386 - My First Trip to Europe IV

Literally, a lot of crazy things were going through my mind. Was I stuck in a sea of people who didn’t speak any English? You bet I was worried.

It took around 30 minutes for Bernd to find me, and when he did I was trying my best to have a smile on my face while he explained in very good English (with a German accent) how traffic this morning was much worse than normal due to construction. We get in his rented Ford Mondeo Station Wagon (think Ford Taurus), loaded my bags and off we went to our Paris office named “CEMEC”. As we’re on the highway, stuck in traffic, I notice his gas gauge is not only on E, but the red light is on! All that’s going through my mind now is that my first memory of Paris will be me, pushing this car through Paris on my first day there.

He mentions we’ll make it fine as there’s a petrol station right near CEMEC. When we stop, he puts in 15.6 gallons of fuel (I converted from liters), in a 16 gallon tank!

As we drove to my hotel (a Novotel), I was amazed at just how refreshed I felt after sleeping only a few hours on the plane. I think the excitement of being in Europe/Paris was overwhelming. We saw the new soccer stadium (Football to them), drove over the Seine river, and marveled how it wound it’s way through Paris. At the hotel, I checked in, dropped my bags off, and we headed out to the office to get to work. All this, and it was around 10am.

I met quite a few people there including my counterpart in IT there Jean-Phillippe, and an engineer named Hubert (pronounced hyoo-bear). I went about doing my Y2K work and in the afternoon, Bernd asked me 2 or 3 times if I wanted to take a break as I had been up over 30 hours (not counting the nap on the plane). It was around 5pm when Bernd finally said lets break for the day, and go out for dinner. We go back to the hotel to freshen up with the plan to meet Jean-Phillippe at the restaurant. I was excited for my first meal in a nice French restaurant.

At the hotel, Bernd says he’s heading to his room and we’ll meet at the bar downstairs in about 40 minutes.

I get there a bit early, then practice my French by saying “Un beer sil vous plait”, and as the guy’s pouring… I realize I don’t have any Francs on me to pay yet (this is pre-Euro). Luckily, Bernd shows up a moment later and pays as he chuckles. I mention to him I need to get some Francs and we make plans to get some tomorrow. He orders something called a “Martini Blanc”, and I wonder what it is.

We walk a few blocks, my eyes wide at the sights and sounds of Paris. I’m picturing a French Bistro, maybe a little place on the Seine.. and as Bernd mentions “We’re here, there’s Jean-Phillippe” and I see the restaurant, my eyes bug out and mouth hangs open in confusion.

Continued Friday

Have a wonderful Hump-Day!