A few things about my life here over the past few weeks...
*it has been raining like there's no tomorrow since i can remember. For the last 2 months its been raining all.the.time but particularly it has not stopped raining since yesterday evening. Last night we had a thunder storm which I only mention because I don't think that is very common here (where in Texas, when it rains, it usually storms, here it usually rains for 10 minutes and stops) and then today it has not stopped raining. Not a complaint, just an observation. The family I worked for lent me an umbrella today which was such great timing as I was practically stuck here in my itty bitty mouse hole because I do not have an umbrella. So I was able to get out for a bit. It's cold again. :-(
*I leave for the US in 6 weeks. 6 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*My sister arrives here in Paris tomorrow bright and early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister emailed me a little over a month ago in response to an email I had sent her and at the end of her email she said she might come to Paris. Nothing more. I immediately went bonkers and called my Mom to go to her house and convince her she just HAD to come. Mom loves me so much and did just that (is it cheating that coincidentally she was already on her way to her house?) and a week later I received confirmation that Meredith was indeed coming to visit! This was such great news!!!
For anyone who knows me and my sister, you know how completely different we are. Sometimes I think the only thing we have in common are our parents. And it isn't a bad thing to be so different, now that we have realized this, but while I LOVE to travel and and be abroad, she chose to go a different path in life getting married and working just out of college. So she has never been enthusiastic about coming to Paris and I thought she never would so the fact that she is coming and that she is probably on her way to the airport soon is such a big deal. To me at least. :-) I am so excited to introduce her to Madame Eiffel Tower and show her my small apartment and meet my friends.
*I made a reservation last night to rent a car this weekend. I am super pumped and slightly nervous (because its a manual and while I have experience, i don't drive often) but Meredith, my friend Jordan and I are headed to the beaches of Normandy next weekend. I decided after seeing the super high prices of tours that I would give my own tour so I need to be studying up on my history of D-Day and more importantly, how to get to where all this happened.
So, thats about it here in Paris. I wish I could say its been perfect picnic weather around here but it hasn't so don't be too jealous. I am actually excited about coming to the States in hopes of finding some warmer temperatures. Never in my life did I ever imagine I would need a coat and a scarf and boots in MAY!!! (muchless June, which is what it'll be if this weather keeps going how its been...) But I guess when all you've ever known is Texas heat (even in winter), you can't really imagine what opposite season temperatures might be waiting for you in your next adventure. I traded 9 months of summer for 9 months of fall. Not sure which is worse or better.... ha.
*And I'm about out of my last jar of peanut butter. Not pity please, I don't need any more peanut butter. I eat it by the spoon full right now so I can't wait for it to be gone so I am not tempted by it on a minute by minute basis. I did however try to whip up some peanut butter cookies last week and it ended in a disaster and the cookies almost setting my apartment on fire. I was more upset about the half a cup of peanut butter that was wasted than almost setting my apartment on fire. ha.
Adios amigos!
Monday, May 21
Friday, May 4
After all that debacle yesterday with my sincere disliking for a certain airline, I am happy to announce that I have booked all my tickets and made all my arrangements for my summer travels and United is in no way a part of that.
side note: while searching and searching for tickets, at one point I did find a good ticket and it was United and I thought this just can't be and kept looking. Now I don't remember the price or times of that ticket but I don't care because I am not forced to fly with them and that is that.
Moving on...
In spending all this time searching for what I like to refer to as the "perfect" ticket which does exist for those cynical people out there, i had some time to reflect. A lot of time actually. For this whole week and part of last week I decided I needed to stay home and focus on my summer plans if I was to have any so that is what I have been doing this whole week. I would sit with my cash layed out before me counting it over and over again just hoping that somewhere a bill was stuck that I hadn't seen and I would have 50 more euros to spend. I spent hours searching every airline website you can imagine, in euros, in us dollars, the actual carrier to the cheap websites to anything you can think of, i probably looked at it...and several times. I have called my mom and my dad many many times to talk through my plans and to get feedback and just to ramble about my frustrations concerning the inflated airline prices during the peak summer months.
But atas, I am here to confirm that I have confirmed seats on multiple planes throughout the multiple summer months to multiple destinations and I couldn't be more relieved and more excited.
In my moments of reflection I realized that last summer I spent being paid to travel. It was glorious. 2 weeks in July spent in Romania on the beaches of the Black Sea and then another 2 weeks spent near St. Jean de Luz with a weekend in Bordeaux before that. And the weeks between were spent playing with two fabulous little girls in the parks under the Eiffel Tower. Yes, it was a lot of hard work. Imagine 24 hours a day work when we were on vacation, that kind of hard work. But I was paid to take several vacations.
vs.
