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Airlines …grr

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Today I officially booked my flight home to California for Christmas. After looking at flight options for a couple of weeks I finally found an awesome fare. And I’m even flying direct on the way home.

Booking the flight was a whole different story. I’ve decided the AirFrance website is officially a fiasco. Not my first choice of carriers but at least this way I can start to collect some miles. If only I could have logged in to my existing account. After several failed attempts I was told I had to call the 800 number. So I tried. 4 times as a matter of fact. But the line didn’t play nice with Skype. And my french cell phone wouldn’t work with a US based 800 number. And since the cheap fare was on the US site I had to call the US hotline not the one in France. So…I ultimately ended up booking the flight without accessing my account and I will have to try to call again tomorrow.

But it gets better. I wanted to book my flight through Detroit. At least that way I was minimizing extra flying time. But that was a frequent flyer member special. So while I was able to see the price because my computer was recognized by website – I wasn’t actually able to book that flight. So now…Delta…Salt Lake City…in the middle of January … keep your fingers crossed…maybe they will take pity and allow me to change my flight over the phone tomorrow. But that would take a rather large miracle.

Grr. Just Grr. That was probably one of the most frustrating hours I’ve ever spent. Oh well. California I’ll see you in December.

Wine News, Interesting Reads and More!

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As I will now start actively following the wine and spirits industry, in addition to the broader global markets and American politics, I’ve made a couple small changes to the site. I will start posting interesting articles, wine tidbits and more. I promise to try to keep the politics to a minimum. But it will happen from time to time. What can I say – I may be studying wine now, but I do still have a politics degree.

In the interim – anyone know any great wine & spirits industry sites I should add to my daily browsing?

Another Long Weekend

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It’s Sunday and the end of another long four-day weekend. All I can say is I think my liver is happy that it’s finally over. No weekend in France would be complete without visiting at least one cafe for un verre (a glass). But this weekend was a parade of boutielles, soirées and fêtes (bottles, night’s out and parties for the French challenged). I didn’t think it was possible but I think the French party harder than the Brits.

This weekend also brought the implementation of a new personal rule: always bring your umbrella and your sunglasses. Apparently in Bordeaux you don’t know which you are going to need. In fact at one point this weekend I needed both at the same time.

Despite my whinging, it was a great weekend. We were toured around Bordeaux by our new friend and classmate Max. A long time resident of the city, he was full of tips about great bars, cafes and restaurants. And he seems to know everyone.

But it wasn’t all just parties. I spent a little time enjoying some sun in the Jardin Public. I managed to score a ride out to IKEA. I did a little laundry and started looking for flights home for Christmas. I also cleaned the apartment and did a little cooking.  I visited the local market and perused the wines at the special event they were hosting. (And yes before you ask, of course I bought a couple bottles). I even managed to get lectured by a rather frightening older lady because I was looking at bottles produced by large enterprises and not small family estates.

Monday our real course work begins, despite another miscommunication about timing – I still haven’t manage to figure out if classes start at 8:15 or 9. So 8:15 it is. And if nothing else I can sip a coffee for 45 minutes and get a little work done.

Truthfully at this point, I’m just excited for our course work to begin. Nothing could be as challenging as the business game. I survived that – I can survive anything. At least I hope I can. But in all honestly, aside from the English class, I’m looking forward to jumping in and getting my feet wet. I’m also looking forward to working with and getting to know more of my classmates.