Montpellier

What a day! Due to the air traffic controller strikes in France I woke up this morning to discover that my flight to Montpellier had been delayed by 2,5 hours. However, one is still obliged to check in at the usual time and then sit and wait at the airport. I checked the news and saw that Aer Lingus and Ryan Air had cancelled most of their flights, BA had cancelled 93 flights today and Easyjet, the airline I was using, had remarkably not cancelled any by the time I got to the airport. (However during the day they were forced to cancel 22 flights)

So the long and boring wait at Gatwick began - a 4 hour wait, and due to my very overloaded and heavy camera backpack I could not wander around the shops as I actually felt like a tortoise about to flip on its back due to the weight of the bag. Watching people getting stuck into cocktails and serious drinks at the bar at 10am in the morning soon lost its appeal, and eventually I just sat and read, too fearful to leave my seat because if I wandered off I may not have got a good seat again as so many people were just sitting and waiting for their flights.

We finally took off 3,5 hours after the scheduled time, but I must say the Easyjet staff were so apologetic even though it was not their fault that the bloody French were striking again planes had a problem flying through French airspace today. 

Arriving at Montpellier airport I quickly got through customs and the baggage collection point but then I had a 30 minute wait for a taxi, as there were no taxis at all - our little village station has more taxis than this airport - maybe due to another strike? We all stood quietly in a long queue like well behaved Englishmen when all I really wanted to do was scream as by now I had had enough of travel problems! 

The good news is that my hotel is surprisingly rather pleasant, it's an apartment-hotel and very clean and modern. I only got to the hotel at about 6.45pm after leaving home at 9am this morning. It has been an awful day and as much as I love going abroad I really hate getting there, especially after a day like today! 

As for France and its constant strikes - I almost changed my mind about my Brexit vote today, as I don't feel like being part of something that involves France and their strikes! 

I had a brief wander down the street and took these two shots at about 7.30pm, but I will try to see more of Montpellier tomorrow, now I just feel like resting.