An unexpected travel adventure

How we overcame the ásh from a volcano in Iceland that grounded flights worldwide and got to France to join our riverboat cruise. We missed out on our three days in Paris and had three extra nights in Dubai.

Travel plans dramatically changed by a volcano

A traveller's tale

Avalon Scenery in Chalon-sur-SaoneAs our plane landed into Dubai in April 2010 an announcement was made that was to dramatically change our travel plans. Ash from a volcano in Iceland was spreading across Europe and flights were being delayed and then cancelled. No one realised the impact it was going to have.

We had planned a two day stopover in Dubai so had accommodation booked. The airport was full of passengers who suddenly had an enforced stay. Our days in Dubai were enjoyable particularly viewing the illuminated (with musical accompaniment) Dubai Fountain on the 12 hectare (30-acre) Burj Khalifa Lake.

Our departure time grew close and we were assured that our flight to Paris was to take off on schedule, despite what we were hearing - until we received a call at 4am to say the flight was cancelled.

No one knew what was going to be the outcome. We were in uncharted territory. Planes were grounded everywhere. The numbers of waiting passengers grew around the world. Would we have to go back home again and cancel our long awaited, much planned 6 week holiday?

Our hotel was able to accommodate us for extra nights. The wait had begun. To fill in time I used the hotel's computer and found that our airline was still flying into eastern parts of Europe. If we could get to somewhere in Europe perhaps we could get a train to France and commence our booked river boat trip. At this stage the airline had informed us we had an unconfirmed flight to Paris in four days time.

After many phone calls I found a receptive voice at the airline who took onboard what I was trying to achieve. If we changed our flights could we get a flight and start our holiday ? "I have two confirmed seats in two days time to Nice" he said, YES PLEASE I replied. And so our adventure began! We missed our three nights we had planned in Paris and had the extra nights in Dubai but at least we were going to get to a port in France.

On our flight we had a young man Brett from Melbourne sitting next to us. He was going to Manchester in the UK as a cricket professional and we swapped stories about our delays. He was keen to get to his destination so that he wouldn't miss another weekend of his contract.

Once we had cleared customs in Nice we were greeted with the news that the railways were on strike for the day. We were dumbfounded. So much for our plan to get a train to Chalon-sur-Saône to meet our riverboat. So we hatched a plan with Brett to rent a car and he would drive us there and then continue to the coast and get across the Channel. Another plan that was easier said than done. Our first enquiry resulted in a quote for Euro 2000 for a car for 24 hours. Everyone had the same idea and cars fleets were depleted. We moved to the domestic airport and found more car hire firms and negotiated a car for Euro 330.

None of us spoke French but we managed to communicate and they were trying to help. It was simply that all their cars were going north to the coast and they were running out of stock. We were given instructions on which highways to follow. We didn't have a map until we stopped at a roadhouse. We were on our way.

On the road at last

Navigating the French road system

Chalon-sur-SaoneWe packed ourselves into the small sedan, I was in the back seat surrounded by luggage and Ray in the front with Brett. Both of us were grateful we didn't have to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, amongst so much traffic, so many big trucks and at a speed we were unaccustomed to.

Brett was doing 130km but the locals were doing 150km ph. Brett wondered why cars kept flashing their lights at him, until we realised we were in the fast lane and had to move over! The reverse lane to that which we were used to driving.

We were told that it would take approximately 5 and a half hours for the 593 km trip. We did it in 7 & a half hours, with a few stops along the way and a wrong turn which cost us at least an hour. "This is the right highway turn" said Brett and off we went, not realising it was going to take us back on the highway we had just come on! Once you get on one of the motorways it is very hard to turn back. There aren't many crossovers. Finally we stopped and a kindly French couple tried to help, but they had no English and it was very frustrating for all of us.

Somehow we managed to find our way and get back onto the right side of the highway and head north. It was now dark, but we had our map and we could see where we wanted to get to, we just had to keep Brett awake! We covered a lot of topics in our bid to keep talking and keep him on the road!

Our destination is in sight

We have made it!

At 12.30am we finally saw the sign for Chalon-sur-Saône and we were able to turn off the main road which led to Paris and head to the river and find our boat. The town was in darkness and not a soul about not even a stray dog! We drove around and found the river and a river boat tied up. Brett double parked the car, whilst he and Ray went to investigate. They were able to find their way across the boat and saw our vessel tied up on the other side and duty officer Romeo came to fetch me from the car and help us with our luggage.

We farewelled Brett, who was going to curl up in the car for a few hours sleep and then drive onto the coast. We were later to make contact via Facebook on the internet and find out that all went well for him and he made it to Manchester for his scheduled second weekend of cricket.

The next morning we woke early for breakfast to be greeted by Yvette our cruise director, then onto the jetty to meet our fellow guests for an escorted tour of the town. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful spring day in rural France and we had got there thanks to Brett.

Of the 150 possible guests there were only 50 on board and half of those were Americans who had done a cruise the week before and then had not been able to fly home. The other half were nearly all Aussies who had arrived in Paris before the ash descended. What a wonderful week we had cruising from Chalon through to Arles and so grateful that we had not missed this memorable trip.