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.