We're in Paris and loving it! Holly has been raving about how much she loves the place all afternoon.
Of course, as with entry into any country, there were some hassles. We breezed through baggage claim (our bags were first off the carousel, much to the chagrin of the whinging old frogs who spent the whole flight complaining) and customs. Then Holly and Michael both ended up with problems. Holly managed to get her Visa card eaten by the ATM and Michael's flight to London was delayed enormously by rain and wind in London and Paris. There was a tornado in the UK yesterday and Charles de Gaule airport in Paris closed down.
Michael's now staying the night in Paris and will make his rendez-vous with Jean tomorrow, much to his disappointment. He wanted to get there ASAP after six months of seperation from his beloved.
We've managed to find a decent, cheap hotel in the 3e arrondissment, close to the centre of town. The prices, of course, are a bit of a shock after US$5 rooms in Vietnam and US$0.50 litres of beer. But we knew that and London is going to be worse, what with the state of the South Pacific Peseta these days...
So, having fun and soon to be in London. My French is getting a workout and is holding up surprisingly well considering it's nearly 10 years since I set foot in the country. Need more vocabulary which I've forgotten to really express myself beyond the basics.
Holly's been trawling through the shopping section of the Lonely Planet and has already marked out a bunch of shops, especially the hair accessory shop which sells over two hundred hair accessories. (sheesh!) Fortunately the Euro is doing almost as poorly as the Aussie Rupiah so shopping won't be QUITE as expensive as London, though it's a matter of degrees.
We sauntered into Paris wearing our brand new clothes we had made in Hoi An. Holly's wearing her spunky (ooh the poms will love that term!) red riding hood duffle coat, Michael in his suit pants, silk shirt and London overcoat and me in my purple shirt and cord jacket. We almost feel as stylish as the locals, except for the Vietnamese mud on our shoes...
Anyway, more soon. Net access here is much faster than Vietnam, though commesurately more expensive, so we can do more updates without too much frustration. We'll also be able to phone home for something less than US$30 for 3 minutes. We'll also be responding to emails more quickly.