France By the Numbers

Our trip to France was not inexpensive, but it felt that way. The dollar was strong against the Euro and French Franc, which meant the best exchange rate for my bucks that I've ever received.

Historically, the exchange rate has always been in the 5 French Francs (ff) to the dollar range. Although, in the past, I've had to face less than 5 ff on previous excursions. In July, we received exchange rates from 7.04 to 7.40 to the buck.

That made the mental math one must do to compare prices (quick: if the price tag is 35 ff, what is it's cost in dollars?) a bit more complicated. You can divide by 5 by multiplying by 2 and moving a decimal point, but you can't do that with 7-something.

In the tourist areas (Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Paris) there are little hole-in-the-wall change offices everywhere. And they are fair. I can't say the same for airport change kiosks -- in the states or in France.

I thought about changing a few bucks at the Tampa airport before we left, but when I saw their rate of 6.65 ff to the dollar, I didn't. I didn't even try to exchange money at the Nice airport. We just got our rental car and drove to the wife's cousin's place.

After lunch and a much needed nap, I walked three blocks to a change office and cashed $500 in travelers checks for 3727 ff.

I must admit that travelers checks aren't used much anymore. The $1500 in TC's that I had cost me $15 in fees at my credit union when I took the money out of savings. I just don't like to carry that much in cash on me.

When we reached the small village where my mother-in-law lives, I cashed $300 in TCs at the local bank. That was where I got my worse conversion rate and the stinkers also charged me a 50 ff fee for doing the transaction.

I see from my credit card bill that the one night in a hotel that I spent was charged using 7.41 francs to the buck. So you get the good rates when you use your credit card. I didn't have to dip into the checking account via ATMs while I was away, but it should have been just as good. Except I bet my back would charge that damn $1.50 fee for not using their ATM.

You won't fare as well as I. I see the dollar has fallen since my return two weeks ago. You wouldn't get even 7 francs to the buck today.