Day 4a - A 'Triomph'ant Early Morning Stroll

For the events of Monday, August 31, 2009

2:00 AM - woke up on my own again, couldn't get back to sleep because was spinning about those stupid Mounties bears that are running around Paris on diplomatic immunity. So I decided to do more of the blog. My body needs to adjust soon to the time zone differences, this is ridiculous.

4:16 AM - now I'm bone tired again (fortunately) so going back to sleep. I don't care what anyone says, I'm buying sleeping pills tonight, I've had it with this 3 hours here, 2 hours there stuff. I have to work the booth for 10 hours today, and hopefully it's going to be busy with the bears showing up. I'll be waking people up in Vancouver if they don't arrive - could care less. I didn't fly 13 hours 1/3 of the away around the world, to sit on my butt here in a dead booth while they sleep back home with a job half done. Ridiculous.

5:30 AM - I'd had enough of sitting in my room. I thought that maybe some fresh air would either really wake me up, or really wear me out for a few hours. Either way, it would save my bacon today. I walked down the length of the hotel on a side street to the Avenue de la Grand Armée, which runs in front of the Congress Centre, a massive, tree-lined, six-lane road. It was still relatively dark out, but there was really no one around other than the occasional garbage truck, taxi driving by, and newspaper delivery people through bundles in front of newspaper stands. It was extremely quiet, and a bit cool but not chilly. I really was enjoying myself. By some miracle of God, I had my camera with me at the time. Can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that I did.

One of the first things I spotted, as I walked past the RER and Metro stations from Saturday that I described, was some bicycle parking stalls built onto the street. I have never in all my life seen this, and it was really surprising (see picture left, click for larger). You park your bike between two little electronic posts in the ground. Then you go to a little electronic stand, much like you see in car parking lots, pay a small fee to park your bike, and a green light goes on to show you paid. If it turns red, you get a ticket whenever the attendants come around.

It makes things much easier because you couldn't possibly leave a ticket on your bike - someone else would just swipe it and put it on theirs! It allows for many to ride their bikes to work and have a place to keep them from being stolen. One good example of a city that's really trying to cut down on traffic. When you see my pictures of rush hour congestion later on today, you'll understand why. The other amazing thing about it was that you could pull something out of the side of one of these electronic posts, and your bike locked to it! No chains for people to cut off, etc. Really ingenious. Was like something from the Jetsons.

5:44 AM - smelled a bakery - like heaven - but couldn't see it anywhere. I noticed a few minutes ago that traffic is really starting to pick up, but quiet on the sidewalks. A few people were starting to walk to work - the Metro (subway) just opened at 5:30.

5:47 AM - honestly, when I first started out, I had zero idea where I was going. Well, actually, I kind of hoped I was walking in the direction of the little Statue of Liberty (which I later realized was an optical illusion of the lights in that area - though there is still a Statue and I'm going to find it!). However, I had walked a few blocks down the road, and stopped for a minute to type in some of the thoughts above in my iPhone, to email myself later (saves time when you 'blog while you jog', so to speak!)

I looked up when I had finished a few sentences - and just froze. Seriously, I thought I had to have been insane not to see it before. I think I kind of squealed out loud. Looming just 1 block away was the magnificent and striking Arc de Triomph (see picture right, click for larger), made even more dramatic as it is surrounded by nothing but a 3-4 lane super-traffic circle called Place Charles de Gaulle that connects to 15 different roads, including Grand Armée, the world famous Champs-Élysées, Avenue Foch, and many more. Traffic around the Arc is so incredible during the day (thousands of cars an hour) that you cross it using an underground walkway, which was still closed at this time of the morning. I noticed traffic on Grand Armée is getting heavier now. I couldn't believe how lucky I was, and to have my camera too! It was so beautifully lit in the early dawn, and was strikingly powerful in the still-quiet Paris morning.

The Arc honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I .

The Arc is the centre of a historic axis (L'Axe historique) — like the spoke in a big wagon wheel - of a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre to the outskirts of Paris. It can almost literally be said that "all roads lead to the Arc". The symbolism of having such a muscular symbol honoring French war dead at the centre of the traffic of the city is really something - they didn't hide in some wasteland that no one could find. Instead, Parisians have to drive by it every morning on your way to work - by the hundreds of thousands! Unfortunately, Paris has been invaded twice since the Arc was built, and both times, the enemy marched through the Arc as a symbol of conquest - a major mental defeat each time.

I loved the simple elegance of the Eternal Flame (see picture left, click for larger) continuously burning since 1921 over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and really dramatic in the dark. They have it chained off so you can't actually stand on the Tomb - of course, it would be dangerous to have a gas flame at street level in the middle of a crowd anyway! People can be, well, kinda dumb.

I took my time and got probably 150 pictures at the Arc, until literally my camera said "battery exhausted" - and I thought, 'oh man, so am I'. It dawned on me I'd better get moving, because traffic was really starting to pick up, and I remembered the underground walkway was still not open, so I'd have to run across 4 lanes of traffic. Made it safely across the street and started to head back.

6:14 AM - checked out the restaurant Les Aigles right by Arc on Grand Armée for a meal - steak for €13! Lots of cheaper places to eat around the Arc I was told - not sure why. Printed menus were on a stand outside the already-open restaurant, in about 6 languages that I saw - nice touch. Will check it out.

