Joy of Travel

I’ve flown United Airlines since it merged with the formerly excellent Continental Airlines, so I know something about depressed and uncaring airline employees, horrible flights and crap operations.  But on my flight back to Austin yesterday (which United managed to not screw up too badly this time), I read a story in La Provence about a group of French tourists in the Canary Islands who win this week’s award for worst flight. 

163 passengers including eight children and a small baby, spent the last day of their August vacation inside a Boeing 734 sitting on a runway baking in the Spanish sun.   They waited throughout the afternoon and evening, presumably without a meal or anything much to drink in keeping with new industry practices, until they were ultimately told at 11 p.m. that they’d need to disembark because Arrecite's Lazarote Airport was closing for the night.

Lazarote Airport, a notoriously hellish place

The official, no-frills explanation provided by the tour operator was: “The plane arrived late and couldn’t leave.”  O Voyages (henceforth, Oy Voyages) added:  “Lazarote is an airport that closes at 11 p.m. and since the crew arrived late, the Canariens closed.  They don’t accept tardiness.”  The Canariens may be the last in the air travel industry with some standards. 

Meanwhile, the customers of Oy Voyage had a very different story. 

“When the pilot came on to announce we were going to take off everyone agreed immediately that he was totally drunk,” 37-year-old passenger Delfim Paiva told the paper.  “Then we saw some bizarre movement by the hostesses who didn't want to go on the flight.  Passengers panicked and people started trying to break down the door to get off the plane,” he said, adding that eventually the Spanish Guardia Civil intervened to evacuate the plane. 

"They later told us the pilot was just tired," Mr. Paiva added. 

The tour operator Oy Voyage had sold the trip through the French website Voyageprive.com, a sort of Groupon-clone for French discount travel.  Mr. Paiva said Voyageprive "confirmed that the hostesses refused to take the flight because the pilot was inebriated."

“Au contraire,” countered Alain Nizard, representing Polish airline Enter Air (marketing slogan: "Colorful holidays") which provided the charter aircraft to Oy Voyage. Monsieur Nizard, a graduate of United Airlines’ school of customer service, blamed the passengers. 

They “were drinking on board to such a point that the pilot and crew had to be protected in exiting the plane. They were delirious, throwing bottles at the hostesses,” he said by way of explaining how the Spanish cops got involved.  

Passengers in Madrid Airport last year

Mr. Paiva said about 60 exhausted passengers were put up in a hotel overnight. The other 103 unfortunates – along with some of their kids – slept on the airport floor.  This being 2012 and all, there are apparently plenty of photos and videos of this tour from hell.  

The plane finally took off the following evening but instead of going straight to Paris as it was supposed to do, it stopped first in nearby Fuerteventura for fuel.  

“People on the plane were crying,” another passenger reported.

Anyone who flies these days knows exactly how they felt.

Un petit poison, well chilled

The taste of summer in Provence: tomatoes and tapenade, cherries and Cavaillon melon, pastis and chilled rose.

Naturally, when I arrived home on a warm afternoon at the beginning of July, I quickly opened a cool, pink Tavel 2011 to drink while I unpacked.  Two sips later, I had a sudden headache so massive the word "stroke" bubbled up from my hypochondriac soul. I recorked the bottle, tried not to panic and went straight to bed. The headache lasted three days. 

I did not immediately attribute the headache to the wine.  I figured it was fatigue, some poisonous pollen generating an allergic reaction or just the routine migraine that strikes from time to time. But I have to admit,   that lovely, ruby-red liquid with a sketch of a Provencal Mas on the label, suddenly did not look so rosy.

After a few days it was time to pour it out.  As I dumped three-quarters of the bottle down the drain, the fumes rose from the sink and I inhaled. Once again, I was struck with a sudden, massive headache. Again, the headache lasted nearly three days.  Suddenly, that seductive bottle of wine looked malicious.  I didn't mention this to anyone, but I quietly switched to whites, reds, water and the periodic cold Coke Light for the rest of the month.

Last weekend, the August 4-5 edition of the International Herald Tribune carried a story on wine additives, the international debate over the terms "organic" and "natural" and new European Union rules on wine labels. Halfway through Eric Pfanner's fine piece, "The lack of veritas in vino," I ran across this:

"The new labeling comes with stricter rules, including a reduction in the permitted levels of sulfur dioxide, which can cause allergic reactions in asthma sufferers. (Some critics say sulfur dioxide, low levels of which are naturally present in many wines, also causes headaches, though I have yet to see conclusive evidence of this.)"

There may be an absence of randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical studies, but I gathered the only evidence I need standing over my kitchen sink.  Whatever was in that wine -- sulfur dioxide or some noxious combination of other ingredients -- made me very sick. Twice.

