At the time the exchange rate was about SF 4.0 per $ , and about 4.3 NF per $.
I returned on business pre-Euro , and the SF was approaching par with the $ , but I was getting 8 FF per $ !
It was interesting that my high speed inter-city train from Milano was held up in the South of France for about six hours due to a strike of some sort , causing me to miss my reservation on the high speed train to Barcelona in Spain. Instead of arriving in time to get to my hotel , clean up , and go to dinner , I got to my hotel hungry at about 4 am.