vive l'euro!!!

[le pire]

I got my first euros today... I paid in francs and my change was in euros. It's a great time to be in France actually. Last night we celebrated not just the new year, but also the birth of a new country: Europe.

There is a wonderful feeling of unity and solidarity amongst peoples separated by languages, histories, religions, mountains, water, politics and philosophies. In short we are peoples with a different past who share the same vision of the future. Vive l'euro!

étienne

[worldwidese]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by le pire:
I got my first euros today... I paid in francs and my change was in euros. Vive l'euro!
étienne

Chapeau! Now it will be so much easier to measure the cost of anything we buy in any country. Plus we won't have to worry about leaving or entering a country with odd coins in our pockets

[le pire]

yeah, but this has a downside. People will chuck 1 euro coins in your hat, when they used to put in a 10 franc coin ($1.65).

Of course in Italy they normally fling the 500 lire coin (.25) if they don't give you a pesky 1000 lire bill, so there we'll get a raise!


étienne

p.s. to say "the hat" as in street performance, is "la manche." It comes from "faire la manche" which means to beg. I hate this, because we are NOT begging.

[LANCEALOT]

Yep, the Euro has arrived!!! I'm not sure about France but here in Holland every person of 16 years of age and over received their very own EURO KIT set of coins (value = EURO 3.88) in order to get us used to the idea. Add to that the special TV slots, nationwide postage, EURO KIT collection points etc. all over the country and it all adds up to a pretty penny or two. Just that stunt alone cost somewhere in the region of Euro 150,000,000. Still, least we all had a few beers curtesy of the Government on New Year's Eve!

[le pire]

They GAVE you a euro kit!?!?!! We were allowed to BUY them back on on Dec 13.

They gave you guys fireworks, too. We didn't get that, either. Just Jacques Chirac on the telly.

Waiting in line at the supermarket takes 10 times longer now, as nobody knows which coin is which. Old people just hold out a handful of change and let the cashier pick out the right amount.

étienne