Marseille, here I come!

Marseille, here we come!

Well, after going through three different telephone 'menus' and holding on for 14 minutes on the 'help' line to the bank yesterday morning, a chirpy little girl called Jade (pronounced Jide) told me that my card had been refused for a deposit on an hotel. I knew that, I said, that was why I was calling, to find out why it had been refused. She didn't know. I asked if she could put me through to someone who could and she said she'd put me through to the internet helpline. I hung on for another four minutes before hearing the same telephone options as I had done 18 minutes earlier. At 29 minutes (it's helpful to have a phone that times the call. It's so much easier to be indignant when you know the exact amount of time you've been on hold) a familiar voice chirped, 'You're frew to customer services, this is Jide speakin', 'ow may I 'elp yooooo?' So much for getting through to internet banking... Jide was still unable to help me but did say that if the transaction had been refused it was probably because someone had entered the wrong information. We went through my information on the phone. It was all correct. Well, that was a half hour of my life wasted ...

So I made a fourth attempt to book the hotel in Marseille on the internet, and even 'phoned them up to tell them I was booking again. After a nice little chat with the monsieur who answered the 'phone and assured me that they would hold the room for me even if my credit card didn't work, the transaction went through with no problem. Yippee! It may only be 4 days in Marseille in October but it's been several years since I've had a proper holiday. I've had the odd 2-day break 'sur le continent' but they've been specifically to see concerts, and have involved a flight, a taxi ride, a concert, an hotel, a taxi ride and a flight home. Not what you'd call a holiday! So I'm really looking forward to going away and am already planning clothes, shoes, holiday reading, and all the different sights that I want to see.

Four days isn't going to be enough, but it's a start!