This summer I am spending outrageous amounts just to come home. I digress. Sometimes that frustrates me to think that my plane ticket this summer is almost triple what I paid in February. TRIPLE. And just to go to Houston? I am sorry all you Houstonians, I do love you, and you should know that or else I wouldn't have decided to spend my entire life's earnings to come back, but in all honesty, I wish I could spend that traveling everywhere else I haven't been or seen before. (I will admit, I am a travel junkie... I will live off of 10 euros a week for food just so I can travel, yes, I am doing that now)
So here's the plan stan:
I am flying firstly to Michigan to spend a week with my soul sister Christina aka Bridget who I have not seen in nearly a year. I have dreamt about reuniting with her on the beaches of Lake Michigan since we met and especially since she left me here all alone last summer and now my dreams are going to become a reality. Her itty bitty town up in northern Michigan looks so picturesque that I squeal a little bit every time I think about how I am actually going!! It will, in fact, be our one year anniversary exactly of the last time we saw each other in Paris when I left her to sleep through the morning in my first big girl apartment in Paris as I had to leave with my family to catch a plane to Romania for a few weeks. Now we will be reunited on American soil. Yipee!
Then I'm off to Houston for 7 weeks but I cannot wait. I am thinking, as excited as I am to be there, I will most likely regret choosing to come back in the dead of summer when thats the best time of year to be in Paris. Paris in summer is like Houston in winter (if Houston even gets a winter). To think I will have stuck through both cities worst seasons amuses me. Or does it?
And after 7 most likely hot as heck weeks in Houston doing who knows what (anyone need some paid help???) I am off to London to partake in some goods friends wedding before returning to Paris for another tour in the city of light.
So if you're in the mood for stalking and love to follow my adventures then I just gave you a free ride. I am so happy to have plane tickets and train tickets and set plans so I can dream more vividly.
Oh, and to make this post an even better one... my lovely older sister (the only one I have) has decided to grace us with her appearance, here in Paris, so in 2 1/2 weeks she will here with me. I can.NOT.wait. My favorite thing: my two worlds colliding! Sister meet Paris. Paris meet sister. :-)
Have a great weekend Y'all!!!
side note: while searching and searching for tickets, at one point I did find a good ticket and it was United and I thought this just can't be and kept looking. Now I don't remember the price or times of that ticket but I don't care because I am not forced to fly with them and that is that.
Moving on...
In spending all this time searching for what I like to refer to as the "perfect" ticket which does exist for those cynical people out there, i had some time to reflect. A lot of time actually. For this whole week and part of last week I decided I needed to stay home and focus on my summer plans if I was to have any so that is what I have been doing this whole week. I would sit with my cash layed out before me counting it over and over again just hoping that somewhere a bill was stuck that I hadn't seen and I would have 50 more euros to spend. I spent hours searching every airline website you can imagine, in euros, in us dollars, the actual carrier to the cheap websites to anything you can think of, i probably looked at it...and several times. I have called my mom and my dad many many times to talk through my plans and to get feedback and just to ramble about my frustrations concerning the inflated airline prices during the peak summer months.
But atas, I am here to confirm that I have confirmed seats on multiple planes throughout the multiple summer months to multiple destinations and I couldn't be more relieved and more excited.
In my moments of reflection I realized that last summer I spent being paid to travel. It was glorious. 2 weeks in July spent in Romania on the beaches of the Black Sea and then another 2 weeks spent near St. Jean de Luz with a weekend in Bordeaux before that. And the weeks between were spent playing with two fabulous little girls in the parks under the Eiffel Tower. Yes, it was a lot of hard work. Imagine 24 hours a day work when we were on vacation, that kind of hard work. But I was paid to take several vacations.
vs.
