I had to made a note about the man I met on the plane from Paris to Houston. As we were getting settled in our seats I saw him take out his camera and take a picture of the cabin. I was curious so I asked him why he was taking a picture. He explained that his colleagues at home thought that his traveling was all about fancy dinners and sightseeing and luxury. So he took pictures of the view from inside the taxi, pictures of long waits at the airport, pictures from inside the plane with the back of people's heads, catered lunch inside a conference room, etc. He is creating a travel log for his colleagues at home to show them the real deal. I thought it was hysterical! And not so far from the truth with my situation although I don't think it's as bad. We do have a free weekend after the 1st weekend of the audit to do some sightseeing and we do try to eat a nice dinner at night. We also have the opportunity to extend our trip to enjoy the sights after the audit but it's only with special permission. I think I will do more of that when i get to a country I've never been and when Gary has more vacation and can join me.
Despite all this I still take away the fact that I have learned more about the country and the culture based on insights from work colleagues which is more than I would get just being a tourist visiting a country for a short time.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Paris is just as wonderful as I remembered
Friday, October 29
So happy I got to spend 5 hours walking the streets of Paris. Leaving tomorrow morning and I didn’t want to go before getting into Paris city center. Since I got back to Paris last Friday night it has been busy with writing the report and there was no time to steal away and be a tourist. Would have been bummed if I was in France for 3 weeks and never saw the Eiffel tower! The city is lovely in the fall. The leaves were just starting to turn color and already starting to fall.
Our final discussion was really rough today. We expected it and worked hard all week to be prepared and reconcile with the auditees before the meeting. I was really hoping we would finish early so I could go into the city. Our meeting was actually in Serris which is about 30 minutes by car from Paris city center, it was where I was at the beginning of the trip. Finally! At 4pm we were done and ready to go . Juliana & Sascha left for the airport to go back to ddorf. I took a taxi to the train station to catch the RER to city center. 20 minute ride to Point Nuef.
I walked to Notre Dame and it was still the same. The front looks like any other cathedral but the back has all the character and unique dimensions. Luckily I got there with some daylight left for pictures. I knew it would not be long before it gets dark so I thought the best way was to take a boat trip along the Seine river with the Eiffel tower as my final destination. 23 years ago when I was here for the first time, after my semester in spain, I took a tour boat along the Seine so just like old times!
Stumbled upon a hop on hop off type of boat for 13 euros. Not exactly the smaller tour boat but it took me to where I needed to go which was the Eiffel tower. What luck! The sun was starting to set so hopefully I got some really nice pictures. During the whole boat ride the sky took on so many different shades of light and color, so beautiful. 1 hour after we parted Notre Dame the Eiffel tower came into view. It happened to be the best time of the sunset so it was awesome. The horizon was a dark yellow, orange and red. It was dark enough that the whole tower was already illuminated. I was so excited to see it. I was so focused on taking pictures I almost forgot to get off the boat! The Eiffel tower was still a half a mile away and I couldn’t wait to get to it. As I approached it the whole thing started to sparkle. Well, that was new. Imagine a sparkler stick that people light up on new years, except this had a more distinct shape. Apparently they covered the whole tower with alternating xmas lights so the effect was an incredibly sparkling diamond. I looked at my watch and it was 8pm so I was guessing they do this on the hour for about 5 minutes only. Strolled along the river and taking in the scene. By the time I got to the tower I could see all the street vendors selling their glow in the dark miniatures of the Eiffel tower and unfortunately I could hear lots of American tourists. It sounds so strange after 3 weeks of hearing mostly French and French accented English. I felt like it was another language even when our French colleagues speak English. Their accent is thick so I had to concentrate to understand them. Even though it’s really broken French I try to speak French when I talk on the street, don’t know why. I took so many pictures but each step away from the tower I get a different view. I walked further back and discovered a new place I’ve never been to, the Trocadero! It’s a higher point and gave a fantastic view of the tower. By then it was almost 9pm and I could tell by all the people with cameras that they were also waiting for the tower to light up. It was worth the wait. You can hear the indrawn of breathes as some people were pleasantly surprised by the lit up tower.
On this audit I made another 2 good friends. The 3 of us really bonded well. Juliana told me so many stories of her country in Kenya and the many beautiful places in Africa. She called south Africa “plastic” and says that’s where most tourists go. I made a date with her that I will come to Africa and she will by my tour guide, I want to see Zanzibar. In Kenya most people grow up learning both English and Swahili. It took me time to get used to J’s accent.
Sacha is a german who lived in south of france for 10 years when he was younger. It was great to have him with us because he spoke French fluently. Such a nice guy and so smart. He is so easy going. By the end of the trip we made a date to meet at Juliana’s apartment the Sunday that I get to germany in November and have a cook out. I was going to make a Vietnamese dish, J will make a Kenya dish and Sascha “volunteered” his girlfriend who is from Peru to make a Peruvian dish. I brought Vietnamese ingredients the first time I went to germany but never got around to using them and left them there in the office. So it’s all ready to go, I just need to buy veggies and meat when I get there. I can’t wait to see them again.
On our last night together we went out for a late dinner. Juliana, in an effort to be more adventurous ordered a cocktail she never had before. She ordered an Americano in my honor (so sweet). Poor thing, turns out it’s a drink with Campari which is very bitter and none of us could drink it!
This was my best audit so far in terms of work content, audit team and ofcourse location! Who would say no to franch?! Already this week I started preparing for my next audit in which I will again be the audit lead. Estonia which is right below Finland. I already know my audit partner, Laszlo who is a really easy going guy. He is Hungarian so I am still adding another culture to my list of friends! I started doing research on location and hotels and the cities of Tallin(admin office) and Parnu (location of plant) look SO cute. It will be the beginning of winter so temps will most likely be in the 20's and 30's but I have my ugg boots and long underwear ready! And wouldn’t you know it, parnu is known as a spa town! Laszlo actually wanted to stay in a hotel called the Spa and Conference hotel. It's walking distance to the beach. It’s fate!
So happy I got to spend 5 hours walking the streets of Paris. Leaving tomorrow morning and I didn’t want to go before getting into Paris city center. Since I got back to Paris last Friday night it has been busy with writing the report and there was no time to steal away and be a tourist. Would have been bummed if I was in France for 3 weeks and never saw the Eiffel tower! The city is lovely in the fall. The leaves were just starting to turn color and already starting to fall.
Our final discussion was really rough today. We expected it and worked hard all week to be prepared and reconcile with the auditees before the meeting. I was really hoping we would finish early so I could go into the city. Our meeting was actually in Serris which is about 30 minutes by car from Paris city center, it was where I was at the beginning of the trip. Finally! At 4pm we were done and ready to go . Juliana & Sascha left for the airport to go back to ddorf. I took a taxi to the train station to catch the RER to city center. 20 minute ride to Point Nuef.
I walked to Notre Dame and it was still the same. The front looks like any other cathedral but the back has all the character and unique dimensions. Luckily I got there with some daylight left for pictures. I knew it would not be long before it gets dark so I thought the best way was to take a boat trip along the Seine river with the Eiffel tower as my final destination. 23 years ago when I was here for the first time, after my semester in spain, I took a tour boat along the Seine so just like old times!
Stumbled upon a hop on hop off type of boat for 13 euros. Not exactly the smaller tour boat but it took me to where I needed to go which was the Eiffel tower. What luck! The sun was starting to set so hopefully I got some really nice pictures. During the whole boat ride the sky took on so many different shades of light and color, so beautiful. 1 hour after we parted Notre Dame the Eiffel tower came into view. It happened to be the best time of the sunset so it was awesome. The horizon was a dark yellow, orange and red. It was dark enough that the whole tower was already illuminated. I was so excited to see it. I was so focused on taking pictures I almost forgot to get off the boat! The Eiffel tower was still a half a mile away and I couldn’t wait to get to it. As I approached it the whole thing started to sparkle. Well, that was new. Imagine a sparkler stick that people light up on new years, except this had a more distinct shape. Apparently they covered the whole tower with alternating xmas lights so the effect was an incredibly sparkling diamond. I looked at my watch and it was 8pm so I was guessing they do this on the hour for about 5 minutes only. Strolled along the river and taking in the scene. By the time I got to the tower I could see all the street vendors selling their glow in the dark miniatures of the Eiffel tower and unfortunately I could hear lots of American tourists. It sounds so strange after 3 weeks of hearing mostly French and French accented English. I felt like it was another language even when our French colleagues speak English. Their accent is thick so I had to concentrate to understand them. Even though it’s really broken French I try to speak French when I talk on the street, don’t know why. I took so many pictures but each step away from the tower I get a different view. I walked further back and discovered a new place I’ve never been to, the Trocadero! It’s a higher point and gave a fantastic view of the tower. By then it was almost 9pm and I could tell by all the people with cameras that they were also waiting for the tower to light up. It was worth the wait. You can hear the indrawn of breathes as some people were pleasantly surprised by the lit up tower.
