Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To be angry at dp for booking this holiday?

565 replies

Imengagedtoanidiot · 26/06/2017 20:42

  • [Message from MNHQ - just noting, this thread was started in July 2017 and has been resurrected FOR NO GOOD REASON Wink - move along now, please there's nothing new to see here...]

So for ages I've been saying I wan to go to Paris I've never been and it's always been somewhere I want to go but money's right ATM.

Anyway I was talking about how much I want to go in front of my mum a few months and turns out she said to dp to book it for us, she'll have the DCs and pay for the trip for my birthday and keep it as a surprise.

I found out this trip was booked last week by accident and was obviously very excited although felt awful that my mum had given dp the money (£500)

I've just had a look at the details and he's booked it leaving on a Saturday afternoon (arriving late Saturday) and returning very early Monday morning. He booked the Monday off work for me and confirmed mum was having the dcs from Friday night and dropping them to childminder Monday (we collect at 6pm)

AIBU to be fuming that he's taken £500 for essentially 1 day?? I've looked and he could have got Friday evening/early Saturday flights and late Monday flight back for the exact same price so it's not a price issue - he said he just 'didn't think'. He's saying I'm so ungrateful and should be thankful for him (he didn't bloody pay for it)

I'm really upset and don't know if I am being ungrateful and a spoilt brat but I'm just pissed off and feel like my dream break and first holiday without dc is a fucking joke.

I've tried changing the flights and even cancelling but the charge is excessive.

OP posts:
Dibbles1967 · 26/06/2017 21:36

I don't feel qualified to offer an opinion... I recently booked my own surprise 50th birthday party for September Envy

Luckily I'm very forgetful, so it will probably be a surprise after all. (especially as I thought I was 48 last birthday)

Ecclesiastes · 26/06/2017 21:36

Paris is basically like London (sorry to disappoint) it's nice, but very underwhelming

Shock
mybrain · 26/06/2017 21:36

Tie doors = tedious!

peterpancollar · 26/06/2017 21:38

YANBU - I'll definitely be cheesed off too - it doesn't take that many brain cells to maximise a rare child free long weekend rather than minimise it especially when it involves the expense of flights and 2 hotel nights. So, you'll getting 1 day as opposed to nearly 3 full days in Paris and this weekend is probably a one-off, so you want to make the most of it! I would be having words too....

mybrain · 26/06/2017 21:43

Paris syndrome: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

Knew I had seen it ecclesiastas

It's lovely, but we see so much of Paris in media, and unfortunately it really doesn't live up to expectations.

My best experience was sitting near some fountains opposite the Eiffel Tower, they was amazing!

Iflyaway · 26/06/2017 21:44

I got a cheap deal to Paris, thanks to a friend.

Only had one day there (2 nights).

Left the hotel at 8.30 in the morning and got back by taxi at 9 pm.

It was fabulous wandering around, stopping off for lunch, dinner etc. Saw loads of sites. Including Notre Dame, Sacre Couer and Montmartre, a lit-up Eiffel Tower at night, and lights along the Seine in the taxi back....

Life is what you make of it, OP.

mybrain · 26/06/2017 21:46

Op just enjoy your trip me there, don't get mad st your DP. He was trying to do something nice.

He could of executed it better, he is probably sat their waiting to announce it to you really excited!!

I kind of feel bad for him

Pigface1 · 26/06/2017 21:46

On reading back through the thread, some of the posts telling the OP she is entitled and should 'be grateful' remind me of descriptions of abusive and toxic parents from the 'but we took you to stately homes!' threads.

Ecclesiastes · 26/06/2017 21:46

It's lovely, but we see so much of Paris in media, and unfortunately it really doesn't live up to expectations.

I love Paris, and have been dozens of times. Perhaps I just have a limited mind. Or perhaps I just know where to go to avoid the gaping hordes of jaded Brits.

LEELULUMPKIN · 26/06/2017 21:47

Well for me the travelling is just as much as part of the holiday and as someone who rarely gets a break without our severely disabled 12 yr old DS, for me it is bliss just sitting in an airport bar being able to have a proper uninterrupted conversation with my DH, so yes you ABU.

Also I went to Paris for the first time last year and hated every second of it, couldn't wait to leave. We travel widely and I have never felt as unsafe as I did there, plus constantly being deluged with beggars did nothing for the romantic mood.

We high tailed it to Versailles and stayed there instead. Loved it there!

Iflyaway · 26/06/2017 21:48

Oh, and went to Pere Lachaisse cemetary too (on a tube stop) which was amazing too.....

