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!
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