Currency

American Express has offices all over the United States and used to offer better exchange rates than airports or other places (call around, and consider using an ATM card at your destination. In 2008 when I checked exchange rates, American Express was not very competitive.) We did take travelers checks – in the currency of the country (so for example, we had travelers checks in francs), but travelers checks were not readily recognized and we did have some delays cashing them. Smaller towns presented more problems than larger ones.

Do plan on using cash; Europe is not quite as accepting of credit cards as America.

You’ll note that in almost all of my travels, I generally try to pick an area and see everything possible rather than run from location to location. If you’re looking to see all of Europe in one trip, these tips won’t necessarily be best for you. Hiking is also something I spend a lot of time doing. Most of the books or web sites I recommend have a hiking slant. If you’re looking for more general tourist information, historical sites or things like that, extend your search!

Electrical appliances/Internet Connections
You’ll need electrical adapters in order to use items such as hair dryers, shavers, etc. The cheaper travel adapters handle the voltage differences; however if you have expensive equipment such as a computer, in order to protect it against possible damage, you may want to get the highest quality adapter available (you want an adapter that has a transformer in it.) Some of the cheaper adapters can be sloppy in the conversions. If you intend to hook up to the internet, you’ll need phone adapters for your phone cable. The phone jacks in Europe don’t use the same connectors–and each country may have a different connector. Try an electronics store or a store that sells baggage for these equipment needs.

France Sept 1999

A few years ago, we went to France on a business trip. We were in Nice, along the Mediterranean after the tourism season had died down a bit. We found the people there helpful and friendly and no one seemed to mind our broken attempts at speaking French. We enjoyed the trip and learned a few things:

Don’t drive unless you absolutely need a car to get to a particular location. The roads are much narrower than in the United States and the drivers use lines as “guides.” Road laws would more properly be called, “convenient suggestions if you have the time.” Driving is especially hazardous in large towns/cities. If you do get a car, get a SMALL car. Parking is non-existent and the smaller the car, the better.

When using road signs to try and get to destinations, only the large towns or cities are marked. On our way to the Grand Canyon du Verdon we kept looking for signs to the next town—but those on our roadmap were apparently too small to warrant any kind of road marker—either in the town themselves or as mileage markers to the “next” destination. As a result, we got lost and found it very difficult to figure out where we were going. It was impossible to stop as the roads do not have space to pull over.

Many of the quaint towns have perfume factories or wine shops. However, there isn’t any place to park the car. The roads often go straight through a town. You are through it before you know it and the side of the road is right up against either a sidewalk, an ancient medieval wall or shops. We never did figure out where we were supposed to park. In bigger towns, it was possible to pull into a park or supermarket and get out and walk to various shops or find a public bathroom.

Bathrooms can be scary and hard to find. One of them was this old fashioned kind of place that really had nothing more than a ceramic hole in the floor with running water. When I flushed it, with one of those old fashioned pull chains, the noise was so loud, I swear I thought the thing was exploding. Scared the bajeebers out of me. Exited that water closet in a hurry.

Many of the bathrooms require money. Keep some change on hand.

Eating in Nice was a rather lengthy affair. That is to say, eating dinner took about two or three hours. It is a main event and is supposed to fill the evening. We learned this the hard way. Go to dinner as early as possible and long before you are hungry. Each restaurant will offer you a wine or before-dinner drink. Whether or not you order the wine, you will still wait the appropriate amount of time before menus show up. Then you will be offered an appetizer. Again, whether you order or not, you get to wait through some magic stopwatch somewhere. On to salads and dinner. Don’t rush now, because you are supposed to be enjoying the ambiance, same thing you’ve been doing for the last thirty minutes.

Food in France is excellent. After you eat the main course, dessert is offered and then an after-dinner drink. All with the wait that goes with it, whether or not you order. I highly recommend that you do order desserts in France. They are the best in the world and by the time you are done eating and waiting, you’ll be hungry again anyway. Also, at least in Nice, they don’t bring the check until you ask for it. No one wants you to feel rushed.

Don’t be afraid to eat at the pubs (bars). The food there is excellent and the service quite a bit speedier. They will still offer you appetizers and drinks, but they seem a lot less hung up on making sure you take your time. The desserts at the pubs were second to none. The food ranged from lasagna to other exotic dishes that I knew nothing about. All of it was superb and pricing was very reasonable.

One more point about dinner—most restaurants don’t open until about seven at night. By that time my stomach was about to crawl out and start looking for food on its own. Some pubs are open earlier than the restaurants. For lunch, places open specifically for lunch and then close in the afternoon. Almost all places are closed from two until six or seven so plan your meals and carry emergency snacks.

In Nice the beaches are not sandy—they are made up of smooth round rocks. If you are planning several days on the “beach” take water shoes. The water is beautiful and warm. The beaches in Nice were all topless, but of course, you don’t have to go topless.

The best part of sightseeing was when we drove through the preAlps (foothills of the Alps?). This drive was where we saw the Europe of our expectations; castles, towns, and chateaus perched on mountainsides in clusters. Friendly people were eager to help, and we found villages with outdoor markets where fruit and other grocery items could be purchased.

Narrow winding mountain roads with breathtaking scenery were ours to be had. The traffic was easy once we were away from the coastal towns. In particular we enjoyed the Gorges du Cians. It was well worth the drive and we continued on a ways through the mountains to Beuil and then looped back to Nice.

We used the “Michelin Green Guide to the French Alps” 1998. Plan ahead. We had a hard time finding roadmaps. Find maps and other things on the web before you go as we did not have a lot of luck finding them once we were there. If you get there and need them, try bookstores—but they weren’t out on the shelves, we had to ask.

Getting to Switzerland
We traveled by train to Switzerland. Would I do it that way again? Depends on airline prices—they were almost equivalent to train prices at the time. The trip took about 9 hours (I miscalculated and thought it would be faster.) I also thought we would be able to see lots of the countryside.

We did see some, although there several lowered train track areas where all we saw was walls. The occasional castle could be seen from the train, as well as olive gardens, wineries, and hills. Since I’m a get-out-and-do type of person, I would have preferred to get there faster and start hiking. On the plus side—it beat driving. The train did all the work and all we had to do was relax.

A friend recommended taking a sleeper train next time—that would have saved the lost day and cost about the same. I’m not a very sound sleeper however and wasn’t sure I would have gotten a lot of sleep. I would consider it above just the day ride were I in that situation again. There is food on the train, but for cost savings and selection, you might want to bring your own!