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Saturday, October 11, 2008

How the world sees us

During our trip to France we hung around our fellow travelers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and the United States. Those of us from the States were in the minority. The Australians dominated. Next in number were the Canadians. Mostly, these people were professionals, teachers, engineers, government workers, small business men and women, taking a vacation in early fall, or early spring, as the case for the lower hemisphere.

These folks were frequent travelers,stopping in France for the second or third time in their lives, taking a couple of weeks on their trek to see more of the world. Half of the tour group had finished a cruise in the Mediterrenean, visiting France before flying back home.

The time when Americans dominated tourism is past. Our dollar bought us less than ever before; and that is the major rub.

Everyone asked us about our political views. And everyone, with no exception, voiced disappointment and incredulity at our American policies. Barack Obama was the overwhelming choice among these travelers.

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