In a parallel universe
Had the world continued in its usual manner, if we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic causing varying levels of movement restrictions in the relevant countries* and if we hadn’t thus aborted our trip, then last week we would have left Spain and entered France. On Saturday we would have visited Toulouse parkrun. Today we would have arrived in Paris, ready to meet up with Mick’s sons, their partners and all of the grandchildren for a long weekend at Disney.
Obviously a trip to Disney for 10 people doesn’t come cheap and in the absence of being able to recoup the expenditure, rearrangement at some future date wouldn’t have been feasible.
Expedia was quick to offer a full refund of our non-refundable hotel booking and gave an easy on-line way of making the request. We’ve not seen the money, but they did warn that it may take a while (completely understandably).
We’ve been more disappointed by Eurostar’s conduct. The message on their website, and in an email we received today (24 hours before the outward train), is that tickets can be exchanged for e-vouchers (to be used by the end of March 2021), with absolutely no mention that if your train is cancelled, you have the option of a refund. I had to do a lot of searching around their help pages before I found any reference to refunds and even then, when clicking through to the relevant form, reference was made to delays (which only give % refunds), not to cancellations. Eventually I read their terms of carriage, but how many people will have thought that, because they had non-refundable tickets, they had no option but to take the only offer given, of an e-voucher? For us, we have a happy ending: we didn’t believe Eurostar’s attempt at hood-winking and (fortuitously) our trains were cancelled. The one positive I will say for Eurostar is that they processed the refund efficiently over the phone (even though it will take a few weeks to reach us) and thus I didn’t have to go through the painful process of filling in 16 separate claim forms, one for each ticket.
Activity Report (Mainly Through Comparisons)
Just a few snippets of stuff I’ve been doing this week:
1. Even though I’ve not finished de-weeding the borders, I decided that my next task in the garden would be to clean the patio. We don’t have a pressure washer, so it’s going to be a slow process, on hands and knees, with a scrubbing brush. This is the result of my efforts of the last two days:
Photos from 8th and 9th April. Which will last longer: my enthusiasm for the task or the good weather?
2. I’m still cashing in my daily exercise token on running, rather than walking. Earlier in the week, on a glorious day, my route took me via four ponds/lakes, all of which looked fine under the clear sky…
…today I ran a reverse version of my newly found ‘ford’ route. I may have to rename it as today I found the ford to be dry:
Photos from 5th and 9th April
3. Ma-in-Law’s cardigan is still coming along:
Photos from 6th April and 8th April
(*Movement restrictions in Spain have been increased since the initial decree that was put in place on the day we left. In amongst other restrictions, it is not permitted in Spain to leave the house at all for exercise; pets can be taken out, but only within 50m of your house; it is still permitted for one person to leave the house to obtain groceries, but the nearest supermarket must be used.)
Had the world continued in its usual manner, if we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic causing varying levels of movement restrictions in the relevant countries* and if we hadn’t thus aborted our trip, then last week we would have left Spain and entered France. On Saturday we would have visited Toulouse parkrun. Today we would have arrived in Paris, ready to meet up with Mick’s sons, their partners and all of the grandchildren for a long weekend at Disney.
Obviously a trip to Disney for 10 people doesn’t come cheap and in the absence of being able to recoup the expenditure, rearrangement at some future date wouldn’t have been feasible.
Expedia was quick to offer a full refund of our non-refundable hotel booking and gave an easy on-line way of making the request. We’ve not seen the money, but they did warn that it may take a while (completely understandably).
We’ve been more disappointed by Eurostar’s conduct. The message on their website, and in an email we received today (24 hours before the outward train), is that tickets can be exchanged for e-vouchers (to be used by the end of March 2021), with absolutely no mention that if your train is cancelled, you have the option of a refund. I had to do a lot of searching around their help pages before I found any reference to refunds and even then, when clicking through to the relevant form, reference was made to delays (which only give % refunds), not to cancellations. Eventually I read their terms of carriage, but how many people will have thought that, because they had non-refundable tickets, they had no option but to take the only offer given, of an e-voucher? For us, we have a happy ending: we didn’t believe Eurostar’s attempt at hood-winking and (fortuitously) our trains were cancelled. The one positive I will say for Eurostar is that they processed the refund efficiently over the phone (even though it will take a few weeks to reach us) and thus I didn’t have to go through the painful process of filling in 16 separate claim forms, one for each ticket.
Activity Report (Mainly Through Comparisons)
Just a few snippets of stuff I’ve been doing this week:
1. Even though I’ve not finished de-weeding the borders, I decided that my next task in the garden would be to clean the patio. We don’t have a pressure washer, so it’s going to be a slow process, on hands and knees, with a scrubbing brush. This is the result of my efforts of the last two days:
2. I’m still cashing in my daily exercise token on running, rather than walking. Earlier in the week, on a glorious day, my route took me via four ponds/lakes, all of which looked fine under the clear sky…
3. Ma-in-Law’s cardigan is still coming along:
(*Movement restrictions in Spain have been increased since the initial decree that was put in place on the day we left. In amongst other restrictions, it is not permitted in Spain to leave the house at all for exercise; pets can be taken out, but only within 50m of your house; it is still permitted for one person to leave the house to obtain groceries, but the nearest supermarket must be used.)
Let's hope the stupid ones will behave and avoid us having that total lockdown in Spain that you describe.
ReplyDeleteWhat an eclectic mix of activities: ponds, pullovers, scrubbing brushes, what next? I nearly spent a lot of money on bird food and feeders today but was dissuaded by my son perhaps wisely - once you start on that game it is a very expensive indulgence. I just used up a long stored Round Up squirter today then went on-line to buy some more but had to go and lie down when I saw how much it cost, so like you dismissing the pressure washer I will opt for manual labour instead.
We also have an old (10 years?) spray-on weedkiller (only a 1-litre container) that I only use very selectively, but is running out. Based on your comment, I'll have to recalibrate my budget expectations before looking to replace it.
DeleteJust caught up with your random witterings! I hadn't realised you were blogging whilst at home and not on your travels. I love the colour of your knitting; I have some linen&cotton on order from LoveKnitting in the UK, but its not here after almost 3 weeks. I tried your Spot the Difference puzzle but could only find seven.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't ordinarily blog from home, but these aren't ordinary times. Then there's the fact that we shouldn't (per the plan) be at home just now, so should be blogging daily from a beach, hill, car park or layby somewhere!
DeleteI also rather like the colour of that yarn, which is fortunate, because I bought in such quantity that I'll have enough left to make myself a new cardigan too.
I'll nip back to the Spot the Difference post and put the answers in the comments.