Month: May 2004

Not that school in Indiana with the pathetic football team!
It’s big, old and impressive.
You can walk to the top and you get a fantastic view of the city with the gargoyles and other things up there. You can hang out in the bell tower.
Did I mention that you can WALK? Cuz there ain’t no lift!
So after about a gazillion steps and 20 minutes total of climbing the stairs, we were treated to a kick ass view.
Until it started to rain. Again. Rain…

Andrew and Ellen have been to Paris many times. They usually do the shopping deal and not a lot of sightseeing. My being here is an excuse to do some sightseeing.
So last night at supper, we worked out a list of things to do/see on this trip.
In no particular order:
Sacre Coeur
Louvre
Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Versialles
Normandy
Seine Cruise
Catacombs
They did the Tower the first day they arrived, on the one day this week it was clear (!) and had dinner in the Jules Verne restaurant in the Tower. They have two kinds of menus, one for the guy and one for the gal. The difference? The hommes’ menu has the prices (!) and the femme’s menu doesn’t .
With the prices they charge that makes a BIG BIG difference…

We finally arrive at Gare du Nord close to 1700. It’s wet and rainy and cold.
First thing I do is make my way to the hotel and dump off my bags. There’s a lotta stairs between the street and the hotel. Just by asking, I got an upgraded room for the price of the cheap room I booked. Yay.
My room is on the top floor of the hotel but since it’s an older traditional style European hotel, it’s got stairs. Lots of stairs. With baggage. Nice.
Being in Paris, I need Euro. So it’s down to the only Citibank in France, on Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe. Since I ‘m here and it’s dinner time, I wander up and down the avenues.
This is their big high ticket shopping district. Example: The LV store is closed for remodeling but the scaffolding looks like two giant LV bags. It’s so big that there are lots of Asian tourists (girls mostly but some with very reluctant boyfriends) taking pictures with the LV “bags” in the background.
Like they could afford those.
I pick up a SIM card for my mobile, pick up dinner for me and walk over to the Opera district. I’m supposed to give Andrew and Ellen a call but since I’ve not recieved their mobile number, I figured that leaving a message at their hotel will work.
So I’m chatting up the desk clerk to leave the message and they spot me as they were coming out of the lift for supper. Neat! We go to a Vietnamese place for late night supper and planning.
Did I mention that it gets dark here around 2200? Wow.

So we are about 30 minutes outside of Paris.
Just sitting here in a tunnel for 10 minutes and then going slow (MUNI slow) for another 10.
This ain’t High Speed!
2 TGVs go by at Warp 9. We creep along. What a pain.

Eurostar is a high speed train that connects London Waterloo with Paris Gare du Nord.
Waterloo Station is a bit run down except for the new part that the Eurostar arrives/leaves from.
3 hours or so between cities. Nice. But not exactly high speed all the way.
Leaving London, the train is running on batteries since there’s no overhead wires on these tracks. So for the first 20 minutes or so, you’re creeping along slower than a Tube train. Once you reach Ashford, the new tracks and new lines are there and then you whooosh along at over 100 MPH.
Unlike the Shinkansen, the Eurostar has a club car where you can purchase snacks or microwave sandwiches. The service is at best, leisurely. The prices expensive (many people brought their own food) but at least they serve beer!
There was a break in the weather, but it was just that, a break. On the 35 minute trip on the Tube to Waterloo, it was clear but it’s raining again.

Finally met up with the agent guy and picked up the key to the flat.
Dropped off my bags and got money at the Citibank in Oxford Circus. That�s a shopping district with stores typical of the Third Street Prominade. I mean, they have two Starbucks and a Gap and other stalwarts of American capitalism. Good bird watching too.
Wi-fi is a bit hard to find out here so updates will probably be weekly since T-Mobile charges 5 pounds per hour (that�s US$10 folks!).
But after I got settled in, the rain stopped and the skies cleared. Grimley told me that this is a RARE RARE thing.
About that price thing: candy bars are 50 pence and drinks like iced tea are 1 pound. That�s US$2.00 man!
So now I�m going to get a briefing from Grimley about places to check out in Paris. And Meghan, a former SMWMer like moi will be meeting me at Paris Nord tomorrow when my train arrives.
Almost like a bad movie, but it IS Paris…

Delayed into London! My flight, unusually, had a stopover. SFO-JFK-LHR.
The flight to JFK was no problem. Until we had to land via autopilot because JFK was foggy. That�s unusual according to the fei poh UA flight attendants.
Eeeerrrrrrwhiiiiineeeee THUD. “Welcome to New York”.
Because of the fog, my Heathrow flight was delayed two hours!
The food was mediocre. Beef or pasta on both flights. The domestic flight beef was salty. The potatoes had no character and the spinach was pale. The international pasta was better. It was a tortelinni dish.
I should have given into my darker self and gotten Chicken McNuggets before I got on the LHR flight.
There’s a lot of weather over the Atlantic. I was rocked to slumber by turbulence. Couldn�t get much sleep otherwise.
Once we landed, the plane was shunted to the part of LHR where planes get parked.
That meant airstairs and than a basi.
Took the Tube to Lancaster Gate, that took an hour. (note to self: take Heathrow Express when leaving).
Then the agent that was supposed to meet me with the keys left.
I still don�t have a SIM card (they aren�t as available as they are in HKG or SIN).
And on top of it all, it�s cold (San Francisco cold) and it�s raining!!!
The one saving grace is that there�s a pub nearby that serves lunch. So I�m waiting for an order of Fish and Chips with a pint of John Smith�s Extra Smooth bitters.
Then I get to call the agent guy back.
Oh yeah, stuff is expensive here. Makes Tokyo look like a bargain.