On this audit I made another 2 good friends. The 3 of us really bonded well. Juliana told me so many stories of her country in Kenya and the many beautiful places in Africa. She called south Africa “plastic” and says that’s where most tourists go. I made a date with her that I will come to Africa and she will by my tour guide, I want to see Zanzibar. In Kenya most people grow up learning both English and Swahili. It took me time to get used to J’s accent.
Sacha is a german who lived in south of france for 10 years when he was younger. It was great to have him with us because he spoke French fluently. Such a nice guy and so smart. He is so easy going. By the end of the trip we made a date to meet at Juliana’s apartment the Sunday that I get to germany in November and have a cook out. I was going to make a Vietnamese dish, J will make a Kenya dish and Sascha “volunteered” his girlfriend who is from Peru to make a Peruvian dish. I brought Vietnamese ingredients the first time I went to germany but never got around to using them and left them there in the office. So it’s all ready to go, I just need to buy veggies and meat when I get there. I can’t wait to see them again.
On our last night together we went out for a late dinner. Juliana, in an effort to be more adventurous ordered a cocktail she never had before. She ordered an Americano in my honor (so sweet). Poor thing, turns out it’s a drink with Campari which is very bitter and none of us could drink it!
This was my best audit so far in terms of work content, audit team and ofcourse location! Who would say no to franch?! Already this week I started preparing for my next audit in which I will again be the audit lead. Estonia which is right below Finland. I already know my audit partner, Laszlo who is a really easy going guy. He is Hungarian so I am still adding another culture to my list of friends! I started doing research on location and hotels and the cities of Tallin(admin office) and Parnu (location of plant) look SO cute. It will be the beginning of winter so temps will most likely be in the 20's and 30's but I have my ugg boots and long underwear ready! And wouldn’t you know it, parnu is known as a spa town! Laszlo actually wanted to stay in a hotel called the Spa and Conference hotel. It's walking distance to the beach. It’s fate!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I had escargots for dinner last night, yum!
Yes, for the uncouthed escargots means snails. Both Sascha and I ordered escargots for appetizers. It was cooked in the shell with butter and pesto, so good. Juliana was horrified when we told her what it was! Like a good sport she did let me persuade her to try one. Not bad was her response! I thought it was better than the almost raw duck liver (fois gras) that she had for her appetizer- yuck.
When eating the escargot I thought it was just like the scene from the movie Pretty Woman. Ok, so the restaurant was one tenth in size and I didn't look like julia roberts, and my clothes were on the dumpy side, and I wasn't on a date with a billionaire. Allright, the only similarity was that the escargots were the same, in the shell and came with the same kind of tool. At one point I had one that was too hidden in the shell to get the meat out so I gave it up. Juliana wouldn't hear of it so she tried to get it out for me, I was leaning back because I totally expected her to not pay attention and the snail could go flying in my direction.
The restaurant had a beaujolais wine so ofcourse we had a glass. It's my favorite wine now, but you don't find it in too many restaurants because it has a short shelf like. It's the opposite of all other wines where it gets better with age. The average shelf life of beaujolais is 2 years and it's better when newer, the one we had last night was 2009.
I made a date with Sascha and J that I would cook a vietnamese meal for them when I come to germany next month. I left the ingredients in my office in ddorf so it's all there. Yes, I think the 3 of us bonded quite nicely.
When eating the escargot I thought it was just like the scene from the movie Pretty Woman. Ok, so the restaurant was one tenth in size and I didn't look like julia roberts, and my clothes were on the dumpy side, and I wasn't on a date with a billionaire. Allright, the only similarity was that the escargots were the same, in the shell and came with the same kind of tool. At one point I had one that was too hidden in the shell to get the meat out so I gave it up. Juliana wouldn't hear of it so she tried to get it out for me, I was leaning back because I totally expected her to not pay attention and the snail could go flying in my direction.
The restaurant had a beaujolais wine so ofcourse we had a glass. It's my favorite wine now, but you don't find it in too many restaurants because it has a short shelf like. It's the opposite of all other wines where it gets better with age. The average shelf life of beaujolais is 2 years and it's better when newer, the one we had last night was 2009.
I made a date with Sascha and J that I would cook a vietnamese meal for them when I come to germany next month. I left the ingredients in my office in ddorf so it's all there. Yes, I think the 3 of us bonded quite nicely.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
View of Eiffel Tower outside my office window-sweet!
How often will I get to say that?! The 3 of us work out of a conference room in the office here. However, I needed a private office for a conference call this afternoon so they gave me the office key to office of a senior vp who is in germany most of the time. From his office I see a perfect view of the eiffel tower which is about 5-6 miles away.
Had 3 hours of sleep last night. It would have been the worst night of the trip since we had the deadline to turn in the report this morning. Last night we worked until 9pm until the office lights went out (literally). Had to use our open laptop for some light and pack up! Sascha made a funny comment that there's a french law that does not allow people to work more than 12 hour per day. Boy these people has it good here. No wonder they are not as stressed out as us americans! That and they have way better bakeries! Buying an eclair at safeway bakery is just not the same, no way.
Weather is getting cold here! 40 in the morning and 60 during the day. perfect fall weather. We walk 10 minutes to work so it's nice. On the way to work is our favorite bakery/boulangerie. I had a croissant this morning that was different, there was apple filling in the middle and it was so good. I am still too greedy and buying too much. Sitting in front of me is another raisin croissant that I couldn't eat. will have to throw it out. You just don't eat day old baked goods here, not when you can buy it cheap right out of the oven.
This morning I gave gary instructions to book me a massage for sunday or monday as soon as I get back! Sitting at a desk for long hours is killer on your neck and back! First thing when I get back this weekend is to go on a nice hike on sunday morning with my honey.
Had 3 hours of sleep last night. It would have been the worst night of the trip since we had the deadline to turn in the report this morning. Last night we worked until 9pm until the office lights went out (literally). Had to use our open laptop for some light and pack up! Sascha made a funny comment that there's a french law that does not allow people to work more than 12 hour per day. Boy these people has it good here. No wonder they are not as stressed out as us americans! That and they have way better bakeries! Buying an eclair at safeway bakery is just not the same, no way.
Weather is getting cold here! 40 in the morning and 60 during the day. perfect fall weather. We walk 10 minutes to work so it's nice. On the way to work is our favorite bakery/boulangerie. I had a croissant this morning that was different, there was apple filling in the middle and it was so good. I am still too greedy and buying too much. Sitting in front of me is another raisin croissant that I couldn't eat. will have to throw it out. You just don't eat day old baked goods here, not when you can buy it cheap right out of the oven.
This morning I gave gary instructions to book me a massage for sunday or monday as soon as I get back! Sitting at a desk for long hours is killer on your neck and back! First thing when I get back this weekend is to go on a nice hike on sunday morning with my honey.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The french bakeries are just as I remembered!
Unfortunately. Going on a diet here is NOT an option.
J and I met up with Sascha our third teammate on Friday night. Our hotel in Paris is much better. The Hnkle headquarters in France is located in the Paris suburb of Boulogne. There's a subway station 50 feet from our hotel and it's a 15 minute right into the city center.
Yesterday morning (Saturday) went out with Sascha to look for breakfast while J sleeps in. French breakfast is typically a croissant and coffee so we couldn't really find a sit down restaurant for breakfast. Ended up in a bakery near the hnkl office that sascha and juliana know well. OMG, everything looked SO good. All kinds of tarts, breads, croissants. I tried this fanstastic concoction with 2 pieces of white bread, thin piece of ham in the middle and a pile of gruyere and mozarella cheese on top, all baked until it's brown on top. I told Gary I'm going to try and make this when I get home. Anyway, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and we bought so much. Aside from the ham&cheese melt, we got 2 baugettes, 3 raisin croissants and 10 little mini tarts. We ended up only eating through half of it! I was so full I had to skip lunch. Had to go out to buy some fruit so I don't get out of control. This morning when we did our trip to the bakery we did buy a lot less, mostly because we plan to come back to get a sandwich and dessert for lunch! They all look so tempting! I still bought too much since I was only able to eat one of the two mini quiches. Tomorrow I'll have to try what sascha bought which was a small crispy baguette topped a little bit of cheese and sausage. So much good food so little stomach space!
I ran out yesterday to get a massage. So disappointed that they did not have deep tissue and only relaxing massages. Better than nothing. Juliana found out about it last night and wanted to go as well. Until I told her how the french give massages, then she changed her mind. They give you a pair of skimpy disposable underwear and do not cover the rest of you. That's why they don't have male maseusse! For half of the time you lay on your back and your boobs are exposed. After the legs they rub your tummy and work around the boobs! Since I have gotten so many massages nothing shocks me anymore. I also knew the french are the opposite of modest when it comes to things like this. I just don't want to offend anyone with my fat body.
