Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Packing Wars
I couldn't believe that we were almost ready to go. My exhaustive research process was
complete. All I had to do now was prepare our travel itinerary. Of the twelve viewings, five
were with ItsWill and by this stage such was the command he had over me that I felt duty
bound to make a confession about the others. All in all he took the news fairly well.
“That's all right I suppose, my dear, these things can happen.”
Racked with guilt, I put the plan together. Working on a 'gently does it' basis I thought
it best to start the trip with a leisurely drive down through France and enjoy a couple of days
'chill time' on the west coast in a village near Biarritz. The idea was to give the dogs some
good walks prior to house-hunting and for us to have a chance to guzzle a few platefuls of
delicious
moules frites
(mussels and chips) before heading off for our first estate viewing.
Conveniently, I found that some of the properties appeared to be relatively close to
each other. So, taking a military approach to the itinerary, I calculated that we should start
slowly and then pick up the pace a little to make two visits on some of the days. All that
this required was good organisation, a maximum of three hours at each viewing and no time
wasted in driving to the next one. After all, the French autoroute network was legendary for
its efficiency, so
nothing
should go wrong. I calculated that, driving legally, we could easily
cover a stretch of 160 kilometres (100 miles) in around two hours. And anyway, kilometres,
unlike miles, are such good value for money; they seem to melt away in moments.
The next job was to find suitable dog-friendly accommodation. I checked the Internet,
which was useful, but in the end I sought ItsWill's advice because I thought he would be bet-
ter informed. Unfortunately this did not go exactly as anticipated. When I broached the sub-
ject he found it a desperately baffling proposition. After much thoughtful sucking of teeth
and that characteristic operatic clearing of vocal cords, he explained.
“People do have such
different
tastes and it's the most
appalling
thing to give the wrong
advice, don't you see? Different ideas on the best location, cuisine, service levels, even dé-
cor. Oh dear, this is
most
difficult.”
By this stage even I was getting exasperated and eventually put him out of his misery
by reminding him that we were simply looking for overnight accommodation, not holiday
homes. He rallied at this and coyly offered some suggestions.