I'm going to choose more carefully. I'm going to read labels.  But here's the problem: unlike most foods and beverages sold in France and the United States, wine is not required to list ingredients on the label. And, as it turns out, there are a lot of potential ingredients to list. In fact, the EU permits 59 things to be added to wine.  Even wine labeled as "organic" in the States just means the grapes were farmed without using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides but it does not indicate what other mysterious additives may have been used.

On the label of my toxic rose was quite a bit of info, including a little map of Tavel, the eight grape varieties blended to make the wine, a list of the foods most suitable to the wine and a description of the wine's flavor, "raspberries and white flowers."  I'd describe it now as "slightly sulfurous with just a hint of Bhopal."

Happily, in the United States, sulfur dioxide is one of the additives that must be disclosed with the nearly ubiquitous footnote, "contains sulfites." I'm going to be quite careful about searching for "cleaner" wines. And I'll also be monitoring closely the discussions between Europe and the United States over wine labeling which are continuing this fall.   

Cheers. 

Another April, another fabulous French antique fair

I haven't had time to write for awhile, but wanted to share my latest trip to the Foire Internationale Antiquaire, held in the main park in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and along the quais that line the canals.  It's held every April and August and this year's spring event was not quite as spectacular as in previous years -- it rained off and on and was cold -- but all-in-all still quite lively and well worth the day.

I must have been missing my son, who is in India for six months, because I took rather a lot of pictures of children mixed in with the bric-a-brac and treasures. Whatever the motivation, the kids were awfully cute and there were quite a lot of them along with their parents. I especially enjoyed watching a tow headed California kid playing with the military surplus.  He was in heaven.

This year the fair had a central section devoted to industrial design.  And, of course, there were quite a number of unusual, high priced items. But amid all this there were some real bargains and I came away with a set of four, rusted and mismatched iron garden chairs that I've been using in the dining room quite happily over the last few weeks.

But the best thing I took away from this year's fair were memories of cheerful conversations with vendors and shoppers and a bunch of images in my head and camera that I wanted to share with you.

These came home with me

On the way back to the car, a place for a drink.

Shopping for Travel Insurance

I never buy travel insurance so when a friend asked me today if travel insurance would cover the airline strikes going on this month in France and Germany, I didn't know.  But I knew where to look. Jumping onto Squaremouth.com and found the answer to her question and a whole lot more.

The New York Times in a January article, "The Claim Before the Storm," called Squaremouth the best of several new sites where travelers can do some comparison shopping for travel insurance, and I agree. Others that also provide travelers with insurance information include InsureMyTrip.com and QuoteWrite.com.  Before buying any travel insurance, check to see what sort of coverage your credit card company provides.

Squaremouth lets you compare insurance products and prices from more than a dozen carriers, including Air Ambulance Card, CSA Travel Protection, Global Rescue, Global Underwriters, HCC, HTH Worldwide, IMG, ITravelInsured, Medex, Travel Guard, Travel Insurance Services, Travelers Liberty, Travelex, TravelSafe and USA Assist.

And the answer to my friend's question is that while standard travel insurance coverage is not available for airline strikes, some travelers may be able to buy a travel insurance policy with the upgrade Cancel for Any Reason benefit.  Cancel for Any Reason allows someone to cancel their trip without explanation.  However, not all states allow the purchase of this product and travelers must purchase a travel insurance policy within 14-30 days of the initial deposit payment.

Oh, and to keep up with who's on strike where in Europe and beyond, EasyTravelReport.com and Europe-Airports.com keep pretty good running lists.  Being prepared is the best insurance. 

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Au Secours!

Thanks to Cucina Test Rossa for the
photo of the cute policemen

The folks over at AngloInfo published a very useful set of numbers to call in case of emergency.  My adult son says I'm a  hysteric, pain in the a-- worrier, but I say better safe than sorry. I'm posting this list on the refrigerator in the kitchen and in his room.  Some of the useful numbers:

• Medical Help -- SAMU  ...................................................... 15
• Police/Police Nationale ................................................... 17
• Fire and accident - Pompiers .......................................... 18
• SOS -- all services (Europe wide) .................................... 112
• Emergency Shelter ............................................................115

The bad news is that the person you get on the line may not speak English just as you note your English-French dictionary is on fire. The good news is that you can cross your fingers and use the other hand to call any of these numbers free of charge -- from public phones, fixed land lines or cell phones.

You need to be ready to tell the dispatcher where you need assistance (location), your name and phone number, what happened and if it is still happening, how many people need help and wheter weapons are involved.   AngloInfo also provides a handy dandy list of useful phrases for emergencies,  from "I'm in labor" to "that last chunk of foie gras is giving me a heart attack."  (I made up the second one.)