After the massage I found a mall nearby and thank goodness they had a zara store. This is a nicer version of H&M. The clothes are affordable so I don't feel too bad. Bought a few thin sweaters for the cooler weather and to wear over my button down shirts to cover the gaping openings due to my weigh gain! Bought a pair of warm pants and skirt. I tried to control myself since I have so much clothes at home! Now I'm set for the rest of the week. Wish I could wear those fashionable boots everyone wears now. So cute when they wear their skirts with tights and boots. With so much walking I can't do the heels! The shoes are not comfortable as the ones I have at home.
Working in our room all weekend since our report is due Tuesday morning to germany for the first round of review. I've got 50-60 pages to crank out. Bummed that I can't enjoy beautiful Paris right now. Before I leave on Saturday I need to run out take some pictures of eiffel tower and notre dame. I've seen these sights before but my pictures have got to be at least 15 years ago and not with my SLR. I think last time I was in Paris it was a new year trip with andy.
Gary went on a nice full moon hike last night with our friends, I hate it when I miss things like this. Have to remind myself that it will only be for a year. Actually it's almost 3 months already and 7 more to go.
J and I met up with Sascha our third teammate on Friday night. Our hotel in Paris is much better. The Hnkle headquarters in France is located in the Paris suburb of Boulogne. There's a subway station 50 feet from our hotel and it's a 15 minute right into the city center.
Yesterday morning (Saturday) went out with Sascha to look for breakfast while J sleeps in. French breakfast is typically a croissant and coffee so we couldn't really find a sit down restaurant for breakfast. Ended up in a bakery near the hnkl office that sascha and juliana know well. OMG, everything looked SO good. All kinds of tarts, breads, croissants. I tried this fanstastic concoction with 2 pieces of white bread, thin piece of ham in the middle and a pile of gruyere and mozarella cheese on top, all baked until it's brown on top. I told Gary I'm going to try and make this when I get home. Anyway, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and we bought so much. Aside from the ham&cheese melt, we got 2 baugettes, 3 raisin croissants and 10 little mini tarts. We ended up only eating through half of it! I was so full I had to skip lunch. Had to go out to buy some fruit so I don't get out of control. This morning when we did our trip to the bakery we did buy a lot less, mostly because we plan to come back to get a sandwich and dessert for lunch! They all look so tempting! I still bought too much since I was only able to eat one of the two mini quiches. Tomorrow I'll have to try what sascha bought which was a small crispy baguette topped a little bit of cheese and sausage. So much good food so little stomach space!
I ran out yesterday to get a massage. So disappointed that they did not have deep tissue and only relaxing massages. Better than nothing. Juliana found out about it last night and wanted to go as well. Until I told her how the french give massages, then she changed her mind. They give you a pair of skimpy disposable underwear and do not cover the rest of you. That's why they don't have male maseusse! For half of the time you lay on your back and your boobs are exposed. After the legs they rub your tummy and work around the boobs! Since I have gotten so many massages nothing shocks me anymore. I also knew the french are the opposite of modest when it comes to things like this. I just don't want to offend anyone with my fat body.
After the massage I found a mall nearby and thank goodness they had a zara store. This is a nicer version of H&M. The clothes are affordable so I don't feel too bad. Bought a few thin sweaters for the cooler weather and to wear over my button down shirts to cover the gaping openings due to my weigh gain! Bought a pair of warm pants and skirt. I tried to control myself since I have so much clothes at home! Now I'm set for the rest of the week. Wish I could wear those fashionable boots everyone wears now. So cute when they wear their skirts with tights and boots. With so much walking I can't do the heels! The shoes are not comfortable as the ones I have at home.
Working in our room all weekend since our report is due Tuesday morning to germany for the first round of review. I've got 50-60 pages to crank out. Bummed that I can't enjoy beautiful Paris right now. Before I leave on Saturday I need to run out take some pictures of eiffel tower and notre dame. I've seen these sights before but my pictures have got to be at least 15 years ago and not with my SLR. I think last time I was in Paris it was a new year trip with andy.
Gary went on a nice full moon hike last night with our friends, I hate it when I miss things like this. Have to remind myself that it will only be for a year. Actually it's almost 3 months already and 7 more to go.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I'm alive and well in france, despite all talks of the strike...
Friday, October 22
On the fast train to Paris and catching up with my blog…
First of all it’s damn lucky there was a train. We planned to leave from Villefranche and go back to Paris right after work on Friday. Juliana had a later train and I was going to change my ticket to match her time. Turned out my train was the only one running that day. With the strike you have to check day by day to see what train is running. What a pain in the ass this strike is going to be. So far I hear a lot about it on the news but have not seen anything from where I was. I only feel it in how we plan our travels. Supposedly international flights are not affected so I will keep my fingers crossed. It was funny when I heard on the news yesterday that they are telling airlines flying into france to come in with enough fuel to fly out! Since the strikers are setting up blockades at the oil refineries it is starting to cause a fuel shortage in the country. As of Friday about 30% of gas stations are out of fuel and there are lines at the ones that are open.
By chance I called my mom earlier in the week and she was so relieved to hear from me she started crying, I felt so bad! Apparently she hears about the strike on TV and saw some violence break out in some demonstrations and was worried about me. She was thinking there was violence everywhere. It’s typical that the news would depict the worse. We talk about it quite a bit at lunch with our local colleagues so it’s interesting. I see it on BBC but they report it on an international level. It’s interesting to get perspective from the locals. The plant mgr Christian said that in the US the union would try to negotiate first and then go on strike if there can’t be agreement. In France the unions go on strike first and then negotiate. They do this to show their power and leverage. Now they’ve incited the young population, the students, into it. These kids are the ones that get rowdy and get in trouble with the police. I wonder if they are just getting into the action or if they truly believe in what the strike is all about. Come on, they should be glad that the retirement age is only going from 60 to 62. Just look at their neighbors, Germany is 65 and England is going to be 66. But France has long ago gained the reputation of going on strike at a drop of the hat. They do not like change and do not like it that their president (Sarkozy) is trying to put in reforms in order to save the economy. Did they expect to continue to live the good life forever when the rest of the world have issues? The government is declaring some of the blockades unconstitutional and stepping in to break up the human blockades on some of the oil refineries. It would be interesting to check out these demonstrations but I promised Gary and my mom that I would not go near them. I guess that would be asking for trouble. I’m just pissed that it might stop me from checking out some of the sights in Paris this weekend. School holidays start next week so supposedly the strikes are easing up because no one will be around. I guess the unions are taking a vacation from the strike, how stupid is that!
I so regret not having more time to enjoy Beaujolais country, it’s so pretty here. When Gary & I were in Amsterdam we went to the van gogh museum. I loved it and learned a lot about the artist. Towards the end of his life van gogh went down to the French countryside to get away from the hectic Paris city scene. During that time he did a lot of paintings to depict the surroundings he loved so much. Anyway, Villefranche reminded me of this. Rolling mountains and vineyards in the distance, big open fields of wheat or corn, stone farm houses scatter around the fields. Thick blankets of fog rolling into the valley in the early morning hours, crisp clean air. I wish I had more time to take pictures. Fall is just beginning and the leaves are starting to change color. I meant to walk to the river to take pictures before I leave but this week was so busy that we were leaving the office between 8-9pm and then back to the hotel at 10pm, after dinner. The ladies at the office were so sweet about wanting me to come back down next week. Valerie the receptionist says to send here an email and she will show me around “Beaujolais” country. They are very patient with my broken French and try to teach me. I don’t expect that in Paris. Country people are much more relaxed and friendly in general I think.
My teammates on this assignments were fine, I think we got along well although all very different personalities. Norbert is a 50-ish scientist with doctorate and is the opposite of me so he drives me nuts sometimes. From the beginning I tried to establish a schedule for him along with expectations. He must think I was a slave driver but seems to take things in stride. He is a wine connoisseur so would proceed to tell you about every wine there is. I must admit I learned something from him and I did enjoy a glass of Beaujolais every night at dinner. Poor guy, I think he was traumatized by dinner at McDonalds last night. We worked late last night and did not leave the office until 9:30pm and only because I was getting hungry and cranky. Since we had more work to do that night I made the decision to stop at McDs for a quick bite instead of regular dinner in town. Well, throughout the meal he gave me an account of each of the 4 occasions when he had a burger and kept looking at his burger in disbelief and claims there is no taste to it! Too bad, I really did not have time or energy for a 2 hour meal. You really can’t rush a meal when you are in France, they won’t let you. That’s how I started having a glass of wine to sip and savor while waiting for your meal. It’s actually quite pleasant. Back home people would eat their meals in 10 minutes and would complain if the waitress is not fast enough. Or the waitress would rush you through so to increase the turnover. In France they will never give you the check until you ask for it. I really liked taking 2 hours to eat my meal. Wonder if I will go back to my old ways when I’m home.
