Author: rodney

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.

Well, I’ve been stuck in San Francisco for the past few months, hence the lack of new interesting posts.
But there’s a good chance that I will be heading off to London and other places for a couple of weeks. The fares are decent (even if the Euro isn’t) and I’ve arranged a place to stay there.
Maybe stuck on UAL though. The other Star Alliance airlines either cost too much or it just won’t work schedule wise….
…just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!!!…