Taking Paris Head on

Despite Joel getting a case of the attack of Jacques Chirac (intestinal flu), we walked at least 15 miles around Paris. From Montparnasse to Pompideu Centre to Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, we saw a lot but left several key tourism destinations for our return trip. With the knowledge that we gained this time, we are sure to be dangerous on the next trip.

It's a good thing we both can speak French. We found the French people to be very warm, cordial, helpful and nice. So often as we would begin with "Parlez-vous Angles?" the response would come back "A little," but then most of the discussion would be in English, sprinkled with a good dose of French. We had a great time!

PHOTO: Greta is standing on the head of a large sculpture in downtown Paris.

To love America, you must leave it

We take so many of our conveniences and priviledges for granted over here. When you walk through the outdoor Paris markets and see all of the varieties of items for sell, you will immediately miss Harris Teeter. Seeing rabbit and pigeons in the butcher area was not pleasing to our senses. On the other hand they didn't appear to have damage caused by the excess pigeons.

When we arrived in Paris, we stumbled around a bit. This was the first time we needed our passport and ID. We found a bank and exchanged money. Found several people who gave us several different directions to which train to take. But, we finally got our tickets, boarded the train and headed for our hotel.

On the train, Greta began talking with a gentleman who spoke very little English. They had a good time discussing the difficulty of learning English grammer. It's so different from French, Spanish, Italian - the Romance languages. And they spoke primarily in French. His was good. Greta's was, well, had a Southern USA twain to it, if you will. Nonetheless, they conversed well and got a good laugh.

It was raining when we got up onto the street from the subway train. We didn't know which way to go. Greta dodged the downpour by sliding into a chair in this outdoor cafe. We were just about to get a taste of what it means to "pull your luggage across Europe."

We flagged down a taxi to take us to our hotel - which was only a mile or so away. The next adventure came when we got inside. Greta learned what s-m-a-l-l really means!

PHOTO: Greta and Joel plan their strategies to get to the hotel. Joel wanted to go inside the little cafe, have a beer and find out directions. Greta wanted to get a taxi, get to the hotel and take a nap. We had already gone up and down several sets of underground steps carrying our luggage - and we were truly outside our comfort zone - and would be for the next 10 days. We needed to regroup - and did.

Finally - We're Over the Pond

After a short layover in Detroit, we boarded a Northwest Airlines flight to Paris. Of the 300+ seats, only 179 were filled. We received excellent service on our flight, sat in the bulkhead where we had leg room and prepared ourselves for a 7-hour flight. Joel slept on the floor. It seemed everyone else stretched out across the middle section of seats and crashed. I never got to see the ocean, ships or icebergs - coming or going. Joel watched a movie or two. I was just too excited and unable to sleep.

A couple across the aisle from Joel were American, but live in Paris. He is an accounting type of person for Kellog's. The couple was from Michigan. They explained to us that during warm months, if you're sitting at an outdoor cafe, drinks are more expensive the further outside you sit. They're less expensive if you sit closer to the bar.

We didn't see much difference - as very few of the outdoor cafes were open. Remember, this time of year it is supposed to be cold there.

The couple also told us that beer and wine are much less expensive than soft drinks, such as Pepsi or Coca-cola. We found that to be true.

As we got off the plane, they guided us to customs and then onto our train which would take us downtown to our hotel. Along the way, I found a bank at the airport and exchanged $300 and got back 180 Euro. Our travel agent had told us not to make the transaction in the States, but to wait until we landed. The exchange rate right now is pretty poor. The American dollar is very weak, which means foreigners traveling here get a bargain!

Throughout the trip, I kept watching the exchange rate on the BBC. Right before we came home, an English Pound would cost you $1.97 and one Euro was $1.47.

PHOTO -- Joel caught this in the Charles deGaulle International Airport in Paris. The automatic money machine was down for maintenance repair.

Pinnacle Airlines - The Flight Attendant from Hell

We all joke about puddle jumpers. They're not the most comfortable aircraft, but the saving grace is that they usually fly short trips. Airtime between Greensboro and Detroit was only 90 minutes.

So getting on the plane was no issue .... yea, right.

There were only 7 passengers and all seated together in the middle. Yes, 7.

Joel and I aren't petite. He's 6'4" and I'm 5'9" - and we could both stand to lose weight. I'll be honest about it.

I had the window seat - and he had the aisle. But, because his legs are so long, he overtook my leg room.

Uh-oh.

No leg room. No ceiling room. No air.

I had to get off the plane. I needed cool air. I had a panic attack. Claustrophobia had set in - oh, what a new experience - one I hadn't anticipated!

Now, I have flown in a chopper, a single engine plane and a hot air balloon. Tight spaces have never been an issue. Until now.

I stepped off the plane, calmed down and then got back in my seat. Oh no - here the rush of heat and the hyperventilating came again. I had to get some cool air.

Would the flight attendant help me out? Hell no! He refused to allow anyone to change seats. He rudely told me that I needed to sit down in my assigned seat and simmer down. We exchanged words. Oh, I was so mad I wanted to punch his lights out! The other 6 people were howling in disbelief that he refused to let me move - or even put Joel into a seat in which he could sit!

Finally, the pilot heard the commotion and turned on the air. Cool air helped me calm down. Once off the ground, the flight attendant allowed Joel to move to the bulkhead where he remained throughout the flight.

Pinnacle is the puddle jumper airline that works in conjunction with Northwest and KLM airlines. Should I write a letter? You tell me....