I love the food here! I know I gained weight because my clothes are not fitting very well. OMG, I am so going on a diet when I get home, so depressing. But there is no way I am going to skip out on the great food and the fantastic French bread! It’s not like I am gorging on food but I am not active with walking or hiking like at home, and the food is free and good so ofcourse I am going to pick up that yummy looking tart! Will have to do some emergency shopping in Paris this weekend because I am popping out of my button down shirts which is all I have aside from the short sleeves. I can’t wear the short sleeve because the temps have dropped drastically from the first week. Yep, I packed very poorly this trip, will have to do better for Estonia. Anyway, back to my favorite topic, food. I have got to learn how to make some of these sauces, a far cry from the American gravy!. The cook for the employee café is so good. Since it’s a small team here and all are friendly to each other, I worked up the courage to ask the cook to give me some of his recipes – coq au vin, pork bouginon, creamy potatos, etc. Win-win since he was very proud of the fact that I asked for his recipes. He got my email address yesterday and promised to send me recipes. Since he did not speak any English the recipes will be in French! I would so rather hang out in the kitchen with him and learn to cook than do the work I was doing!
For the last week we will all be together in Paris. It’s been many years since I’ve been to Paris, can’t wait to walk around and soak in the atmosphere AND eat some great crepes! Juliana asked me the other day what crepes were, OMG! I told her she cannot leave france without eating a crepe from one of those streetcar vendor that makes it to order, with nutella and grand marnier!!
I’m skying gary everyday and that really helps. Fortunately with the time zone it works out well. I skype him when I get up and we talk for half an hour while I get ready for work and he is ready for bed. I am loving my ipad, best buy this year.
On the fast train to Paris and catching up with my blog…
First of all it’s damn lucky there was a train. We planned to leave from Villefranche and go back to Paris right after work on Friday. Juliana had a later train and I was going to change my ticket to match her time. Turned out my train was the only one running that day. With the strike you have to check day by day to see what train is running. What a pain in the ass this strike is going to be. So far I hear a lot about it on the news but have not seen anything from where I was. I only feel it in how we plan our travels. Supposedly international flights are not affected so I will keep my fingers crossed. It was funny when I heard on the news yesterday that they are telling airlines flying into france to come in with enough fuel to fly out! Since the strikers are setting up blockades at the oil refineries it is starting to cause a fuel shortage in the country. As of Friday about 30% of gas stations are out of fuel and there are lines at the ones that are open.
By chance I called my mom earlier in the week and she was so relieved to hear from me she started crying, I felt so bad! Apparently she hears about the strike on TV and saw some violence break out in some demonstrations and was worried about me. She was thinking there was violence everywhere. It’s typical that the news would depict the worse. We talk about it quite a bit at lunch with our local colleagues so it’s interesting. I see it on BBC but they report it on an international level. It’s interesting to get perspective from the locals. The plant mgr Christian said that in the US the union would try to negotiate first and then go on strike if there can’t be agreement. In France the unions go on strike first and then negotiate. They do this to show their power and leverage. Now they’ve incited the young population, the students, into it. These kids are the ones that get rowdy and get in trouble with the police. I wonder if they are just getting into the action or if they truly believe in what the strike is all about. Come on, they should be glad that the retirement age is only going from 60 to 62. Just look at their neighbors, Germany is 65 and England is going to be 66. But France has long ago gained the reputation of going on strike at a drop of the hat. They do not like change and do not like it that their president (Sarkozy) is trying to put in reforms in order to save the economy. Did they expect to continue to live the good life forever when the rest of the world have issues? The government is declaring some of the blockades unconstitutional and stepping in to break up the human blockades on some of the oil refineries. It would be interesting to check out these demonstrations but I promised Gary and my mom that I would not go near them. I guess that would be asking for trouble. I’m just pissed that it might stop me from checking out some of the sights in Paris this weekend. School holidays start next week so supposedly the strikes are easing up because no one will be around. I guess the unions are taking a vacation from the strike, how stupid is that!
I so regret not having more time to enjoy Beaujolais country, it’s so pretty here. When Gary & I were in Amsterdam we went to the van gogh museum. I loved it and learned a lot about the artist. Towards the end of his life van gogh went down to the French countryside to get away from the hectic Paris city scene. During that time he did a lot of paintings to depict the surroundings he loved so much. Anyway, Villefranche reminded me of this. Rolling mountains and vineyards in the distance, big open fields of wheat or corn, stone farm houses scatter around the fields. Thick blankets of fog rolling into the valley in the early morning hours, crisp clean air. I wish I had more time to take pictures. Fall is just beginning and the leaves are starting to change color. I meant to walk to the river to take pictures before I leave but this week was so busy that we were leaving the office between 8-9pm and then back to the hotel at 10pm, after dinner. The ladies at the office were so sweet about wanting me to come back down next week. Valerie the receptionist says to send here an email and she will show me around “Beaujolais” country. They are very patient with my broken French and try to teach me. I don’t expect that in Paris. Country people are much more relaxed and friendly in general I think.
My teammates on this assignments were fine, I think we got along well although all very different personalities. Norbert is a 50-ish scientist with doctorate and is the opposite of me so he drives me nuts sometimes. From the beginning I tried to establish a schedule for him along with expectations. He must think I was a slave driver but seems to take things in stride. He is a wine connoisseur so would proceed to tell you about every wine there is. I must admit I learned something from him and I did enjoy a glass of Beaujolais every night at dinner. Poor guy, I think he was traumatized by dinner at McDonalds last night. We worked late last night and did not leave the office until 9:30pm and only because I was getting hungry and cranky. Since we had more work to do that night I made the decision to stop at McDs for a quick bite instead of regular dinner in town. Well, throughout the meal he gave me an account of each of the 4 occasions when he had a burger and kept looking at his burger in disbelief and claims there is no taste to it! Too bad, I really did not have time or energy for a 2 hour meal. You really can’t rush a meal when you are in France, they won’t let you. That’s how I started having a glass of wine to sip and savor while waiting for your meal. It’s actually quite pleasant. Back home people would eat their meals in 10 minutes and would complain if the waitress is not fast enough. Or the waitress would rush you through so to increase the turnover. In France they will never give you the check until you ask for it. I really liked taking 2 hours to eat my meal. Wonder if I will go back to my old ways when I’m home.
I love the food here! I know I gained weight because my clothes are not fitting very well. OMG, I am so going on a diet when I get home, so depressing. But there is no way I am going to skip out on the great food and the fantastic French bread! It’s not like I am gorging on food but I am not active with walking or hiking like at home, and the food is free and good so ofcourse I am going to pick up that yummy looking tart! Will have to do some emergency shopping in Paris this weekend because I am popping out of my button down shirts which is all I have aside from the short sleeves. I can’t wear the short sleeve because the temps have dropped drastically from the first week. Yep, I packed very poorly this trip, will have to do better for Estonia. Anyway, back to my favorite topic, food. I have got to learn how to make some of these sauces, a far cry from the American gravy!. The cook for the employee café is so good. Since it’s a small team here and all are friendly to each other, I worked up the courage to ask the cook to give me some of his recipes – coq au vin, pork bouginon, creamy potatos, etc. Win-win since he was very proud of the fact that I asked for his recipes. He got my email address yesterday and promised to send me recipes. Since he did not speak any English the recipes will be in French! I would so rather hang out in the kitchen with him and learn to cook than do the work I was doing!
For the last week we will all be together in Paris. It’s been many years since I’ve been to Paris, can’t wait to walk around and soak in the atmosphere AND eat some great crepes! Juliana asked me the other day what crepes were, OMG! I told her she cannot leave france without eating a crepe from one of those streetcar vendor that makes it to order, with nutella and grand marnier!!
I’m skying gary everyday and that really helps. Fortunately with the time zone it works out well. I skype him when I get up and we talk for half an hour while I get ready for work and he is ready for bed. I am loving my ipad, best buy this year.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Lyon - my new favorite city!!
Sometimes things done on impulse work out better than you planned (thank goodness).
Earlier in the week someone suggested I stay the night in Lyon rather than just for the day. By Friday I was trying to figure out how it could work. Perhaps go on Saturday and come back Sunday. Unfortunately Nathalie told me that on Saturday there was going to be some nationwide demonstrations and Lyon was one of the city. She was nice enough to do some research and told me that the demonstration was going to start at 2:30pm on Saturday and even showed me where it was going to be so that I could avoid that area. After some quick thinking and some research on hotels on trip advisor I took a risk and booked myself a room in a 4 star hotel in the heart of old town Lyon for Friday AND Sat nights. It's a risk because I wasn't sure if I would have any trouble getting a train to Lyon on Friday night.
Based on the website there was a train to Lyon every 15 minutes so my chances were good. Well, apparently I didn't look at the right website. I guess there's a special website during the strike that would show all the cancellations. I got to the train station in Villefranche and the next and last train was at 8pm, 2 hours away. I had no choice but to wait. I could see on the board all the trains that were cancelled or delayed. It turned out my train got delayed as well, by half an hour. I guess reality was setting in!
