saratojo
10+ Posts
At last it is time for our annual trek to Europe. Last year we spent a week in the Cotswolds (Chipping Campden), a week in Dingle (County Kerry, IE), a week in Galway, a night in Liverpool, a week in Craster (Northumberland), and two days in Cambridge. The previous year it was 10 days in Devon and Cornwall, a few days on Jersey in the Channel Islands, and two glorious weeks in Plouezoc'h in Brittany.
This year we will concentrate on England. We start with a week in a lighthouse cottage in Swanage (Dorset). Next will be week near Ashbourne in Derbyshire. Then a return week at the same cottage as last year on the grounds on Dunstanburgh Castle in Craster (Northumberland). Next is a week in another lighthouse cottage in Whitby (North Yorkshire). We wind it up with two days in Oxford and a night in Windsor.
Our modus operandi includes buying a French car for delivery at Heathrow. It's really like a short term lease (17 day minimum, I believe). I find driving from the left side of the car and the left side of the road easier than using a right-hand-drive English car on the left side of the road. We often have "bought" Renaults for our trips in Europe. (The cost is fixed up front based on the number of days you keep the car.) It's nice having a brand new car and full $0 deductible insurance in included as is all road service (even when you mistakenly put non-leaded in a diesel car as I did once - I highly recommend against doing that!). The car always includes a sat-nav (GPS). The price is very competitive with rental cars, and you know exactly what car you will be getting. It is especially cost effective if you purchase the expensive full coverage insurance on a rental car (as I always do in Europe) as it is included in the purchase.
That said, doing the Renault thing when you pick up and drop off the car at Heathrow is MUCH less cost effective because they charge you $400 odd dollars for the pickup and another $400 for the drop off. Still we do it because we enjoy the experience and like the left hand drive (USA style) car.
Last year it didn't work out so well! We got to Heathrow and our car was there with their UK agent at Heathrow. Alas, it was NOT the automatic transmission that I ordered. I haven't drive a manual shift car since I first got my license in 1958 and I wasn't going to relearn the process fifty-five odd years later on the wrong side of the road. After much haggling with Renault by phone, they agreed to fully refund my outlay. They did offer to get us a rental car for a week while a new car was shipped from France, but that would have been very inconvenient given our schedule of where we would be. Separately I worked out a deal with their rental agents (who also rent cars on their own) for a brand new Volvo with automatic transmission and sat-nav and full insurance for the same amount as I was being refunded from Renault. That was a good deal for them and I was happy with it as well. The Volvo was actually a better car although I did have to drive from the right side of the car (which is actually not much of an issue).
This year we are "buying" again, this time from Peugeot for the first time rather than Renault. It's not because of last year's mix-up at all. Mistakes happen, and Renault resolved that issue to my satisfaction. Rather it seemed when I was making the reservation that Peugeot had adjusted their US$ rates to properly reflect the new exchange rate realities whereas Renault had not. Hopefully the automatic transmission car will be there as ordered when we arrive on Friday.
We fly from Phoenix. I have had issues over the years with BA going way back to when it was BOAC. I won't fly with them anymore even though they have a convenient non-stop from Phoenix. We used to overnight in Las Vegas and fly Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy non-stop from there to Gatwick. As we get older that long flight gets more and more onerous just because of its length. As we are originally from Boston, our new preferred routing involves flying American Airlines to Boston and then Virgin's Premium Ecomomy from Boston to Heathrow. We spend a night in Boston in each direction and use the time to meet up with old friends and/or family for dinners. That effectively breaks the long journey in two more manageable segments.
Oh, while we are skipping Ireland on this trip, we are going back to Dingle (our home away from home in Ireland) for Christmas and New Year's. That will be fun!
This year we will concentrate on England. We start with a week in a lighthouse cottage in Swanage (Dorset). Next will be week near Ashbourne in Derbyshire. Then a return week at the same cottage as last year on the grounds on Dunstanburgh Castle in Craster (Northumberland). Next is a week in another lighthouse cottage in Whitby (North Yorkshire). We wind it up with two days in Oxford and a night in Windsor.
Our modus operandi includes buying a French car for delivery at Heathrow. It's really like a short term lease (17 day minimum, I believe). I find driving from the left side of the car and the left side of the road easier than using a right-hand-drive English car on the left side of the road. We often have "bought" Renaults for our trips in Europe. (The cost is fixed up front based on the number of days you keep the car.) It's nice having a brand new car and full $0 deductible insurance in included as is all road service (even when you mistakenly put non-leaded in a diesel car as I did once - I highly recommend against doing that!). The car always includes a sat-nav (GPS). The price is very competitive with rental cars, and you know exactly what car you will be getting. It is especially cost effective if you purchase the expensive full coverage insurance on a rental car (as I always do in Europe) as it is included in the purchase.
That said, doing the Renault thing when you pick up and drop off the car at Heathrow is MUCH less cost effective because they charge you $400 odd dollars for the pickup and another $400 for the drop off. Still we do it because we enjoy the experience and like the left hand drive (USA style) car.
Last year it didn't work out so well! We got to Heathrow and our car was there with their UK agent at Heathrow. Alas, it was NOT the automatic transmission that I ordered. I haven't drive a manual shift car since I first got my license in 1958 and I wasn't going to relearn the process fifty-five odd years later on the wrong side of the road. After much haggling with Renault by phone, they agreed to fully refund my outlay. They did offer to get us a rental car for a week while a new car was shipped from France, but that would have been very inconvenient given our schedule of where we would be. Separately I worked out a deal with their rental agents (who also rent cars on their own) for a brand new Volvo with automatic transmission and sat-nav and full insurance for the same amount as I was being refunded from Renault. That was a good deal for them and I was happy with it as well. The Volvo was actually a better car although I did have to drive from the right side of the car (which is actually not much of an issue).
This year we are "buying" again, this time from Peugeot for the first time rather than Renault. It's not because of last year's mix-up at all. Mistakes happen, and Renault resolved that issue to my satisfaction. Rather it seemed when I was making the reservation that Peugeot had adjusted their US$ rates to properly reflect the new exchange rate realities whereas Renault had not. Hopefully the automatic transmission car will be there as ordered when we arrive on Friday.
We fly from Phoenix. I have had issues over the years with BA going way back to when it was BOAC. I won't fly with them anymore even though they have a convenient non-stop from Phoenix. We used to overnight in Las Vegas and fly Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy non-stop from there to Gatwick. As we get older that long flight gets more and more onerous just because of its length. As we are originally from Boston, our new preferred routing involves flying American Airlines to Boston and then Virgin's Premium Ecomomy from Boston to Heathrow. We spend a night in Boston in each direction and use the time to meet up with old friends and/or family for dinners. That effectively breaks the long journey in two more manageable segments.
Oh, while we are skipping Ireland on this trip, we are going back to Dingle (our home away from home in Ireland) for Christmas and New Year's. That will be fun!
