Wednesday 8 January 2014

Now I'm not one to complain.......

.....but that was a terrible Christmas break! Roughly an hour after I arrived in the south of France my hire car was broken into outside the restaurant where me and LF were having a cup of coffee and my bags stolen. That I'd left my rucksack in the car was possibly foolish, but I wasn't expecting crime in such a nice little seaside town. Gone were my passport, driving licence, chequebook, iPad, iPod, personal papers.....the lot. Spent the next few hours in a French police station trying to make a report to a bunch of gendarmes who didn't speak English. Got a new hire car and eventually arrived in Menton a bit depressed. The next day LF had her purse stolen in the supermarket, cash, cards, driving licence.....

The next week of torrential rain did nothing to either lift our spirits, or wash away the dog shit that literally covers every pavement. I had to make a trip to Marseille to get a temporary passport to get home with, a 5 hour round trip through gloomy wet countryside - I have to say I was never so happy to arrive at Heathrow airport as I was this weekend. I've now spent the last few days trying to organise replacement documents for us both, not least a passport to allow me to return to work in Holland. Oh, and no travel insurance......

Still, it could be worse, imagine living there!

3 comments:

  1. El D:

    I was going to lecture you but . . .

    what I do is carry all those important documents with me at all times. Things like passport, extra cash, driver's license, etc. and only carry money for the day in my disposable wallet with fake ID and expired credit cards. I have a thin pouch which loops to my belt and hangs inside my pants/shorts so it is not obvious

    I never leave things visible inside any car, not even a few coins. In Vancouver you will have broken car windows for even a few cents, if you should park in the wrong place.

    I hope that replacing all of your ID and other documents goes smoothly. I also keep copies of these documents "IN THE CLOUD". With any computer on the "net, I can find copies of my Passport and other important stuff. Less important stuff too

    at least you were with LF so that helps to keep your mind occupied

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  2. Can't imagine living there, though they probably had the rental targeted. Definitely going to put it (not exactly which pin point) on my not to visit list. Hope you get things sorted out quickly, it's such an inconvenience (to say the least.)

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  3. Yikes, that doesn't sound like fun at all. Such a pain to have to replace everything.

    Nothing like having that experience to make you realize the rest of your life is pretty darn good.

    Hope you get it sorted without too much more trouble.

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