This summer I am spending outrageous amounts just to come home. I digress. Sometimes that frustrates me to think that my plane ticket this summer is almost triple what I paid in February. TRIPLE. And just to go to Houston? I am sorry all you Houstonians, I do love you, and you should know that or else I wouldn't have decided to spend my entire life's earnings to come back, but in all honesty, I wish I could spend that traveling everywhere else I haven't been or seen before. (I will admit, I am a travel junkie... I will live off of 10 euros a week for food just so I can travel, yes, I am doing that now)
So here's the plan stan:
I am flying firstly to Michigan to spend a week with my soul sister Christina aka Bridget who I have not seen in nearly a year. I have dreamt about reuniting with her on the beaches of Lake Michigan since we met and especially since she left me here all alone last summer and now my dreams are going to become a reality. Her itty bitty town up in northern Michigan looks so picturesque that I squeal a little bit every time I think about how I am actually going!! It will, in fact, be our one year anniversary exactly of the last time we saw each other in Paris when I left her to sleep through the morning in my first big girl apartment in Paris as I had to leave with my family to catch a plane to Romania for a few weeks. Now we will be reunited on American soil. Yipee!
Then I'm off to Houston for 7 weeks but I cannot wait. I am thinking, as excited as I am to be there, I will most likely regret choosing to come back in the dead of summer when thats the best time of year to be in Paris. Paris in summer is like Houston in winter (if Houston even gets a winter). To think I will have stuck through both cities worst seasons amuses me. Or does it?
And after 7 most likely hot as heck weeks in Houston doing who knows what (anyone need some paid help???) I am off to London to partake in some goods friends wedding before returning to Paris for another tour in the city of light.
So if you're in the mood for stalking and love to follow my adventures then I just gave you a free ride. I am so happy to have plane tickets and train tickets and set plans so I can dream more vividly.
Oh, and to make this post an even better one... my lovely older sister (the only one I have) has decided to grace us with her appearance, here in Paris, so in 2 1/2 weeks she will here with me. I can.NOT.wait. My favorite thing: my two worlds colliding! Sister meet Paris. Paris meet sister. :-)
Have a great weekend Y'all!!!
Thursday, May 3
Continental vs. United
May I dump please?
As people would say, "this is my blog, therefore I can say whatever I want to on here" and I'm about to do just that.
And I hope you tell all your friends what I am about to say as well.
United Airlines SUCKS.
I am about to blow up on someone here so it might as well be to a computer screen exerting my energy typing so I don't fight someone who doesn't deserve it.
I am mad.
I am a very brand loyal person. Always have been. If I find a brand that I like (customer service, product, quality, etc) then I am willing to pay a little more at times for the product just to be loyal to the company that has taken care of me. This has been very true for airlines. I don't fly often, but I fly often enough. Several times a year. I mean, I am living abroad and isn't that how you airlines make your money?
I have to get home and clearly I cannot dry a car across the Atlantic Ocean, no matter how calm the seas, so I need what you have to offer. But do you lovely airline company realize that you are not the only airline available and I do have an option as to who I choose to give my multiple of hundreds of dollars to if not more than that when I choose to visit my so lovely family on the other side of the ocean?
Before today I was brand loyal to Continental Airlines. They were a lovely company. Their staff was always pleasant (which I would understand them not being so pleasant after an 11 hour flight, but this was never the case), the customer service number was always responsive and understanding, the flights were usually on time (which is a plus) and their prices were always competitive.
Then Continental and United merged and the fat lady sung and hell froze over and here we are today.
I never knew much about United until all this mess happened a year ago because as I have told you, I am brand loyal. I never had a reason to know them. I flew Continental (90 percent of the time) when I needed to fly. Well, usually of course. There was my occasional flight with Air France, but that was all the cheating I ever did on Continental and that was only if Air France was significantly cheaper.
Since being in France for nearly 2 years I have gotten used to the fact that customer service, when it exists, rather as well not exist here. But I remember last fall, after having already booked my flight back to Texas for Christmas, changing my itinerary and calling the customer service to inquire about the cost difference and the flight changes. I remember this moment so clearly because its a rare moment to have a nice conversation with a customer service rep on the phone, or even in person. But all my calls to Continental have always been like that. Pleasant. Pleasant to the point of almost making friends during these phone calls. Then, this past February, I found a ticket on Continental's website that I wanted to book but since it was a next day ticket I had to call the phone number and have them do it over the phone. This was the start of a rocky relationship turned nonexistent as I see it. The person on the phone was stupid. I am being a bit harsh here as I am upset, but she was short with me to begin. Short. Look lady, this is YOUR JOB. I am not asking you to go above and beyond or answer any complicated questions you might not know the answer to.... I only need your help in booking a ticket and only because the internet won't let me do it myself. But that was a bit too much for her to do. I needed a ticket from Paris to Houston and back. On these set dates. At these set times. She asked me a million and one questions, rudely I might add. "So, if you need to leave Paris at 9am, what time is that in Houston?"... I don't know!!! nor do I care?!?! And please explain to me what this has to do with booking my ticket? (Maybe calling her stupid wasn't that harsh) So after a rocky start, middle, and finish, I finally fought the lady for a plane ticket that I paid for and that she was getting paid to help me pay for.
