After driving most of the day from Calais ferry port to check in, we arrived around 4:30 PM. We walked up to the room only to find that many of the lights did not work. Went back down to reception while they called maintenance and it appeared to be a simple fix of a breaker switch. That’s fine even though I was exhausted when we got here and then going up to the room down to reception and back again with no elevator was the last thing I felt like doing. Be that as it may, we had inquired whether we could get a different room with a better view and was told they were fully booked. But at the time they knew of the light problem what was their plan going to be? We couldn’t function without a light in the bathroom, there was absolutely no light working in the bathroom, so what would they have done? If it hadn’t been a breaker I’m sure they have a back up room since most hotels always have one emergency option. So while sitting in reception, the manager and the two front desk staff we’re trying to decide how they were going to handle the room change request all the while discussing this in French. The manager in French referred to us as “Americans”. How that’s relevant I have no idea when discussing a room change but that word translates quite easily from French to English. So does the word champagne which she uttered. So I can only surmise she thought throwing a glass of champagne at those beer-drinking Americans (we don’t drink beer) would be enough to placate us. Simply saying, we don’t have anything to offer you as far as room change would’ve been sufficient rather than bringing our nationality into it which is completely irrelevant. On her way out of reception, she smiles at me and says bonjour. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to France. The first time I found the French to be quite rude. So far, I see that hasn’t changed.
번역