I was going to wait until I got home to share my adventures on the Seine, but OMG, so much has happened and the boat hasn’t even left the dock – a tale worthy of serialization.
Let’s go back to Pre-Thursday:
I booked a river cruise with Uniworld: the Seine – Paris to Normandy & back. It’s an 8-day cruise – I have done a similar cruise, but with another company, and that was with my mother, whose dementia was becoming more pronounced, and my father, who was tired from caring for Mum. So I spent most of that cruise caring for them, and not really seeing the towns and villages.
Uniworld also book my flight from Heathrow; I was in charge of getting myself to LHR. I booked my flights to and from Scotland. The timing meant I had to spend a night at a Heathrow hotel, which I booked on Expedia. I did all the booking, arranged for a dog sitter, and started planning, list-making etc…. Now, to the events thus far:
Thursday: I sat down to check in online – OH NO – I had booked my hotel in London for Saturday night, not Friday! I would have arrived Friday night with no room at the inn. After a couple of phone calls to the hotel & Expedia, I had cancelled the Saturday room and re-booked for Friday night (they waived the fee, but there was a hefty hike in room rates). Then I went on to British Air’s website to check-in there – OH NO – I had made the same mistake with the flights from Kirkwall and Glasgow! Seriously, what was wrong with me. I started imagining myself arriving in Paris one day late and being taxied to the first stop.
Fortunately, something made me go and check the Uniworld cruise itinerary.
Ah. It left on the Sunday, not Saturday – turns out all my original reservations had been correct. A good news/stupid news sort of a situation. Back online, changed the hotel room back to the correct dates (slight improvement in room rates at Heathrow). Not my finest moment.
Friday: a whole day of time handed back to me – it let me really attack minimalist packing, which I did with a vengance – one rolling carry-on and a large purse.
So, now the stage is set for Lainey’s Lovely Holiday.