Checking out of the ****Best Western in Annecy this morning was fun. Susan and I checked out first and then Lola checked out and discovered they had charged her for our room too. So we spent another half hour getting credits for Barbara and Lola and then recharging them the correct amount. They also said Lola’s room had a 3 Euro charge for using the phone. Lola argued that she had used a phone card and their should be no charge. The hotel clerk finally waved the fee and we left.
It is Friday and we drove to Colmar, France. To get there we had to drive through Switzerland so we stopped and had lunch in the town of Kirchberg at a nice looking restaurant called Platanenholf. It was a great lunch but when we got the bill we had been charged 2 Euros each for water. We complained to the waitress and she said that in Switzerland everyone has to pay for water at a restaurant. I really doubt that. We paid but it sure was upsetting to have to pay 2 Euros for a plain glass of water.
The water thing is correct but usually you get a bottle of water. Different countries do things differently; in Italy, you pay 2 Euros for a basket of bread whether or not you want it or eat it. (sometimes they’ll take it off the bill if you haven’t eaten it and ask politely, sometimes not) In both Italy and France, many restaurants charge a “couvert” charge of 1 Euro, which pays for the placemat and utensils. Just little profit centers for them and amusing to us.
I’ll look forward to hearing more about Annecey…it’s on my list of places to see.
Yep, we had to pay for water…..seems odd, doesn’t it?