We were up at 5:45am to catch the bus to Paris airport for our 9:00am easyJet flight to Bristol, England. The bus outside the hotel arrived right on time, but we didn't have any small bills to pay for the bus. Only a €20 note. It was supposed to cost €2.50 each for the adults, but when I went to pay, the driver just waived us on through! So the ten minute bus ride to the terminal was totally free.
As we were making our way to the bag drop, I received an update from the easyJet app saying that our flight was delayed from the original 9:00am departure to a now expected 11:20am departure.
Oh well. All part of traveling. But the note also said that bag drop and departure gate times remained the same despite the delay. I guess they want everybody at the gate and ready in case things got back on schedule.
The note also said that we were entitled to a €4.50 credit at the shops to get a snack while we're waiting. So we figured we might as well get a hot drink for ourselves, and a juice for Sadie. Well of course €4.50 per person doesn't get you very far in a coffee shop at the Paris airport!
Anyhow, we waited, and waited, and eventually got called for boarding at about 11:30am. Finally departed at 12:08pm... 3 hours and 8 minutes late.
Now, here's the thing... the European Union has very strict rules regarding compensation for airline delays and/or cancellations. And the limit kicks in at the three hour mark for delays. The delay is based on your arrival time though... if we arrived in Bristol more than three hours late, we would be entitled to compensation of €250 ($269 USD, $368 CAD) each.
It didn't take long for us to cross the channel and see England down below.
Sadie, taking a photo out the window.
London is down there.
Zoomed in on London.
Getting close to Bristol.
Our route from Paris to Bristol.
So as we got closer and closer, of course I was watching the clock. It turns out that the official time of arrival according to the easyJet website was 12:26pm... a full 3 hours and 6 minutes past the expected 9:20pm arrival time. (There is a one hour time change between Paris and England).
So, while we will be submitting a claim for compensation, we realize that they have ways of trying to get out of these things by claiming circumstances beyond their control. But, I'm feeling pretty confident. Even the pilot said that they went past their crew rest time and had to fly another crew in from London.
We only paid €68 each for the flights, so to get €250 each in compensation would make this whole trip a lot cheaper!
There is an expensive airport express bus that leads to the city center right from the terminal, however I learned that if you walk one km, there is a public bus that has normal local fare of £2 per adult and £1 for Sadie. Of course we did the short walk!
But the bus only comes every two hours. No problem, because we were hungry, and there was a pub right outside the bus stop.
Nice British pub lunch.
Lindsey, Ruth, and Sadie.
This is where we had lunch.
The bus arrived exactly on time at 2:12pm!
View of the Clifton Suspension Bridge from the bus.
We have two rooms at the Washington Hotel in Bristol. Check in wasn't until 3:00pm, and it was almost that time, but the rooms weren't ready yet. They were full of apologies, but were just going to drop our bags and go for a walk anyhow so they stored our bags while we did just that.
Scenery along the way.
Nice church steeple!
We walked over to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
View from the center of the bridge.
The bridge took 33 years to build, and opened in 1864.
Sadie and Grandpa.
View looking the opposite way.
We hiked down to the river.
View looking up at the bridge.
This church has been repurposed into a seniors home.
Back at the hotel, our rooms were ready.
It's an old building, and they are in the process of renovating. The exterior is covered in scaffolding, and some of the interior is being worked on as well. Ruth and I got a room in the basement, but it's recently renovated and quite nice for £75 ($94 USD, $129 CAD) a night and it includes a full hot breakfast.
Nice new bathroom.
Lindsey and Sadie have their own room two floors up, with a big window facing the street. But their room is one of the older ones scheduled for renovation. Still nice enough though.
We got ourselves settled and then headed out for some dinner.
The Bristol University tower.
We ended up at a noodle place that has lots of gluten free options.
We each had a box of dinner!
It was really good though.
Average cost was £9 ($11.30 USD, $15.40 CAD) each.
Today we are headed into downtown Bristol to see the sights.
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And in Canada...
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