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by A Total TaiTai Tale
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Disclaimer: I always post about our trip with a delay. For 2 reasons: I want to enjoy the trip and not having to think of what needs to be posted that day, but also for security reason. That’s being said let’s recap last week trips. Brace yourself for the multiple posts.
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Who would have thought that the most reliable route for a trip between Paris and Madrid would end up not only being via London but also via Dublin?
Our weeklong trip original schedule:
* Monday to Wednesday in London, UK
– Eurostar to London on Monday morning
– Monday afternoon, Tuesday all day and Wednesday until late afternoon in London (J for business meetings, me for sightseeing)
– Eurostar to Paris on Wednesday evening.
* Thursday to Sunday in Madrid, Spain
– Flight to Madrid on Thursday morning
– Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Madrid
– Flight to Paris on Sunday evening.
It all started well…Then the strikes in France struck.
Strike 1: On Tuesday we learn that our return Eurostar ride on Wednesday is canceled. First one available is Thursday evening which would mean missing our flight to Madrid.
Trying to find an alternative route to Paris we book a flight for Wednesday morning from London to Dublin (with Ryanair!) then Dublin to Paris with a 3+ hour layover so we feel confident.
Strike 2: Our Ryanair flight turned out to be 3+ hours delayed (by 15 minutes increments!) hence missing our connection.
Strike 3: While waiting for our never seem like departing Ryanair flight we learn that our Thursday flight from Paris to Madrid has been canceled.
After landing in Dublin we tried to find a last minute flight to Paris but it wouldn’t have solved our “strike 3” dilemma so I’m like we could just flight to Madrid from here. And that’s how we ended up with the most convenient route to our trip from France to Spain being London-Dublin-Madrid.
We had to book an extra day at the hotel in Madrid but at least we didn’t lose our 3-night reservation and our return flight from Madrid to Paris.
Enjoy the photos of London and Madrid during this week posting.
PS. I’m glad we spend some times in Ireland last summer or I would have been sad that I would have only seen the Dublin airport.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/UwDBsbo
A Total TaiTai Tale 
Wow, now that is an adventure and you win the prise for being the most patient, you made lemonade out of lemons. I am sure the stress was something to watch. Love them strikes NOT! Love D..
I’m pretty easy going. It’s vacation after all and we don’t really have strict deadlines.
J. had his computer so could continue working. He will have to explain missing some meetings on Wednesday but he still worked a bit the other days while he was theoretically on vacation. So win win for everyone.