Watch out when going for holidays to France...

On the early morning of 14.07.2011, all mine photo equipment got stolen from my car, parked at the Kyriad hotel in Carcassonne, France. The robbers had smashed in two of the windows and taken my photo bag together with a backpack full of my little daughter stuff (she is just turning one year old, so imagine how lucky they got with the diapers...), including a diary, that we have been keeping for her, until being old enough to appreciate it.
This is my chance to publicly warn people from staying at the Kyriad hotel in Carcassonne, France. We have chosen that hotel, because it was close to the main road (we were traveling with a camper), we knew the Kyriad chain, and they had a fenced car park with a sign saying "car park under surveillance", so we felt safe to stay there. Our mistake. Not only they have absolutely no surveillance, but they are lying about this to their guests, they won't wake you up, to let you know that someone has broken to your car (when they found out), they don't speak ANY English (amazing - international chain of hotels, in a tourist magnet like Carcassonne, and they are ignorant enough not to put someone who speaks English [or German] at the counter - I find it more funny that it would be hard to find someone who doesn't speak any foreign language in Poland, especially in places like that), they will still charge you double, and the only "sorry" message you get from them is two cheap Tequila Sunrises for the dinner...

Anyways, among the photo equipment that they have stolen, was my Nikon D700 camera, serial number 2219108, so if by any chance some one ever stumbles upon that camera and this message, please contact me (maybe there will be also the rest of my photo equipment).

The funny part about it, was going to the police station and filling in the report: we had to use Google Translate with voiced option to explain what has happened...

As for us, we had much, MUCH higher expectations for holidays in France. If it wasn't for their landscape and history, they should be treated worst than some beaten third-world country (third-world countries have at least aspirations). This is also sad for me, since I had a totally different image of Frenchmen from my high school, where everyone of them was great...

I have to rebuild my collection of photo gear, but since I will be starting from zero, should I stick with Nikon D700, or maybe get Canon 5d Mk2, or wait until fall for Nikon D800 or Canon 5d Mk3?