Today I folded up the clothes I will be taking to get an idea of how much luggage space I need. I did a test pack in my roll aboard bag and decided I need a larger bag. I will take my backpack and a small day pack, so really don't want to have to drag 2 other bags around.
Then I went to the mall to look and found a roll aboard duffel at Eddie Bauer that holds 77 liters. I also looked at a larger bag that holds 150 liters. It just looked too large, so I purchased the smaller bag, knowing I might need to exchange it for a larger one.
When I got home, I found I can get most of my clothing in the bag I bought, though I have not put shoes or underwear in the "stack to pack" yet.
I did the research online and found that I can check one bag with outside dimensions of up to 62 inches on this Continental overseas flight with no checked baggage fee. A second checked bag would be $50. If the total dimensions (length, width, height) add up to more than 62 inches, the over size fee is $150. This I better tell Fred, as I believe what he is planning to take could be more that 62 inches. The bag I bought today is less than 62 inches, but I don't think the larger bag I looked at would be.
Anyway, I think I am set for now on luggage. I do need to attach luggage tags to all my things - I got a couple of tags free when I had visa/school/passport photos taken on Friday.
Today I also completed my school application, attached photos, passport, verification of my undergrad degree, and a scan of the signature page and returned the app via email to my school contact.
We also decided to order euros to take with us. We need to open a bank account and then write some checks for rent, etc. immediately, so I went to http://www.bankofamerica.com/ and ordered currency. I received an email last night that the order had been shipped to a local bank office and will be available there in 1 - 3 business days.
This evening I checked the schedules for trains from Paris to Clermont and almost decided to reserve now, then thought better of it - better talk to Fred first. Usually we take the Air France bus from Charles DeGaulle airport to Gare de Lyon, then the train from there, but with a lot of luggage, that can be tricky.
We have tried taking the RER into Paris, but you only need to get stuck in the entry gates once to decide to not do that again. There is also a TGV to Lyon from the airport, but then we would have a layover to change trains for the trip on to Clermont and it is quite a bit more expensive and doesn't get us there any earlier. We will most likely plan to do the usual bus to Gare de Lyon.
It looks like we should get 2 one-way train tickets for the most reasonable tickets with some flexibility. There doesn't really seem to be a price advantage to getting two way tickets, AND we would pay quite a premium to get the option to easily change times on the return. On the one-way ticket from Paris, the upcharge for a more flexible ticket is $10, considerably more on the return.
I did also compare prices at the http://www.sncf.fr/ website and at RailEurope.com noted as the Official U.S. site for the French railway (SNCF). There IS a $10 premium per ticket for using the English language site. With google translate and a currency converter, I will use the French site.
Tickets from Paris to Clermont require reservations these days, so we have to consider all the possibilities before purchasing. One year, we came within a few minutes of missing our overseas flight and COULD have been delayed an entire day. It's not likely, but could happen. The challenge we have is that if we stand in line to purchase train tickets at the station, we have run pretty tight on time - this year we should learn to use the self service kiosks to save time.
I got all that done after my two hour volunteer job at the local community center. So all in all, it has been a great and productive day!
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