But then I love to travel solo, can go where and do what I want. Grin

shinynewusername · 26/06/2017 21:50

Well I fucking love Paris though not as much as Madrid. Not sure why you're trying to rain on the OP's parade, mybrain? Do you really think she will feel better if you tell her she is going to have a shit time?

Don't bother with queuing to go up the Eiffel Tower, OP. There are loads of other places where you can get a great view. I'd start in Montmatre on Sunday morning, before it gets too crowded, then work my way down to Notre Dame, wander along the Seine and end up by the Eiffel Tower. Probably wouldn't even bother with museums or galleries unless it's raining. I love art but there is so much else to see, whatever killjoys may tell you.

burnoutbabe · 26/06/2017 21:57

could people who say the husband was trying to do something nice actually say what is great nice thing was? he just was told to book something and (appears) to have booked the first thing that came along without much thought.

He was told to book it, he was given the money, I can't see what really he did that was that generous/thoughtful. Unless he has some ace idea for Friday in the UK as they are childfree then as well?

Piesy · 26/06/2017 21:58

Totally agree with you, OP.
I would feel frustrated at the lack of thought in planning. Dumbass men
What a nice mum you have, though.

w12newmum · 26/06/2017 22:00

I love a good deal and a bargain so I can see where you are coming from. But I am slowly learning that life is too short and to try to let this stuff go for the good of my relationships and to reduce my own stress. Funnily enough I have hit better since having a child, I don't always have time to make things 'perfect' now. He was doing something nice, say sorry and have a lovely time

HolgerDanske · 26/06/2017 22:00

It's not a man thing. Plenty of men wouldn't be so useless.

HundredMilesAnHour · 26/06/2017 22:02

Paris is nothing like London. And given that the OP hasn't mentioned being Japanese, she's unlikely to suffer from "Paris Syndrome".

I've lived in Paris twice, worked there, studied there, have had some of the best experiences of my life there. It's not unknown for me to shed a tear every time I get back on the Eurostar to London. Blush

OP, your DH has made a mess of the booking but you still have TWO nights in Paris. Go and have a fabulous time. Ignore the odd anti-Paris posters. Clearly they don't know where to go or how to have a good time. I've never taken anyone to Paris who didn't fall in love with the place (and even the Parisians are a lot better than they used to be!).

Paris used to be very "closed" on Sundays as this was a day for spending with family. But there are more places open than there used to be, especially in the more touristy areas. The Marais is always a good area to visit on Sundays as most shops and restaurants are open. Walking from le Marais to St Paul and Hotel de Ville, then cross the river and visit Ile-St-Louis and on to Notre Dame and St Michel. You'll see lots of sights along the way and it's a lovely stroll through quintessentially Parisian streets and along the banks of the Seine.

If you are desperate to shop, the shops at Quatre Temps (shopping centre) at La Defense are open on Sundays (apart from the supermarket Auchan) but the main reason I'd go here is for 1) Sephora and 2) the view from La Grande Arche to L'Arc de Triomphe. Sephora on the Champs-Elysees is also open on Sundays.

AtSea1979 · 26/06/2017 22:02

YANBU. I'm totally with you OP. So much money and your DP put no effort in to find the best option.

Maman79 · 26/06/2017 22:03

Indeed an in Seine amount of money for a day trip Grin

diddl · 26/06/2017 22:03

That does sound almost pointless very annoying.

Ruhrpott · 26/06/2017 22:05

I think yanbu and I'd be annoyed that he booked everything with no thought or effort to research the best flights and hotels. I hope he booked a nice hotel.

Unihorn · 26/06/2017 22:06

Yeah I'd be pissed. And he didn't pay or make the decision to go so why on earth are people saying the OP should be grateful? Grateful that her husband followed instructions?

minionsrule · 26/06/2017 22:07

My only comment is i can't believe you went off to see if you could find a better deal.... now thay seems ungrateful. I would have just said great, can't imagine checking up if he had fucked up Confused

HundredMilesAnHour · 26/06/2017 22:07

I wish people would stop calling it a day trip. That's just mean and no doubt winding the OP further. Leaving on Sat and back on Mon is not a day trip unless you have a very strange sense of time. I also don't think £500 is an outrageous amount for return flights for TWO people and TWO nights in a hotel (self-catered apartment?) As someone who used to travel back and forth to Paris at short notice for work, I can tell you that Paris accommodation isn't cheap (prices can vary massively from week to week). £500 sounds pretty reasonable to me unless they're staying in a dump (which given the DP's booking "ability" is a risk!!)

HopelesslydevotedtoGu · 26/06/2017 22:09

I would also change the flights and have less spending money.

Or at least change your flights.