When I gave the cab driver at the Lyon train station the address of my hotel - Rue du Boeuf. He was gessturing and telling me that it's problematic to get to that part because the street was very narrow for cars. I understood what he was telling me but what I couldn't get was if he was going to take me there or not! After a few iterations he gesstured for me to sit back, c'est bon! Whew! It was exciting to drive through the city, the hotel was a 15 minute ride. We passed over the Rhone river and then the Saone river before reaching Old Lyon. It was a miniature of Paris, I loved it! When we crossed over into Old Lyon it was like another world. The streets were cobblestone and only had enough room (barely) for one car. The buildings date back to the 14th century.
I love my hotel! Cour des Loges is a combination of 4 buildings in Renaissance architecture. It dates back to 1378 and were homes of weathly italian merchants before it was used as a monestary. Throughout are rich tones of orange brown and red. There is a big courtyard in the middles and lots of archways in each of the 5 stories. It was amazing - check out their website to get an idea http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.courdesloges.com/&ei=LDG7TN3iE-CR4gannaDPDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcour%2Bde%2Bloges%2Blyon%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3DmThe guy that checked me in was a young version of Michael J Fox, cute and little. He walked me up to my room and showed me where everything was. Meanwhile another guys is carrying my little laptop rolling bag. Oh, did I mention that the reason I picked this hotel was because they had a spa? I so needed a massage and some pampering!
I almost passed this hotel when searching on trip advisor because it was #17. It turned out some bonehead americans gave it a low rating because they didn't like the strange architecture and layout of the room. They had the same room type as I had, the mezzanine room which is the cheapest. I thought the room was so cool. The architect was creative in using small vertical space. You walk into the narrow room and the bathroom and closet is on either side. Then a small space for a table & chairs. Straight ahead is a greenhouse like space that has a huge bathtub and rainshower. On the left are steps going up to a mezzanine with a big bed with lots and lots of big pillows. AND as a bonus my room happens to be on the same floor as the spa. All I have to do is get into my robe and slippers and walk to the spa, which I promptly did! I did book a massage for the next day. Oh the life, I've died and gone to spa heaven!
On Saturday I couldn't wait to explore the city. Since I did have a report to write I couldn't afford to be out too long. Old Lyon was amazing. I walked a couple of blocks and turned the corner and saw a huge cathedral. Turned out to be the Lyon Cathedral, there's quite a few of them scattered throughout the city. I wandered through shops and crossed the bridge into Lyon city center. Big bummer that the us dollars sucks so bad right now. The clothes here are SO cute! But expensive so I couldn't justify buying too much.
I had a late lunch at a restaurant across from the hotel that had asian food. I heard the owner speak Vietnamese on the phone so I struck up a conversation with him. He was very friendly and before I knew it he pulled up a chair and hung out with me in between greeting some other patrons and cooking the meals! He had a sister who lived in the states and learned that life in america was rough. Based on what he heard from his sister people work hard and do not have time to enjoy life. He couldn't imagine living with only 2 weeks of vacation. Even with a restaurant he only works an average of 4 days a week and would take off half a month if he wanted to. He only earn enough to live by is not interested in getting rich. He was very proud of his children who have gone through the university. He was interested in how many hours I work a day and kept repeating how it's a rough life living in america. The thing was I couldn't really argue with him. I have heard before that the french like to live the good life. Somehow they make time to enjoy and savor, unlike many americans who work too hard in order to keep up with their big mortgage payments and fancy cars. My new friend eventually brought out a bottle of wine and invited me for a glass. It was interesting talking to him. I was surprised to find out he was in his mid 50's, he looked 40! Hmm, maybe he had a point about living the good life.
My massage was good. At first I was disappointed that it wasn't a deep tissue which was what I needed for my tense shoulders. It was called a relaxation massage and I guess that's what she did. At one point I did ask her to be more firm but I don't think she got the point. I was thinking that it was too soft to be effective but wouldn't you know it, I was so relaxed I took a 2 hours nap after I got back to my room!
As tempting as Lyon was, I did have a deadline to meet with the report, had to turn in a draft version by Sunday afternoon. As a result I got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and cranked through the writing. All this done in my cozy robe, in bed, with tons of soft pillow propped behind me. I did take a short break to go out to one of the MANY boulangerie and got some yummy mini quiches, a crusty baguette, and a couple eclairs :-) Yeah, there's no way I'm losing (or maintaining) weight on this trip. The thing is, I don't care. Some things in life are meant to be enjoyed. Life's too short to deprive yourself. I can diet when I get home! If I can just do all my assignments like this! Turned in the report by noon and really wanted to do some sightseeing before heading back to VF. Good thing I thought to ask the concierge to check the train schedule because of the strike. Turns out most of the trains were cancelled. We did find one at 4pm so that was that. I had 2 1/2 hours to do some speed sightseeing. Actually I got a lot of walking aimlessly yesterday. I really wanted to see the Notre Dame Cathedral Fourvier that sits on top of a hill in Lyon. Heard that it's not to be missed. To get there you have to take a furnicular up the hill, only a 5 minute ride. Once we got out of the station the basilica was right there. I've seen many cathedrals in my travels but this one was the most breathtaking. The inside was entirely of tiny mosaic tiles, it was so ornate and crazy to look at. As a bonus you get a fantastic view of Lyon below.
I was sad to have to leave, will definitely plan a return trip with Gary. The train station was chaotic. Looking at the board literally every train was delayed. By miracle my train was on time! This strike is a pain in the ass. If it drags on I'm not sure if I will get back up to Paris this Friday! We'll see.
Earlier in the week someone suggested I stay the night in Lyon rather than just for the day. By Friday I was trying to figure out how it could work. Perhaps go on Saturday and come back Sunday. Unfortunately Nathalie told me that on Saturday there was going to be some nationwide demonstrations and Lyon was one of the city. She was nice enough to do some research and told me that the demonstration was going to start at 2:30pm on Saturday and even showed me where it was going to be so that I could avoid that area. After some quick thinking and some research on hotels on trip advisor I took a risk and booked myself a room in a 4 star hotel in the heart of old town Lyon for Friday AND Sat nights. It's a risk because I wasn't sure if I would have any trouble getting a train to Lyon on Friday night.
Based on the website there was a train to Lyon every 15 minutes so my chances were good. Well, apparently I didn't look at the right website. I guess there's a special website during the strike that would show all the cancellations. I got to the train station in Villefranche and the next and last train was at 8pm, 2 hours away. I had no choice but to wait. I could see on the board all the trains that were cancelled or delayed. It turned out my train got delayed as well, by half an hour. I guess reality was setting in!
When I gave the cab driver at the Lyon train station the address of my hotel - Rue du Boeuf. He was gessturing and telling me that it's problematic to get to that part because the street was very narrow for cars. I understood what he was telling me but what I couldn't get was if he was going to take me there or not! After a few iterations he gesstured for me to sit back, c'est bon! Whew! It was exciting to drive through the city, the hotel was a 15 minute ride. We passed over the Rhone river and then the Saone river before reaching Old Lyon. It was a miniature of Paris, I loved it! When we crossed over into Old Lyon it was like another world. The streets were cobblestone and only had enough room (barely) for one car. The buildings date back to the 14th century.
I love my hotel! Cour des Loges is a combination of 4 buildings in Renaissance architecture. It dates back to 1378 and were homes of weathly italian merchants before it was used as a monestary. Throughout are rich tones of orange brown and red. There is a big courtyard in the middles and lots of archways in each of the 5 stories. It was amazing - check out their website to get an idea http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.courdesloges.com/&ei=LDG7TN3iE-CR4gannaDPDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcour%2Bde%2Bloges%2Blyon%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3DmThe guy that checked me in was a young version of Michael J Fox, cute and little. He walked me up to my room and showed me where everything was. Meanwhile another guys is carrying my little laptop rolling bag. Oh, did I mention that the reason I picked this hotel was because they had a spa? I so needed a massage and some pampering!
I almost passed this hotel when searching on trip advisor because it was #17. It turned out some bonehead americans gave it a low rating because they didn't like the strange architecture and layout of the room. They had the same room type as I had, the mezzanine room which is the cheapest. I thought the room was so cool. The architect was creative in using small vertical space. You walk into the narrow room and the bathroom and closet is on either side. Then a small space for a table & chairs. Straight ahead is a greenhouse like space that has a huge bathtub and rainshower. On the left are steps going up to a mezzanine with a big bed with lots and lots of big pillows. AND as a bonus my room happens to be on the same floor as the spa. All I have to do is get into my robe and slippers and walk to the spa, which I promptly did! I did book a massage for the next day. Oh the life, I've died and gone to spa heaven!
On Saturday I couldn't wait to explore the city. Since I did have a report to write I couldn't afford to be out too long. Old Lyon was amazing. I walked a couple of blocks and turned the corner and saw a huge cathedral. Turned out to be the Lyon Cathedral, there's quite a few of them scattered throughout the city. I wandered through shops and crossed the bridge into Lyon city center. Big bummer that the us dollars sucks so bad right now. The clothes here are SO cute! But expensive so I couldn't justify buying too much.
