A Toast to Being Stuck in Europe

Boycott Air France! Rebecca's Mom and Aunt visited us from March 23rd to...April 4th. We really enjoyed hosting them and introducing Aunt Marsha to her first experience in Europe. The picture below is of Susan (Rebecca's Mom) and Aunt Marsha toasting at one our favorite restaurants in the world, Chez Michael, in Ghent, Belgium.


A toast to being stuck in Europe! 

So, why do I say boycott Air France? Well, the French strikes caused major disruptions to travel by train and by car. (If you read today's FT, they just repealed the hotly contested French labor law.) On departure day, Rebecca left on time to take Susan and Marsha to the airport. Something she did not factor in was students sitting on the Paris ring road protesting against the labor law. So, traffic was quite bad and the ride to the airport took longer than expected. Upon arrival, Air France said 1-hour was not enough and they needed to be 1 hour 20 minutes early in order to board the flight. After proposing a flight at the end of April, the very flamboyant Frenchman finally put them on a flight 5 days later for the small fee of $1100 each. Should I mention the fact that Air France's flight was delayed and they showed no sympathy for the massive transit problems going on in Paris that day? I would rather connect through Moscow on a route from London to New York than fly Air France. No offense to Moscow...besides the fact it is the wrong direction.

European Socialism

Name this movie: "Let's face it, I'm not European. I don't plan on being European so who cares if they are socialists? They could be fascist anarchists for all I care. It still would not change the fact that I don't own a car." Give up? Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I can't help but quote this movie during this time in France. Protests abound as the French fear losing a piece of their social, governmental cushion. I support their right to protest but I don't understand the fear about the new labor law. Regardless, the student protests, strikes, marches and riots are pretty annoying because they shut down the country in many ways. Rebecca's Mom and Aunt are visiting and the French protests have extended their stay by 4 days. They are due to fly home on Tuesday, the big day for strikes and protests about the new law.

Yes, socialism is alive and well in France and probably explains why it is so difficult to get simple things done in this country.