Property Trends 2012

Photo: guy harrop / Alamy  

French banks, following in the footsteps of American mortgage lenders, are making it harder for home buyers to get a loan. Expat borrowers and French residents alike are being told "non" unless they have very large deposits and lofty incomes. BNP Paribas, one of France's biggest lenders to expatriates, overhauled its mortgage range for non-residents and has cut loan-to-value ratios from 80% to 70%.  They've also chopped the terms on interest-only loans -- but then these loans have always struck me as a perfectly terrible way to borrow money.  French banks are being cautious and rejecting borrowers with loan debt exceeding six times their income.  This seems reasonable to me, but it could affect people with several buy-to-rent properties or even some first-time buyers.  But then again, perhaps someone so heavily leveraged should rent for awhile before taking on more debt.  Call me old fashioned.

Despite the tightened lending, borrowers with sufficient income and smaller debt can still get a loan and French mortgage rates continue to look attractive.  French residents, more conservative borrowers than Americans, tend to like long, fixed-term rates and the interest rate on a 25-year-term is now set at around 4.4%.  There's also something called a capped rate deal where borrowers are promised they will not pay more than 4.5% for the term of the loan and the current rate for these is just 3.5%.

Meanwhile, FrenchEntrée just published their annual property survey based on feedback from their network of immobiliers (real estate agents) and property finders across France.  A few interesting items jumped out at me from this year's report, which showed real estate sales pretty grim in some parts of country but lively in others:

• There seemed to be fewer buyers from the UK last year, except in the Alps and Cotes d'Azur, but this was made up for by French, Dutch and Belgian buyers.  Increased interest from Australian and American buyers also showed an uptick. 
• Paris had a stunning year with a 22% increase in property values in the first half of 2011, although that pace slowed significantly as the year progressed. The number of transactions was down, but only because there weren't any properties to sell.  The 3rd and 4th arrondissements were hot.  
• The Languedoc saw more American buyers, as well as people from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and, of course, French seeking homes. The region already has an enormous British community.  A lot of people are taking a look at the Languedoc, which borders Spain, because of the anticipated completion of the TGV link to Barcelona at the end of this year.  Travelers will be able to get from Perpignan to Barcelona in less than an hour. Tapas for lunch! 

With all the gloomy economic news out of Europe, this all looks rather encouraging.

Bringing Up Bébé

My son was born in London but raised in Paris until he was two.  This gave me a couple of years to study the French approach to child-rearing, long enough to notice they were doing something right. They were relaxed. Their children sat through an entire meal without pouring sugar on the table, knocking over glasses, throwing fits. French mothers seemed to have mastered the balance between loving attention to their children and basic self-respect. They were calm but set clear, consistently enforced boundaries around matters like eating and sleeping.  Actually, understanding that the French had a unique approach to child rearing didn't take me two years, only two minutes in the neighborhood pharmacy.

It was my second month back at work and my beloved Alex had been restless the two previous nights. I hadn't slept a wink.  I was pooped.  With my son in the stroller, I staggered down the street to the pharmacy and approached the trim, bespectacled pharmacist.  I was thinking that if I could pop a few more vitamins or some magic energy elixir, I'd be able to make it through the day.

"I'm beat," I explained. "He isn't sleeping well. I'm back at work and I'm having trouble staying awake."

"Ah," she said sympathetically, looking down at the adorable bundle in the stroller and smiling. "You just need a baby sedative."

"Baby sedative!" I was instantly consumed by a delicious mix of horror, guilt, fear and admiration for French ingenuity. "You give sedatives to babies?!!"

"Of course," the pharmacist calmly explained.  "It doesn't hurt them, it helps you sleep and a happy mother is a happy baby."

She handed me a tiny bottle of liquid relief.  Both my son and I slept much better that night and were happier for it.  I was more relaxed and patient, able to both work and enjoy him more.  He was rested, playful and happy with his mommy.  Voila!

I mention all this two decades later because someone has finally taken a good look at how the French raise their children and written a book about it. Why do French children seem to be better behaved than our own? This was the question that started  Paris-based writer Pamela Druckerman's on her quest to understand French parenting and the result is "Bringing up Bébé," being published in the United States later this month by Penguin Press.  (It's already out in the UK as "French Children Don't Throw Food.")

Druckerman wasn't interested in writing a book to make us feel bad by telling us how much better the French are at raising their children. Rather, she went about deconstructing in a very funny way which parental behaviors lead to such well-behaved, yet totally normal, exhuberant, curious, giggling kids.  This interview in The Guardian offers a look at both the content of the book and the charming humor of the writer.  I wish I'd had it 20 years ago.  Pick it up.