I had a late lunch at a restaurant across from the hotel that had asian food. I heard the owner speak Vietnamese on the phone so I struck up a conversation with him. He was very friendly and before I knew it he pulled up a chair and hung out with me in between greeting some other patrons and cooking the meals! He had a sister who lived in the states and learned that life in america was rough. Based on what he heard from his sister people work hard and do not have time to enjoy life. He couldn't imagine living with only 2 weeks of vacation. Even with a restaurant he only works an average of 4 days a week and would take off half a month if he wanted to. He only earn enough to live by is not interested in getting rich. He was very proud of his children who have gone through the university. He was interested in how many hours I work a day and kept repeating how it's a rough life living in america. The thing was I couldn't really argue with him. I have heard before that the french like to live the good life. Somehow they make time to enjoy and savor, unlike many americans who work too hard in order to keep up with their big mortgage payments and fancy cars. My new friend eventually brought out a bottle of wine and invited me for a glass. It was interesting talking to him. I was surprised to find out he was in his mid 50's, he looked 40! Hmm, maybe he had a point about living the good life.
My massage was good. At first I was disappointed that it wasn't a deep tissue which was what I needed for my tense shoulders. It was called a relaxation massage and I guess that's what she did. At one point I did ask her to be more firm but I don't think she got the point. I was thinking that it was too soft to be effective but wouldn't you know it, I was so relaxed I took a 2 hours nap after I got back to my room!
As tempting as Lyon was, I did have a deadline to meet with the report, had to turn in a draft version by Sunday afternoon. As a result I got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and cranked through the writing. All this done in my cozy robe, in bed, with tons of soft pillow propped behind me. I did take a short break to go out to one of the MANY boulangerie and got some yummy mini quiches, a crusty baguette, and a couple eclairs :-) Yeah, there's no way I'm losing (or maintaining) weight on this trip. The thing is, I don't care. Some things in life are meant to be enjoyed. Life's too short to deprive yourself. I can diet when I get home! If I can just do all my assignments like this! Turned in the report by noon and really wanted to do some sightseeing before heading back to VF. Good thing I thought to ask the concierge to check the train schedule because of the strike. Turns out most of the trains were cancelled. We did find one at 4pm so that was that. I had 2 1/2 hours to do some speed sightseeing. Actually I got a lot of walking aimlessly yesterday. I really wanted to see the Notre Dame Cathedral Fourvier that sits on top of a hill in Lyon. Heard that it's not to be missed. To get there you have to take a furnicular up the hill, only a 5 minute ride. Once we got out of the station the basilica was right there. I've seen many cathedrals in my travels but this one was the most breathtaking. The inside was entirely of tiny mosaic tiles, it was so ornate and crazy to look at. As a bonus you get a fantastic view of Lyon below.
I was sad to have to leave, will definitely plan a return trip with Gary. The train station was chaotic. Looking at the board literally every train was delayed. By miracle my train was on time! This strike is a pain in the ass. If it drags on I'm not sure if I will get back up to Paris this Friday! We'll see.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
And the strike goes on...
I guess I was lucky to get on the train to Villefranche 2 hours before the strike but now it's dragging on longer than I thought. According to my french colleagues it's more of an annoyance to folks not involved with the strike. Not only are all public transportation halted (subways, buses, trains planes) but public schools are also closed and now the oil refineries are also affected b/c they have no way to transport the fuel. The eventual result of this is there would be no fuel at gas stations and cars would be affected! this last part would happen it it goes on for months. I was planning to do some sightseeing in Lyon which is a short half hour train ride further south. Now I'm not so sure if it will be that easy to get there. Worse case taxi is an alternative but could cost about $60 vs $15 for the train. We will see.
It's been foggy here in the last two days. Apparently this could happen since we are so close to the Rhone river. I took a walk along a really lovely path yesterday after work and realized that the river was only about 1/2 mile. I was just getting over a light case of the flu so couldn't push myself too much. Thank goodness today I felt much better. Gary couldn't understand why I couldn't just call in sick. I guess I could but it would make matters worse in the end. You don't get to move out the end of the assignment and everyday is booked with interviews from morning to end of day. If you miss one day it would be impossible to make up. Good thing it wasn't really bad, I just had to take it easy on Tues and Wed and drink lots of liquids.
The food is so good here! Lunchtime at the employee cantine is a nice variety of gourmet food and desserts. Yesterday I had pork bourguignon. Yep, the french really like wine in their cooking. They also really like their sauces. It's so fattening but unfortunately too good to pass up. At least I try to stay away from the creamy sauces and stick with the wine sauces which I happen to love anyway. Desserts are all kinds of tarts, custards and fruit & soft cheeses. And by the way, I think the cafe workers in Scottsdale should hand us our plate of food with a "Bon Appetit!" greeting as they do over here. It just makes it so much nicer!
I can't wait to wander around old town Villefranche and take some pics this weekend. I don't hear much english spoken here since americans tend to go to Paris first. Actually, don't think I have run into any english speaking people! Most people will shake their heads when I ask them if they spoke english. Either they don't really speak english or just don't feel like it. Either way I have no choice but to speak french to them. It's really broken french but I know enough key words and body language to get my message across. I find it easier to read french than to speak it. People probably cringe when they hear me speak but so far no real problems!
It's been foggy here in the last two days. Apparently this could happen since we are so close to the Rhone river. I took a walk along a really lovely path yesterday after work and realized that the river was only about 1/2 mile. I was just getting over a light case of the flu so couldn't push myself too much. Thank goodness today I felt much better. Gary couldn't understand why I couldn't just call in sick. I guess I could but it would make matters worse in the end. You don't get to move out the end of the assignment and everyday is booked with interviews from morning to end of day. If you miss one day it would be impossible to make up. Good thing it wasn't really bad, I just had to take it easy on Tues and Wed and drink lots of liquids.
The food is so good here! Lunchtime at the employee cantine is a nice variety of gourmet food and desserts. Yesterday I had pork bourguignon. Yep, the french really like wine in their cooking. They also really like their sauces. It's so fattening but unfortunately too good to pass up. At least I try to stay away from the creamy sauces and stick with the wine sauces which I happen to love anyway. Desserts are all kinds of tarts, custards and fruit & soft cheeses. And by the way, I think the cafe workers in Scottsdale should hand us our plate of food with a "Bon Appetit!" greeting as they do over here. It just makes it so much nicer!
I can't wait to wander around old town Villefranche and take some pics this weekend. I don't hear much english spoken here since americans tend to go to Paris first. Actually, don't think I have run into any english speaking people! Most people will shake their heads when I ask them if they spoke english. Either they don't really speak english or just don't feel like it. Either way I have no choice but to speak french to them. It's really broken french but I know enough key words and body language to get my message across. I find it easier to read french than to speak it. People probably cringe when they hear me speak but so far no real problems!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Flew to Paris.....just in time for a strike (almost)
What is it about me and my timing? Should I expect a volcano eruption when I go to Estonia next month?!
Last week our colleagues in France warned me of an impending strike on Tuesday to protest the new law that went into effect raising the age for retirement. This means that all public transportation including bus, trains, planes will come to a standstill for an unknow amount of time. Typically it lasts a day mainly to make a statement, although in 1995 the strike lasted for a month. I got into Paris on Sunday morning so no problem there. The concern is that on Monday night I have to take a train to south of France to begin my assignment at the plant. When we had the opening meeting on Monday morning in Serris (about 20km outside of Paris city center) people were saying that I could have a problem because even though the strike is announcement for Tuesday it usually starts at 8pm the night before. They had that "good luck with you" look when I told them that my train to Villefranche sur Saone leaves at 6pm on Monday! I suddenly had visions of being stuck in Paris amid all the chaos, struggling with luggage and not having a way to get to my destination! Anyway, it turned out ok.
My team mates Sascha and Juliana stayed in Paris for another part of the assignment while I go to the south. I would be on my own for a week and then Juliana will join me for the second week and then we will all be together in Paris for the 3rd week.
I wish I was a little braver in driving in Europe so I could rent a car and have more freedom of moving around. Right now I am relying on taxis which is really expensive! My train from Paris to Macon Loche was 1 1/2 hours and then a half hour taxi ride further south to the little town of Villefranche sur Saone. I love the french countryside. Rolling green hills, vinyards and old stone houses. Villefranche is in the middle of Beaujolais country. I was told that there are a lot of japanese tourist because they love this particular type of wine which is fruitier and sweeter. I also learned from colleagues here that this wine is not meant to last a long time. There are lots of wineries scattered throughout this town so I will definitely make time to do a tour. The map says that these are wine caves, not sure what this means but I intend to find out.
Met me colleagues from Villefranche plant and all are very nice. Their english is very good, much better than my french! Lunch at the cantine was cornish hen slow cooked in white wine, I was surprised to not see a pitcher of wine at the table!