PHOTO - Each year, towns throughout Europe hold outdoor Christmas markets. They're street festivals. This was taken in Brugges, Belgium. The event features ice skating, marching bands, lots of food and beverage - and shopping! Yes, we did a little of that too.....

Fun in the Piedmont Triad International Airport

We each had one carry on bag and one to check. No problem. Tickets were fine. We got there early - so early that we were probably only two of a handful of people in the entire airport! Remember, it was Thanksgiving. The "rush" had been the day before.

As I was walking past a food vendor at the airport, she hollared out that she liked my blue outfit. I was wearing a very comfortable, Carolina Blue (for those of you outside of North Carolina and the USA, Carolina blue is the color of one of the most popular universities here - where Michael Jordon played basketball) pant and jacket outfit. I stopped to chat and she eventually mentioned that a man who had recently passed by had purchased a beer for me. That was sweet of Joel.

No, it wasn't Belgian, but was good. We had joked that we needed to increase our tolerance before the trip. Somehow, we didn't have time to work that into our schedules. I sipped half the glass and Joel downed the rest.

We had fun with the girl running the food concession. She said that on the day before Thanksgiving, she had a non-stop line of customers from 5 a.m. - late that night. She served hot dogs, subs and other handy items to eat.

PHOTO - I used to collect this variety of crab when I had saltwater aquariums and was studying marine biology in high school. These crabs love to cover their shell with all kinds of things and hide. Well, apparently they got caught in the crab pots or net and landed at this open air market in downtown Paris.

Thanksgiving Day - Take-off Day

For a variety of reasons, we opted to fly out on Thanksgiving Day. Besides, that's the best day of the year to travel - everyone is already at their destination.

Joel's mother had planned a Thanksgiving Day celebration and we were invited. That was very nice and thoughful - but the event began at 11:30 a.m. and we needed to be at the airport by 1:30. That would have given us an hour at her house. We needed an hour travel time .

Well, I hadn't finished packing. You know - the detail stuff - the pharmacy. Now this year, all had to be packed in such a way as to not blow up the plane. All the gels had to be together in a plastic bag. All the liquids had to be together in a plastic bag. They had to be arranged in the luggage in such a way to ensure no spillage - or at least to secure lids so they wouldn't pop open.

I was up until 2 a.m. the night before packing - and as Joel later learned, it was a darned good thing I packed the Imodium, aspirin, Nyquil and all the other little goodies.

So, did we get to the party? No - and were blasted for it. Sorry - but we had a plane to catch and they knew it. I was nervous because this entire scenario was new to me. Joel was nervous too - and he had a speech to give. The last thing I wanted was to get filled up with bird and stuffing before the flaps when up. Socializing is fine - but this wasn't the day to to do it.

And - it's a darned good thing we didn't eat. Those chapters follow ....

PHOTO: Open air markets in Paris sell all kinds of food. Laws in the United States prohibit the sale of raw meat - hare, hen and hog - beef, shellfish, fish, squid, sea urchins, clams, crabs, oysters, veal, etc. in outdoor settings. But, this is how many in Paris buy their fresh food. Some of it looked so good, but we didn't give into temptation.... Fruit, nuts, flowers, breads, cheeses - the list goes on. Their cuts of meat were far superior to what we find in most grocery store meat counters in this country.

"Planning" the Trip

Last spring, Joel was invited to speak at an international conference in Antwerp, Belgium. I never thought I'd be able to go with him, as I'm still growing my business. The trip just wasn't in the budget - that is not until October.

So, we immediately started preparations. Courtesy of Rebecca Redding in Congressman Howard Coble's Asheboro office, we received our passports in two days.

After talking with a multitude of people who had been abroad, I spent a few days getting lost in cyber-information overload and contacted Travel Associates in Asheboro to secure our air and train passes. That was the only way, that I know of, we could get an open jaw - landing in Paris and departing from Amsterdam 10 days later. I am not - and never have been - a travel agent and required assistance from the professionals.

Karen Durda, a good friend who has been to Europe on several occasions, helped me locate a hotel in Paris. It seemed there was a citywide convention of packaging companies going on in Paris so many hotels were booked.

Celeste Montegue, a neighbor who has traveled to Armenia with First Baptist Church in Asheboro, loaned me her travel bag, a shoulder bag that crosses your body. It's perfect to hold the necessities - passport, money, Kleenex and lipstick. (It wound up holding a lot more.)

Joe and Pokcha Richardson, next door neighbors, had the awesome task of cat-sitting. Feed three times a day. Let the cats out. Bring in the mail. The list goes on of things they did for us while we were away. Joe has the capability of talking around the world via computer - and that did come in handy. He was the pivot person to contact family members back in the States.

Many people told us to pack our bags - and then take out half. We followed that sage wisdom.

On suggestion from my parents, who have been abroad several times, Joel and I planned that we would spend a couple of days in Paris, take the train to Antwerp, visit Brugges while we were there, and then take the Eurorail to Germany - ride a ferry up the Rhine River and see the castles - and then get to Amsterdam for the return flight.

I hadn't made hotel reservations past his convention, so we were just going to have to "wing" this trip. In the end, that worked very well.

PHOTO - This is a "Smart Car" that runs on unleaded gas or diesel. It spans about 6 feet in length and can hold 4 tiny people. "Smart Cars" were quite popular. Needless to say, neither Joel nor I would be able to get into one! (To learn more about these tiny vehicles and see the convertible style, log onto www.smart.com.)