Angela Roewe
Contributing Writer

Every vacation comes along with a few unexpected twists and turns and an occasional wild ride, but when Joan Agne boarded a plane for what she thought was a quick girls getaway she had no idea she was in for both.

The Belleville woman, who traveled abroad with an aunt, Marcia Jones of Sparta, and a close friend, Joyce Hearst of Columbia, Mo., had made the decision earlier this year to clear her work schedule as co-owner of Marvin's Camera Shop in Belleville, and spend some "girl time" in Paris. She was more than thrilled because although she had visited Paris before, she had never experienced it in full bloom during the Spring.

As they departed St. Louis Lambert International on April 13, they assumed they and the families they were leaving behind were more than prepared for their weeklong absence, but Mother Nature had other plans for all of them.

When the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted on April 14, sending a 1,000-mile-wide volcanic ash and smoke cloud over much of Europe, it cancelled more than 100,000 flights over a one-week period. Agne, Hearst and Jones were scheduled to take one of those flights back to the U.S.

Ordinarily, most travelers would be frantic, scrambling to find accommodations quickly to put a roof over their heads, but the three were taken care of thanks to some of Jones' relatives.

"We were staying in a flat owned by people Marcia knew, so the owner allowed us to stay for as long as we needed to, and it even had a washer and dryer," Agne said. "We were lucky because all the hotels and lodges were booked because people so many people were grounded. It was crazy everywhere, even car rental businesses ran out of vehicles. People were trying to leave any way possible, even by train.

"We didn't see any effects from the volcano eruption from Paris like many people believed, it just disrupted the flight patterns. We just continued to dine and see the sights making memories."

Anyone whose flight had been cancelled was told to call their airline's hotline number daily to see if flights had been resumed, or if there were any seats available when airliners were able to make it out. On the fifth day of waiting, they were awarded seats on a flight to Chicago that would connect to St. Louis.

But, the day before they were able to board a flight to the U.S., another surprise caught them off guard when Jones tripped while walking in Charlie's Sofa Bar. The fall resulted in a fractured wrist, but at the time, they treated it as a sprain.

"She didn't want to go to the American hospital because she didn't think it was that bad and we would be home soon," Agne said.

"So, we made her a sling from a Parisian silk scarf with the Eiffel Tower on it and gave her over-the-counter pain medications. Turned out once we got home, it was actually a very bad break. We now refer to that meal at Charlie's Sofa Bar as 'The Last Supper'."

Ironically, they ran out of pain medication by the time they arrived at the Paris airport and were unable to buy any while waiting to board. When some friendly travelers in front of them offered Hearst some Tylenol, the group discovered it was purchased in Swansea, Ill.

"It just shows you never know who'll you see or meet," Agne said. "Even while in Paris, we were able to meet up with some women we knew from Belleville, who were also vacationing there. It is a small world."

While resting on the plane, unwinding and recounting all their experiences, Mother Nature threw them another curveball - tornadic activity over the 'Windy City'.

"All I could think was 'Seriously?'," Agne said. "It was a very bumpy and scary flight. The lighting and storm clouds were very visible from the plane's windows and there was a lot of turbulence. It was almost like we weren't supposed to come home in one piece."

But, they did, and when the final flight landed at Lambert they couldn't have been happier.

"Although I really enjoyed our extra time in Paris, it was wonderful to hear the plane's captain announce 'To all you Americans who have been stranded in Europe for a week, welcome home'," Agne said. "Everyone cheered, and as I walked out, I gave him a thumbs up."