The other week we went to the Basel area for my first pure business trip since Covid came on the scene. B, who keeps reminding me he is supposed to be retired, was Parker to my (hopalong) Lady Penelope.
I sorted the Swiss 2-page online form to get the QR code to cross the border, booked parking at all the hotels, packed all my samples, checked the route on the map, programmed the satnav, and we were good to go – or so we thought.
DAY 1: The four-hour drive turned into five and a half courtesy of 50 miles of main road upgrade. Hotel was fine but Chalon-sur-Saone was somewhat underwhelming.
DAY 2: No staff at Swiss border so we crossed and didn’t bother with the online forms for the rest of the week. Client 1 was so pleased to see us he couldn’t stop talking, which meant we left as it was starting to get dark. The route crossed 4 pages of my map book which was hard to read in the dark, and the satnav was being obtuse as ever. We ended up entering Mulhouse from the motorway during rush hour and there were police everywhere. It took over an hour to travel the last 2km as it turned out they had closed a major route through the city.
DAY 2 continued: The underground car park under the city centre hotel had a typical slalom chicane design with narrow tight turns lined with grazed high concrete curbs and walls. Not Mustang friendly at all.
DAY 2 gets worse: As B stressed his way through this, my phone range to advise we had locked our house sitter out of the house and the cat food in it.
DAY 2 improves: We parked without damage. The house sitter went off to buy cat food. We checked in, the reception area was fully decorated for Christmas (it was early November, but so lovely we forgave them!) and went to the bar for a beer, then off to a restaurant which had some very palatable cognac – totally necessary due to the enormous portions of Choucroute and Veal Cordon Bleu which turned up, so we had 2 each.
DAY 2/3: In the middle of the night, I fell over in the bathroom, hitting my ribs, my arm and the side of my face on the way down. Twisted ankle, wet floor or cognac – you decide! B heard and got up, picked me up, and then flushed the loo to find I had broken it and so it swamped the bathroom floor. I was not too popular at this point.
DAY 3: After profusely apologising and changing rooms in the morning we couldn’t get out of the car park for 15 minutes as all the pay machines were out of order so nobody could get the barrier to go up until a guy finally came and let us all out.
DAY 3 gets worse: As a result of all that we were half an hour late for the meeting, only to be sent on a cold walk past 2 aircraft hangars (after parking the car elsewhere and leaving the coats in it) to have a compulsory lateral flow test before we could enter the premises. Soon after that the clients were itching to finish the meeting and go for their lunches.
DAY 3 hasn’t ended yet: When we returned to Mulhouse the parking entry barrier would not give us a ticket, but the barrier was up, so we entered. We found that the motor museum we wanted to visit was on the outskirts so we should have gone there in our car on the way back. We called a taxi. Later we found all restaurants had the same menus, so picked a pretty looking one!
DAY 4: We left Mulhouse a day early, after the client meeting, unable to face any more of the hotel car park or the local food 😉 To get its revenge the car park barrier was finally working but we didn’t have a ticket so by the time I talked us out we were late again. At the client meeting most of the invitees no-showed and only one of those that did attend was genuinely pleased to see us (after telling us off for being late).
DAY 5: After a good stopover in Auberive and champagne raid, we went to the final hotel in Auxerre, which had failed to tell us their parking was in another street so after a dodgy curb moment in a residential garage area next door we parked in the official garage in a space barely big enough for us, or the indeed the neighbouring BMWs.
DAY 5 continued: The hotel in Auxerre didn’t have a restaurant and the one opposite our hotel was full as it was Armistice Day, so we had to walk across town to another. We arrived a few minutes early, but the door was open. Nevertheless they made us feel very uncomfortable and would not serve us until the correct time was reached. Food was mediocre and we figured the much closed burger bar would have been better.
DAY 6: The final sting in the tail – it rained most of the way back (another 5+ hours of driving), and when it didn’t it was foggy, or were we in the rainclouds themselves?!
So, we did 26 hours in the car, around 2000km in 6 days, due to my twisted ankle (and superior navigational skills!) all driven by B except for 2 hours on the last day. We did 3 meetings with varying degrees of client appreciation, walked much further than I should have and had to continually override the satnav.
But the little thing that threatened to push us over the edge was the mask on – mask off – mask on – mask off scenario of service areas, restaurants and hotels. Buffet breakfasts are the worst ever for this as let’s face it, they are not relaxing at the best of times. You have to make so many trips back and forth before finding everything it’s a relief to just sit down and be served a coffee and a croissant without having to work for it!
Conclusion: No more business trips until next year’s trade shows!
And Finally – The Good News:
– The Mulhouse Hotel had already totally over-decorated for Christmas and it brought a smile to our faces 😊
– We got to the car museum, and so have ticked that box and don’t need to go back to Mulhouse ever again.
– We stayed in a lovely hotel in Auberive. The hotel was a quirky restoration of a very old building next to the Abbey, good food, table service for breakfast, and the owners were very welcoming so on the list. 😊
– We stocked up on our favourite Champagnes 😉😊
Footnote (literally): I have since found out that my ankle had a fracture and should have been immobilised during that time! Too late now, its somehow healing anyway…..
So here are a few more shots from when I shouldn’t have been walking around Auberive