Then came the day when I was to leave Houston to return to Paris and smart me thought that I was to leave Houston a day before I actually had booked my flight back. I woke up early in the morning ready to go and realized that my flight wasn't until the next day, but with my experience with Continental and their flight change policy and my experience with their kind customer service reps I decided it would be worth it to give them a call to see what the cost was to change my flight to that day. Well, after 30 minutes of waiting for the "first available representative" the person on the other end of the phone was rude (go figure) and very unwilling to help whatsoever. They told me that they didn't know what I was talking about (changing a flight? really!?) or that it was impossible (pretty sure changing a flight is not impossible unless of course the flight I wanted to change had already left, but it hadn't) and then that person said I needed to talk to someone else (so French of them) and transferred me to another line where I stupidly waited on the line for an hour (I was determined to leave that day). I was dumbfounded, flabergasted and any other funny words as such by the way I had been treated by this airline. I had had such a good relationship with Continental and now United decides they are cooler and better (which neither are true) and they take over and ruin it all.
So that brings me to right now and right now. My current reason for this whole escapade of hating United and all that they stand for. I have been searching for flights back to Texas for the summer for a few weeks now and they're pretty expensive as I had expected, but in all the searching that I have done, United has either never shown up (on my cheap websites) or, if I go to their website they are telling me that for the low price of my parents retirement fund I can buy a roundtrip but the catch: with 19 layovers. That is a bit extreme but not really. In the past Continental was always at the top of the list for being one of the more low cost flights and even if it wasn't, if there was an option for multiple carriers then they usually had at least one of the legs of the flight. Now, not only does United not show up anywhere unless I go directly to their website, but to fly with United there are no longer any nonstop flights being serviced to Houston. Say what? No nonstop flights from Paris to Houston??? You've got to be kidding me! Houston IS the layover... why in the world do I need to have a layover to get to Houston? Houston is a major international hub. I am not going to have multiple layovers throughout the US just to get home. Call me spoiled but from past experiences, this doesn't seem right.
You know the saying, "don't break what isn't broken"???? United did just that! They messed everything up. They screwed over a wonderful airline by taking over and putting their mark on everything; showing up with less than pleasant workers and offering overpriced flights if they even are offering the flight you want.
I may be one small person but its the small people who keep buisness' going, right? I may not fly once a month every month of the year in first class but I do travel and I do do it as often as I can and I do have a voice and I do have friends and family that travel and I will make sure that United knows how I feel about them and in the process, so does everyone else. So if you're reading this, please, for your sake (and mine) do not choose United if you have a choice the next time you fly. If your experiences are anything like mine, you will have a less than pleasant flight and experience. Please choose an airline based on many things like the way they treat their customers, since that is what keeps airlines in business anyways: the people.
So, there you have it, my rant and opinion for the day. What has been your experience with United? Good, bad, indifferent? I'd like to know.
As people would say, "this is my blog, therefore I can say whatever I want to on here" and I'm about to do just that.
And I hope you tell all your friends what I am about to say as well.
United Airlines SUCKS.
I am about to blow up on someone here so it might as well be to a computer screen exerting my energy typing so I don't fight someone who doesn't deserve it.
I am mad.
I am a very brand loyal person. Always have been. If I find a brand that I like (customer service, product, quality, etc) then I am willing to pay a little more at times for the product just to be loyal to the company that has taken care of me. This has been very true for airlines. I don't fly often, but I fly often enough. Several times a year. I mean, I am living abroad and isn't that how you airlines make your money?
I have to get home and clearly I cannot dry a car across the Atlantic Ocean, no matter how calm the seas, so I need what you have to offer. But do you lovely airline company realize that you are not the only airline available and I do have an option as to who I choose to give my multiple of hundreds of dollars to if not more than that when I choose to visit my so lovely family on the other side of the ocean?
Before today I was brand loyal to Continental Airlines. They were a lovely company. Their staff was always pleasant (which I would understand them not being so pleasant after an 11 hour flight, but this was never the case), the customer service number was always responsive and understanding, the flights were usually on time (which is a plus) and their prices were always competitive.
Then Continental and United merged and the fat lady sung and hell froze over and here we are today.