The city center of VF is so cute. Typical european old town complete with a small cathedral smack in the middle. I can't wait to explore more of it this weekend since our hotel is 2-3 miles from the center and too far to walk at night.
I'm still getting used the time change and this times seems a bit more difficult. Haven't had much sleep and thinking that I am coming down with something. I really hope it's just from lack of sleep. It's been an average of 3 hours of sleep the last 2 nights. To make it worse this morning I woke up at the clock on my BB wrong and thought it was 6:30am and time to get up. So I got up, got ready, dressed and ready to go when I looked at the time again and it said 4am! That mean I actually got up at 3am! Another bonehead move. I never questioned it because I was wide awake! It turned out to be ok since I made good use of the time and got some work done and was able to skype with Gary.
My biggest struggle so far is understand the french colleague when they speak english to quickly, it's like another foreign language. I mainly struggle with their names. This morning their were at least a dozen people that introduced themselves to me and I got ZERO of their names! It was too embarrassing to ask them to write it down. I figured I would get who they were when I have my one on one sessions with them. Same thing happened in the meeting in Paris on Monday!
One word for France so far - EXPENSIVE. Good thing I'm not paying for all this. The half hour taxi ride last night from the train station was $130! yikes, I'm hoping they are not just fleecing the stupid american!
Last week our colleagues in France warned me of an impending strike on Tuesday to protest the new law that went into effect raising the age for retirement. This means that all public transportation including bus, trains, planes will come to a standstill for an unknow amount of time. Typically it lasts a day mainly to make a statement, although in 1995 the strike lasted for a month. I got into Paris on Sunday morning so no problem there. The concern is that on Monday night I have to take a train to south of France to begin my assignment at the plant. When we had the opening meeting on Monday morning in Serris (about 20km outside of Paris city center) people were saying that I could have a problem because even though the strike is announcement for Tuesday it usually starts at 8pm the night before. They had that "good luck with you" look when I told them that my train to Villefranche sur Saone leaves at 6pm on Monday! I suddenly had visions of being stuck in Paris amid all the chaos, struggling with luggage and not having a way to get to my destination! Anyway, it turned out ok.
My team mates Sascha and Juliana stayed in Paris for another part of the assignment while I go to the south. I would be on my own for a week and then Juliana will join me for the second week and then we will all be together in Paris for the 3rd week.
I wish I was a little braver in driving in Europe so I could rent a car and have more freedom of moving around. Right now I am relying on taxis which is really expensive! My train from Paris to Macon Loche was 1 1/2 hours and then a half hour taxi ride further south to the little town of Villefranche sur Saone. I love the french countryside. Rolling green hills, vinyards and old stone houses. Villefranche is in the middle of Beaujolais country. I was told that there are a lot of japanese tourist because they love this particular type of wine which is fruitier and sweeter. I also learned from colleagues here that this wine is not meant to last a long time. There are lots of wineries scattered throughout this town so I will definitely make time to do a tour. The map says that these are wine caves, not sure what this means but I intend to find out.
Met me colleagues from Villefranche plant and all are very nice. Their english is very good, much better than my french! Lunch at the cantine was cornish hen slow cooked in white wine, I was surprised to not see a pitcher of wine at the table!
The city center of VF is so cute. Typical european old town complete with a small cathedral smack in the middle. I can't wait to explore more of it this weekend since our hotel is 2-3 miles from the center and too far to walk at night.
I'm still getting used the time change and this times seems a bit more difficult. Haven't had much sleep and thinking that I am coming down with something. I really hope it's just from lack of sleep. It's been an average of 3 hours of sleep the last 2 nights. To make it worse this morning I woke up at the clock on my BB wrong and thought it was 6:30am and time to get up. So I got up, got ready, dressed and ready to go when I looked at the time again and it said 4am! That mean I actually got up at 3am! Another bonehead move. I never questioned it because I was wide awake! It turned out to be ok since I made good use of the time and got some work done and was able to skype with Gary.
My biggest struggle so far is understand the french colleague when they speak english to quickly, it's like another foreign language. I mainly struggle with their names. This morning their were at least a dozen people that introduced themselves to me and I got ZERO of their names! It was too embarrassing to ask them to write it down. I figured I would get who they were when I have my one on one sessions with them. Same thing happened in the meeting in Paris on Monday!
One word for France so far - EXPENSIVE. Good thing I'm not paying for all this. The half hour taxi ride last night from the train station was $130! yikes, I'm hoping they are not just fleecing the stupid american!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Coming up for air after Taipei
Friday, Oct 1
Amazing but I survived the 2 weeks in Taiwan. Our assignment turned out to be extremely complicated and we were working hard all the way until I had to leave for the airport today. It’s been 2 weeks of working until 1am and getting up 5 hours later to do it all again. Sounds bad but I learned so much and feel more ready for France next week. You know what they say, what doesn’t kill will make you wish you were dead. Just kidding. This is the best way to learn, by going through it.I wished I had more time to write to capture the little things I want to keep in my memories.
The people of Taiwan are lovely. They are soft spoken and polite and very sweet. They are very proud of their country and culture and work hard to make sure you walk away impressed. The colleagues here have been beyond hospitable. If they catch wind of you liking something the next thing you know it’s there for you. As Rene said, it is the character of the people of Asia that they pay very close attention to your wants and make sure you get it.
Last night I had the most memorable meal EVER! After our closing meeting the local Taiwan team took us out to a special dinner. One of the famous land mark of Taipei is a building called Taipei 101. Guess how stories the building has? Yep, 101 stories. We ate at a restaurant on the 86th floor that serves traditional Taiwanese food. The President of Hkl Taiwan (Paul) ordered food for our group of 14. Let’s put it this way, our meal lasted 3 hours. The food didn’t all come at once. Instead they would bring out one dish at a time so that you can slowly eat and savor. First came a cold dish of meats – slices of goose, fresh chicken(taste like the Vietnamese freshly killed chicken in a very light fish sauce), an mullet roe which they explained to me is fish egg. I didn’t believe them because it didn’t look like the fish egg I knew. Instead it looked like slices of tuna fish, at least the look and color. The taste is unique and quite good. It was explained to me that they dry the fish egg and then bake it. Other courses were sliced squid cooked in a clay pot with ginger and whole garlic, savory shrimp, fried oysters, sautéed melons (just like the Vietnamese muop), baked fish in a “seed from the tree” sauce, roast pork, crispy slices of taro, fried squid balls. At one point they brought out a huge touret of shark fin soup. We were told that this used to be just for the king. I’ve had shark fin soup but there’s usually a little bit of it in a bowl and it’s in small pieces. The shark fins in our soup was huge, at least the size of an oyster mushroom. We finished the meal with a bowl of hot almond milk which was also delicious. The strangest thing – we all had a glass of wine for the meal and ofcourse had a toast in the beginning. However, throughout the meal one by one the Taiwanese colleagues would call out my name to catch my eye and raise their glass to toast me, some would do it more than once. They would do this throughout the night to the 4 of us. I have never seen this before.
One of our favorite lunchtime meal is the traditional beef noodle soup. It’s very popular here. It’s a beef broth with chunks of super tender braised beef. The shop by the plant make their own noodles for the soup and it’s fantastic. Each time the guys would also order my favorite veggie, sautéed water spinach (rau muon), just like the way my mom makes it. I really love Taiwanese food. It’s similar but different from Chinese food.
The language here is Cantonese. Not a lot of people speak English here which is very different from Philippines. If I had a dollar for every time someone speaks Chinese to me thinking that I was Chinese I would be rich. They tell me I look Chinese. I got tired of interrupting them with “sorry, English please!” It’s too hard to learn the language, all I could say was thank you and hello. Even the cab drivers don’t speak English.
Last Sunday I decided to make time to do a half day tour to see the country. I worked late the night before and early Sunday in order to do an afternoon tour. This was a 4 hour tour of the northeast coast of the island. It was wonderful. We had a nice sunny day and the coast was gorgeous. This part of the island is more rocky with cliffs which made it better for pictures. The western side of the island is more sandy. We stopped to look at The Beach of Two Colors which was basically a mix of ocean water and river water that was dense with copper from the mining town right next to it. We spent an hour at a really cool mining village high up in the mountains. In the village there’s an old street that’s at least half a mile long. It’s a narrow cobblestone street with shops on either side. There were red lanterns hanging over the shops. It was super crowed with tourists, mainly asian. There were so many storefronts that were cooking traditional food. I met an American girl name Laura from Colorado so we hung out together. She was not liking the few stores that had displayed in small sections seasoned chicken hearts, gizzards, chicken feet, blood pudding, you get the idea. Other shops made the sweet soups with various tapioca balls and sweet beans. Some shops had grilled meats and ofcourse there were tea shops. All of this was a feast for the eyes, I was so fascinated. The guide let us wander the street on our own for an hour. At the end of the street we all met at one of the oldest tea house in the village. They had individual tables with a hole in the middle where a teapot is boiling over hot coals. You choose a type of tea from the menu and the tea lady would come to prepare your tea. We sat on the patio which was perched on a cliff on the mountain. The view was awesome. Our guide was a Taiwanese guy named Frank. He got my name mixed up and kept calling me hampson. Laura and I sat in the back of the van with a Japanese professor in between us. We had some interesting conversations about Japan. I was trying to remember the name of Gary’s favorite show (Ninja Warrior) which is filmed in Japan, Mount Fujimoto?
