They went to Paris and I went to Rome. / They were going to Paris and I was going to Rome

Question

I met Tom and Jane at the airport a few weeks ago. They went to Paris and I went to Rome. We had a chat while we were waiting for our flights.

I met Tom and Jane at the airport a few weeks ago. They were going to Paris and I was going to Rome. We had a chat while we were waiting for our flights.

My grammar book says that the correct answer is only Past Continuous. Is it true? I understand we use Past Continuous to show that their trip is longer than the meeting at the airport. If we need to show it, we can do it. But I think, if I need to give information about the destinations, I can easily use Past Simple. Right?

Answer 1

In this case, we use the past continuous to indicate that both journeys were ongoing at the time of the conversation. They went to Paris would state that the journey was completed, without saying anything about what happened on the way.

You might have said to Tom and Jane, "I'm going to Rome. Where are you going?"