Monday, April 19, 2010

The Duchess vs The Volcano...

Remember that post where I extolled the virtues of living in Europe? So close to so many countries, one of the best perks of living in the south of France.... That is unless one of those countries owns a volcano which decides to errupt and create travel chaos, just as the Walking English Megaphone is trying to flee, I mean, fly, back home.

We are on day 8 of his 4-day stay. We are getting a little anxious. We hope that his re-scheduled flight from Béziers to Bristol will leave on Wednesday, but we are not too convinced that it will. Ever heard the saying 'When America sneezes, the world catches a cold'? Well, Iceland has sneezed and some of it has landed on the Dukedom.

I know in the grand scheme of things, we are lucky. We aren't sleeping at the airport, or missing a family wedding or a funeral, and aren't one of the 4 teachers stranded with 40 15-year old British schoolchildren in Shanghai. But still. We are a little family who like to keep family visits short and sweet. We love each other in small doses. This may get interesting.

Anyone else out there been affected by the volcano chaos? Hope you all are where you want to be, or can get where you want to be going. Thanks to one of the other great perks of living in France, we do have a plentiful supply of wine to see us through...

8 comments:

Penny said...

Wishing you luck on Wednesday! We were in Italy but got home fine on the train and bus (as planned). Volcano? Who'd have thought??

The Duchess said...

Hi Penny-
Glad to hear you got home safely. The Duke feels even more validated now in his refusal to fly anywhere. This certainly isn't helping the situation!

BonjourRomance said...

Luckily we had no air travel planned. NOw all the newscast are saying perhaps Europe has over reacted? Who knows. Air travel is no fun anymore period. I am sorry to hear all the sad tales of stranded passengers - alot are running out of money. Good luck with things...
Bonne semaine,
Mimi

The Duchess said...

Hi Mimi, Yes, over-reaction, health and safety gone mad, who knows.... but I agree, flying isn't half as fun as it used to be. Used to be an adventure, now just a pain. Does that make me sound old? lol

Unknown said...

Our flight Béziers to Luton was cancelled, so we decided to go to Marseille for a few days (as dog was already booked in kennels etc. )

Train was delayed 3 hours (strike).

At least the Daily Mail is back which might make life a little easier for your guest (and you). l.o.l.

The Duchess said...

Hi Linda- family managed to get a flight back today....hooray! But the newspaper strike was really almost the last straw. lol

President said...

I find you via the splendid Damien Noll - Hurrah!
The only good thing about the ash is that it put politics into perspective - they may rant - they may seek to hunt down and bring to justice suicide bombers (wasn't that brainless Bush) but they do not understand this fragile planet and it should humble them - an us too
Robin
www.heraultwhatson.info

The Duchess said...

Hello Robin- Glad you found me. Yes, the volcano ash episode (which appears to be making another appearance as we speak....) was a great reminder that no matter how control we think the government has on every facet of our lives, even they were powerless for a short time. Humbling indeed. Just wished it had had better timing!lol