I do not spend the beginning of 2008 in france, no, I spend the time in Poughkeepsie, New York. After just 3 hours in bed (we had a little party at our Neighbours place) I took of to the Airport. The flight from Stuttgart to Paris was ok. I had a nice small talk with Peter. A german living near Biarritz in France since 4 years. We had a fun time in the plane. In Paris I had to take the Shuttlebus to come from 2D Terminal to 2E. 2E is being renovated right now. Since my e-Ticket was not showing the departure Terminal I had always to explain it. Also at the security check were three guys checking the passport and boarding pass. Was kid of funny, because we were already checked and one guy left and another just came and re-verified… They must have been bored. When I finally came tom y seat in the plane I was sitting in the row in front of the emergeny exit row. Damn, well was ok, but the emergency exit row has much more leg room. My luck was the girl sitting behind me. She was not speaking any english word so she could not stay there. The flight attendant asked me, if I mind changing seats. I said sure. no problem. I finally had a nice roomy seat. Flight time was going by. FIf you ever fly overseas you might find a magazine from SKYMALL (www.skymall.com ). You can buy useless or crazy articles like a Ice cooler with engine, it can be used as a scooter and a Umbrella that is storm safe. funny was the fact, that one of the Movies was Rush Hour 3, which was shot in Paris… France is everywhere. We arrived with 30 minutes delay and after the usual delay at the immigration ( took 1 hour to finish) I was able to get with the Air Train to Hertz. Yeah, Immigration. 4 planes arrived at the same hour and so were hundreds of people from Manchester, Mexiko City, Paris and Frankfurt waiting in line. Only about 8 of 30 Counters were available…
Ok, at hertz I got a Hyundai Sonata. That is really a nice, roomy, comfortable car. Not a small one. But france and USA are very similar when it comes to some things. For example the bad roads. Besides the big Highways many other roads are in really bad shape. The bumps, holes and so on are really bad. So I drove from JFK via I-678N Van Wack Expressway via Whitestone Bridge to Hutchinson River Parkway N, I-684 N to I-84W and some miles on Route 9 to my Hotel in Poughkeepsie. There is still some snow in Poughkeepsie. But the roads are ok. I also did my shopping at Wal Mart. Good idea, because when I unloaded my car it started to rain. Since there were -10C 
yesterday and only 4C today there was a icerain warning. So I did not continue to drive to my Steakhouse. After such a long day I wanted it easy. So I had some food in my room. Oh yeah, I already changed my room in the Hotel. When I wanted to lay in the bed I noticed a sweet smell of a sweet parfume. I also found stains on one pillow and also a sweet smell. So the bed was not clean. Now I the same type of room just on the 4th floor not the third. Now I will live here in Poughkeepsie for the next 4 weeks. Unfortunately again without my lovely family. But soon we will live together in France. Many greetings from upstate NY