France - Part Four. ‘What do you mean there’s no kettle?’

This Pierre Vacances holiday village has really let us down three times in the past twenty-four hours.

First there was the washing incident. There is a laundry here that I foolishly tried to use at the wrong time last night. After some confusion following the instructions on the machine I found out that the washing cycle wouldn’t finish until five past eight and the laundry closed at eight. ‘Not a problem’ thinks I, ‘I’ll just go up and ask if they could keep the door open for five minutes after they should lock up so I can get the clothes out.’ I was met with a very stony-faced ‘No.’
Rather than keeping the doors open for five minutes so I could get at my clothes they would be locked in the building for thirteen hours until nine the next morning. Obviously I kept very nice about it but I was really angry at them. Was I asking too much?

Second was the bread. On Tuesday Lorna had ordered us two pain au chocolates and five croissants to have for breakfast; I was really rather looking forward to them. Since I had to come up to the reception building to pick up the washing in the morning anyway I volunteered to pick up the bread stuff.
I was told they had no record of the order.
I toddled back down to the house and told Lorna. It seemed to push her over the edge and she marched off to complain. I don’t know who had to go without the five croissants they ordered but it wasn’t us.

The third and last was both shops at reception (the one by the bar and the one by the pool) both being closed. Apparently since it’s no longer the summer season there’s no need for them to be open all day.

As suggested by the title of this very blog we don’t even have a kettle in the room, we have a big pot. I really am reluctant to even ask for anything now as the staff has truly appalling manners.

I would have expected more from the French.