The end of a saga
Posted: 29 Mar 2020, 00:07I hope.
Tomorrow, my son is picked up from his hotel at 09:15, taken to the embassy and then on to EZE outside Buenos Aires for his 14:21 flight to Paris. I have booked a limousine for 2 hours to ensure that he has quality transport throughout.
Tomorrow night I have to drive through locked down France to get him from Paris when his flight arrives at 08:40. This could be problematical. I will need 3 forms with me. One for each day for me. One for my son. Otherwise the Gendarmes will stop and fine me. €135 per time.
Some day I might write a story about getting my son out of the interior of Argentina during a virus lockdown. The times he nearly wound up in a police cell, the hotels that refused him entry even with a booked room, the need to pay a massive sum to fly him on a private chartered jet into BA. The wonderful response and care from the Embassy in BA and the incredibly helpful Charter company who has arranged more than 24 rescue flights throughout Latin America for concerned families. The almost total failure of the travel agencies who's systems were listing flights, busses, hotels, which were either not flying, driving, renting, or were simply not honouring the booking. That these same agencies are trying to hold onto cash for up to a month.
The list goes on. Over the next week I will have to tally up the cost. It will be considerable. Even tomorrow, the limousine to the airport is nearly €200 alone but at this stage it is insanity to try and rely on the availability of taxi's. Either on the street or booked. Without the charter company to work through their preferred limousine company, I would have had even more trouble.
Fortunately Mrs S and I have only had one or two squabbles driven by the stress. What with our 40 year old niece on palliative care and heading for a funeral we may not be able to attend, I count us fortunate that we haven't been in a really major fight.
Too much other family stuff to mention on this, both good and bad.
I hope to get some sleep when this is over.
Tomorrow, my son is picked up from his hotel at 09:15, taken to the embassy and then on to EZE outside Buenos Aires for his 14:21 flight to Paris. I have booked a limousine for 2 hours to ensure that he has quality transport throughout.
Tomorrow night I have to drive through locked down France to get him from Paris when his flight arrives at 08:40. This could be problematical. I will need 3 forms with me. One for each day for me. One for my son. Otherwise the Gendarmes will stop and fine me. €135 per time.
Some day I might write a story about getting my son out of the interior of Argentina during a virus lockdown. The times he nearly wound up in a police cell, the hotels that refused him entry even with a booked room, the need to pay a massive sum to fly him on a private chartered jet into BA. The wonderful response and care from the Embassy in BA and the incredibly helpful Charter company who has arranged more than 24 rescue flights throughout Latin America for concerned families. The almost total failure of the travel agencies who's systems were listing flights, busses, hotels, which were either not flying, driving, renting, or were simply not honouring the booking. That these same agencies are trying to hold onto cash for up to a month.
The list goes on. Over the next week I will have to tally up the cost. It will be considerable. Even tomorrow, the limousine to the airport is nearly €200 alone but at this stage it is insanity to try and rely on the availability of taxi's. Either on the street or booked. Without the charter company to work through their preferred limousine company, I would have had even more trouble.
Fortunately Mrs S and I have only had one or two squabbles driven by the stress. What with our 40 year old niece on palliative care and heading for a funeral we may not be able to attend, I count us fortunate that we haven't been in a really major fight.
Too much other family stuff to mention on this, both good and bad.
I hope to get some sleep when this is over.