The traffic in the city is horrendous. Luckily our hotel is less than a block from the main office so we don’t have to worry on the days we work at the office. Half the time we are at the plant which is an hour west of Zhonghe city. After about 20 minutes we leave the busy city and driving in the lush country side. If it wasn’t for the lack of white people I would think we were in Hawaii!
I really enjoyed working with the Taiwan team. They are so nice. Back in germany I coordinated with Paul the president of the region. His voice and mannerism reminded me so much of my brother T. He is so nice I think he set a good example for the rest of his team of 127. I love the HR mgr Meifei. She is a beautiful lady with white pale skin, long black hair and a very gentle disposition. She was so interested in what we did. When I came to say goodbye today she gave me a big hug. I was frantically working until the last minute to send the report. As the assignment leader I was responsible for gathering pieces of the report from the other 3 team members, putting it together and sending it out. I didn’t have time to say goodbye to everyone properly.
I already told Gary this place is worth a revisit. We have good reason since our friend Heather is from here and she comes home to visit. I want to come back to see more of the country. The most beautiful part is in the south with the high mountain ranges, hot springs, gorges etc. Actually most of the population of 29 million people live in the northwestern third of the island where it’s flatter. The highest mountain peak is 12,000 feet in the middle of the island, that’s no small change.
I realized I circumvented the globe in the last 2 months. I left Phx end of July, heading east to germany. Then I head east to asia. Then I headed east to Phx to complete the circle. Cool.
One week in AZ to recover, get clean clothes, replenish the freezer for Gary and head to Paris on Oct 9. The best is getting some Gary time. We discovered Skype in Taiwan so it’s free to talk to each other every day. Can’t believe I didn’t get into it earlier. So far we are doing ok with the situation.
Now I need to freshen up on my French which was poor at best.
Amazing but I survived the 2 weeks in Taiwan. Our assignment turned out to be extremely complicated and we were working hard all the way until I had to leave for the airport today. It’s been 2 weeks of working until 1am and getting up 5 hours later to do it all again. Sounds bad but I learned so much and feel more ready for France next week. You know what they say, what doesn’t kill will make you wish you were dead. Just kidding. This is the best way to learn, by going through it.I wished I had more time to write to capture the little things I want to keep in my memories.
The people of Taiwan are lovely. They are soft spoken and polite and very sweet. They are very proud of their country and culture and work hard to make sure you walk away impressed. The colleagues here have been beyond hospitable. If they catch wind of you liking something the next thing you know it’s there for you. As Rene said, it is the character of the people of Asia that they pay very close attention to your wants and make sure you get it.
Last night I had the most memorable meal EVER! After our closing meeting the local Taiwan team took us out to a special dinner. One of the famous land mark of Taipei is a building called Taipei 101. Guess how stories the building has? Yep, 101 stories. We ate at a restaurant on the 86th floor that serves traditional Taiwanese food. The President of Hkl Taiwan (Paul) ordered food for our group of 14. Let’s put it this way, our meal lasted 3 hours. The food didn’t all come at once. Instead they would bring out one dish at a time so that you can slowly eat and savor. First came a cold dish of meats – slices of goose, fresh chicken(taste like the Vietnamese freshly killed chicken in a very light fish sauce), an mullet roe which they explained to me is fish egg. I didn’t believe them because it didn’t look like the fish egg I knew. Instead it looked like slices of tuna fish, at least the look and color. The taste is unique and quite good. It was explained to me that they dry the fish egg and then bake it. Other courses were sliced squid cooked in a clay pot with ginger and whole garlic, savory shrimp, fried oysters, sautéed melons (just like the Vietnamese muop), baked fish in a “seed from the tree” sauce, roast pork, crispy slices of taro, fried squid balls. At one point they brought out a huge touret of shark fin soup. We were told that this used to be just for the king. I’ve had shark fin soup but there’s usually a little bit of it in a bowl and it’s in small pieces. The shark fins in our soup was huge, at least the size of an oyster mushroom. We finished the meal with a bowl of hot almond milk which was also delicious. The strangest thing – we all had a glass of wine for the meal and ofcourse had a toast in the beginning. However, throughout the meal one by one the Taiwanese colleagues would call out my name to catch my eye and raise their glass to toast me, some would do it more than once. They would do this throughout the night to the 4 of us. I have never seen this before.
One of our favorite lunchtime meal is the traditional beef noodle soup. It’s very popular here. It’s a beef broth with chunks of super tender braised beef. The shop by the plant make their own noodles for the soup and it’s fantastic. Each time the guys would also order my favorite veggie, sautéed water spinach (rau muon), just like the way my mom makes it. I really love Taiwanese food. It’s similar but different from Chinese food.
The language here is Cantonese. Not a lot of people speak English here which is very different from Philippines. If I had a dollar for every time someone speaks Chinese to me thinking that I was Chinese I would be rich. They tell me I look Chinese. I got tired of interrupting them with “sorry, English please!” It’s too hard to learn the language, all I could say was thank you and hello. Even the cab drivers don’t speak English.
Last Sunday I decided to make time to do a half day tour to see the country. I worked late the night before and early Sunday in order to do an afternoon tour. This was a 4 hour tour of the northeast coast of the island. It was wonderful. We had a nice sunny day and the coast was gorgeous. This part of the island is more rocky with cliffs which made it better for pictures. The western side of the island is more sandy. We stopped to look at The Beach of Two Colors which was basically a mix of ocean water and river water that was dense with copper from the mining town right next to it. We spent an hour at a really cool mining village high up in the mountains. In the village there’s an old street that’s at least half a mile long. It’s a narrow cobblestone street with shops on either side. There were red lanterns hanging over the shops. It was super crowed with tourists, mainly asian. There were so many storefronts that were cooking traditional food. I met an American girl name Laura from Colorado so we hung out together. She was not liking the few stores that had displayed in small sections seasoned chicken hearts, gizzards, chicken feet, blood pudding, you get the idea. Other shops made the sweet soups with various tapioca balls and sweet beans. Some shops had grilled meats and ofcourse there were tea shops. All of this was a feast for the eyes, I was so fascinated. The guide let us wander the street on our own for an hour. At the end of the street we all met at one of the oldest tea house in the village. They had individual tables with a hole in the middle where a teapot is boiling over hot coals. You choose a type of tea from the menu and the tea lady would come to prepare your tea. We sat on the patio which was perched on a cliff on the mountain. The view was awesome. Our guide was a Taiwanese guy named Frank. He got my name mixed up and kept calling me hampson. Laura and I sat in the back of the van with a Japanese professor in between us. We had some interesting conversations about Japan. I was trying to remember the name of Gary’s favorite show (Ninja Warrior) which is filmed in Japan, Mount Fujimoto?
The traffic in the city is horrendous. Luckily our hotel is less than a block from the main office so we don’t have to worry on the days we work at the office. Half the time we are at the plant which is an hour west of Zhonghe city. After about 20 minutes we leave the busy city and driving in the lush country side. If it wasn’t for the lack of white people I would think we were in Hawaii!
I really enjoyed working with the Taiwan team. They are so nice. Back in germany I coordinated with Paul the president of the region. His voice and mannerism reminded me so much of my brother T. He is so nice I think he set a good example for the rest of his team of 127. I love the HR mgr Meifei. She is a beautiful lady with white pale skin, long black hair and a very gentle disposition. She was so interested in what we did. When I came to say goodbye today she gave me a big hug. I was frantically working until the last minute to send the report. As the assignment leader I was responsible for gathering pieces of the report from the other 3 team members, putting it together and sending it out. I didn’t have time to say goodbye to everyone properly.
I already told Gary this place is worth a revisit. We have good reason since our friend Heather is from here and she comes home to visit. I want to come back to see more of the country. The most beautiful part is in the south with the high mountain ranges, hot springs, gorges etc. Actually most of the population of 29 million people live in the northwestern third of the island where it’s flatter. The highest mountain peak is 12,000 feet in the middle of the island, that’s no small change.
I realized I circumvented the globe in the last 2 months. I left Phx end of July, heading east to germany. Then I head east to asia. Then I headed east to Phx to complete the circle. Cool.
One week in AZ to recover, get clean clothes, replenish the freezer for Gary and head to Paris on Oct 9. The best is getting some Gary time. We discovered Skype in Taiwan so it’s free to talk to each other every day. Can’t believe I didn’t get into it earlier. So far we are doing ok with the situation.
Now I need to freshen up on my French which was poor at best.
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