to any Thrifty depot, but you will have to phone us to fax the contract to the new place. I asked again if they would compensate me for my trouble? NO!
I asked why they had to inspect the car for damage when they would do that at the end of the 81 days anyway, and if I had an accident, I would call them anyway...esp. as the deductible is 22,000 euros!!! yes, 22 grand!
They could not give me sufficient reason to do this, and I explained that this is totally idiotic, I had never had to do this before for long term rentals, and I would complain to Thrifty.
We have just written to thrifty to explain the situation, and we hope for a satisfactory outcome. This would have to be that we have the same euro value for the entire contracted 81 days, that I dont have to sign a new contract each 30 day period and return for vehicle inspections at the same time.
I have no tolerance for such poorly thought out rules, and if someone wants to enlighten me as to why they do this, please feel free. The Supervisor got a bit crazy at me, even though I kept my cool, but I was not going to roll over and play dead for them
I insisted that they charge me the rate I was quoted, and 45 mins later and much tapping of keys, they did give me what I insisted upon. A contract is a contract!
I will phone Thrifty tomorrow to be sure that I am not being charged different rates for the entirety of the rental!
Nerves were a bit frayed by the time we stowed our baggage in the Renault (same kind we had last visit) and joined the after work crazies on the road out of Bordeaux. I dont like driving in Bordeaux at the best of times, but calm must prevail and we negotiated the one way streets and changing lanes out of the city and onto the country roads in fine style. Stick shift cars are such a pleasure to drive.
Needing another bathroom stop, we found a McDonalds....yes, sometimes one just must do these things. I hate to say that it was THE ONLY place we found to stop, on our journey. Not a bar/tabac was along our route that we saw an OPEN sign in the window. Being 5.30pm, it made good sense to have some dinner while there. We find French McD's expensive, though generally the quality is superior to the USA McD's.
Looking outside in the rain, the play structure is smaller than it's US counterparts, but the covered outdoor eating area looked wonderful.
I ordered a wrap, which was larger and fuller than any I have had stateside.
By the time we finished the meal....and we were in no hurry now that the light was waning...more people were arriving, so we returned to the wheels and GPS and on our way. The rain didn't cease, so our speed was 10kph less than the posted speed (by law) which was fine by me, driving on slick roads in the twilight and then dark on unfamiliar roads, even though we have travelled this way before.
We noted with pleasure the lines of plain trees, as we headed north east, remembering the story of how Napoleon supposedly had them planted to give shade to his marching troops, through this Bordeaux area. Waz refused to take another photo...should I say YET another photo of the lines of trees, correctly stating that I already had a gazillion of them, lol. So, sorry about that, but you wont be seeing wet trees through a wet windshield.
We have actually driven this route before, and we kept seeing places that we had noted previously...especially houses for sale.
I meant to tell you that the rivers are all swollen right now. On the journey from Paris to Bordeaux, the low farm land was very wet but the rivers hadn't actually topped their banks. Plenty of rain and crazy weather recently. We are hopeful of some sunshine in the coming week.
Our neighbors from Jacksonville tell us that the temperature was just 26F there yesterday morning. Ouch! Glad we are a bit warmer than that here!
I will take some photos of our Chambre d'hote in this big old Maison Maitre in the middle of Riberac, in the morning. The room is huge and the bathroom has a huge, deep and very old claw foot tub with shower..hand held kind... which is common here. Marie Florence, our hostess, has seen to our every need, and is a delightful person. We managed a friendly Frenglish conversation, and she apologized that her son, who saw us to our room, didn't speak much English. No problem...we are here in their country, so the onus is on us to speak their language. We do our best! I have to declare that I feel a little more comfy with that, this time around. I am hopeful that my language skills improve a WHOLE lot while we are here for this duration. Apparently our neighbors at the house sit are locals, and will be delighted to help us with that!
Waz has turned in for the night, and I need to get myself to bed also. We have ordered an 8am breakfast in the Salle a Manger (dining room), and we look forward to that prior to our 'shopping for food' trip in this larger town. We will visit both Lidl and Super Intermarche tomorrow for our supplies. This town will be our major shopping base for the duration, and we look forward to exploring it further.
Nighty night.
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