I never knew much about United until all this mess happened a year ago because as I have told you, I am brand loyal. I never had a reason to know them. I flew Continental (90 percent of the time) when I needed to fly. Well, usually of course. There was my occasional flight with Air France, but that was all the cheating I ever did on Continental and that was only if Air France was significantly cheaper.
Since being in France for nearly 2 years I have gotten used to the fact that customer service, when it exists, rather as well not exist here. But I remember last fall, after having already booked my flight back to Texas for Christmas, changing my itinerary and calling the customer service to inquire about the cost difference and the flight changes. I remember this moment so clearly because its a rare moment to have a nice conversation with a customer service rep on the phone, or even in person. But all my calls to Continental have always been like that. Pleasant. Pleasant to the point of almost making friends during these phone calls. Then, this past February, I found a ticket on Continental's website that I wanted to book but since it was a next day ticket I had to call the phone number and have them do it over the phone. This was the start of a rocky relationship turned nonexistent as I see it. The person on the phone was stupid. I am being a bit harsh here as I am upset, but she was short with me to begin. Short. Look lady, this is YOUR JOB. I am not asking you to go above and beyond or answer any complicated questions you might not know the answer to.... I only need your help in booking a ticket and only because the internet won't let me do it myself. But that was a bit too much for her to do. I needed a ticket from Paris to Houston and back. On these set dates. At these set times. She asked me a million and one questions, rudely I might add. "So, if you need to leave Paris at 9am, what time is that in Houston?"... I don't know!!! nor do I care?!?! And please explain to me what this has to do with booking my ticket? (Maybe calling her stupid wasn't that harsh) So after a rocky start, middle, and finish, I finally fought the lady for a plane ticket that I paid for and that she was getting paid to help me pay for.
Then came the day when I was to leave Houston to return to Paris and smart me thought that I was to leave Houston a day before I actually had booked my flight back. I woke up early in the morning ready to go and realized that my flight wasn't until the next day, but with my experience with Continental and their flight change policy and my experience with their kind customer service reps I decided it would be worth it to give them a call to see what the cost was to change my flight to that day. Well, after 30 minutes of waiting for the "first available representative" the person on the other end of the phone was rude (go figure) and very unwilling to help whatsoever. They told me that they didn't know what I was talking about (changing a flight? really!?) or that it was impossible (pretty sure changing a flight is not impossible unless of course the flight I wanted to change had already left, but it hadn't) and then that person said I needed to talk to someone else (so French of them) and transferred me to another line where I stupidly waited on the line for an hour (I was determined to leave that day). I was dumbfounded, flabergasted and any other funny words as such by the way I had been treated by this airline. I had had such a good relationship with Continental and now United decides they are cooler and better (which neither are true) and they take over and ruin it all.
So that brings me to right now and right now. My current reason for this whole escapade of hating United and all that they stand for. I have been searching for flights back to Texas for the summer for a few weeks now and they're pretty expensive as I had expected, but in all the searching that I have done, United has either never shown up (on my cheap websites) or, if I go to their website they are telling me that for the low price of my parents retirement fund I can buy a roundtrip but the catch: with 19 layovers. That is a bit extreme but not really. In the past Continental was always at the top of the list for being one of the more low cost flights and even if it wasn't, if there was an option for multiple carriers then they usually had at least one of the legs of the flight. Now, not only does United not show up anywhere unless I go directly to their website, but to fly with United there are no longer any nonstop flights being serviced to Houston. Say what? No nonstop flights from Paris to Houston??? You've got to be kidding me! Houston IS the layover... why in the world do I need to have a layover to get to Houston? Houston is a major international hub. I am not going to have multiple layovers throughout the US just to get home. Call me spoiled but from past experiences, this doesn't seem right.
You know the saying, "don't break what isn't broken"???? United did just that! They messed everything up. They screwed over a wonderful airline by taking over and putting their mark on everything; showing up with less than pleasant workers and offering overpriced flights if they even are offering the flight you want.
I may be one small person but its the small people who keep buisness' going, right? I may not fly once a month every month of the year in first class but I do travel and I do do it as often as I can and I do have a voice and I do have friends and family that travel and I will make sure that United knows how I feel about them and in the process, so does everyone else. So if you're reading this, please, for your sake (and mine) do not choose United if you have a choice the next time you fly. If your experiences are anything like mine, you will have a less than pleasant flight and experience. Please choose an airline based on many things like the way they treat their customers, since that is what keeps airlines in business anyways: the people.
So, there you have it, my rant and opinion for the day. What has been your experience with United? Good, bad, indifferent? I'd like to know.
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