6:23 AM - Walking by the Boulangerie Patisserie (bakery - found it!) which was right on the Grand Armée, but it's blinds are still pulled so you can't see anything going on inside (no wonder I missed it before) or even know how to identify the building. My, it smells amazing - ham cooking and cheeses melting - mmmmmmm. It may open soon but I'm going to head back, but will definitely will stroll down one morning on my day off - it's about 4 city blocks from the hotel.

6:30 AM - Several of the La Parisien (major newspaper in the city) newsstands are now open and traffic, though not at rush hour is certainly as busy as Broadway in Vancouver at 6:30 AM. Headed back to hotel and sun started to light the night. Noticed a really neat car dealership called Victorie! (see picture right, click for larger) with a great display window - the cars on the upper stands rotate like they are on a giant microwave tray. The dealership name was appropriate, being just 2 blocks from the Arc de Triomph (the Triumphal Arch)!

The dealership was across the street from me so I quickly ran out on a walkway to the middle of Grand Armée, took some shots and turned to head back - and caught a glimpse of the Arc in the morning dawn. Oh what a picture perfect view! (see picture right, click for larger)

6:37 AM - got a good picture of the lighted name of my hotel just as they turned it off. Never really noticed how cute the area is. Walked by the Air France bus that goes to the airport for €15, just as it drove away. Good reminder to use it going home.

Seems like so many people smoke here -very different culture in drinking and smoking here - everyone does it.

6:50 AM - Thought on the way up to my room that I'd check out the 'free' breakfast they were handing out. I figured it had to be some junkie little room with a dried up toaster and some stale juice. I dropped into the only room with food in it - but it was a massive buffet (see pictures below, click for larger) with 6 different serving stations - one with various kinds of fresh bread, one with nothing but fruit, one with nothing but yogurt and cheeses, one with sliced meats, and one with hot foods like sausages, pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a different entree dish every day, and one table with every kind of fruit juice, tea, coffee, even an espresso machine! I figured I had stumbled on the hotel's main restaurant - probably had seating for 200 people or more in it.

I walked up to a lady and asked how much it was, and she asked for my room number. I gave it to her and she looked at a list and said "Mr Jorgensen, you can just go in". I said, "oh, so they charge it to the room?", and she looked at me funny and said "no sir, it's free for you".

I think I almost choked. A buffet, which seemed more like the casino ones in Las Vegas, and it was FREE? I've never been given that kind of freebie in my entire life. And I get that every single morning while I'm here! Oh my gosh, I love this city!

Again, thank you Mom for finding this unbelievable deal! I ate until I thought I'd be sick, quickly ran up to the room to work on the blog for while longer, and then headed to the Congress hall for 8:00 AM. More on the rest of the day later!

Day 3 - The Congress Begins - So Does The Nighmare

For the events of Sunday, August 30, 2009

10:20 AM - I can actually program the TV in your room as a wake-up call. A bit annoying to be awakened by it this morning, but it was very effective. A big clock comes on the screen and it rings and TV comes on. Very cool. Same kind of TV as I have, but it has a clock showing on front of it, and of course the alarm thing must be a built in hotel add-on.

I had a bit of that fluctuating hot water issue this morning that I read about in several reviews of the hotel, which was odd - showered last night with no trouble. Must be based on demand for hot water or something, like when we flush toilets and water gets cold or hot. No big deal but water does come out very hot - don't see that nearly as much in lawsuit-happy North America.

11:08 AM - thought I'd walk down to a pharmacy I saw on my night walk, to get insoles for my Mountie boots. I decided I might as well change in my room daily and just walk between hotel and Congress centre in uniform - it's 2 minutes and you don't go outside. These boots will kill me without insoles and forgot all about it previously. Sick of changing in bathroom stalls and hauling stuff around so glad to be so close to my hotel this time.

Met a friendly couple from CA in elevator who were here for a Congress and now vacation time just like I'll do. Said I must do the boat cruise that the hotel gives us at night - takes 1 hour and runs to 11 PM starting at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. They said everything is beautifully lit at night. They were going to Versailles today so I gave some tips and answered questions. Nice people.

Beautiful morning, though I needed a light jacket to walk down the street, it was probably about +14C and relatively sunny. I walked down a major street called Porte le Champerret, which starts in front of my hotel and leads - well, nowhere interesting I've learned. It's got lots of cute apartment and condo buildings (see picture right, click for larger), along with a lot of shops and restaurants. The drug stores here are very small - only the basics at the one i went to and the only insoles were 40€. I politely kept looking - they were very nice but seriously, give me a break.

Walked across to the McDonald's, which during the day looks strangely like all the other cute little restaurants and coffee shops in the area. I know I know, that's several times in 2 days now I've been to the Golden Arches, but honestly I just can't quite get into ordering everything in French yet and taking so long for my food. Figured they were serving lunch now served - but this is Paris and (I've learned) it's full of pleasant surprises.

McDonald's sells brunch boxes that come with something like a Happy Meal container (see picture left, click for larger). Inside was a cappuccino or reg coffee (I picked a cappuccino), yogurt, apple or orange juice (apple here), Bacon and Egg McMuffin and two pancakes with jam that reminded me more of flat and bigger English muffins. Very filling for around 7€.

Streets are extremely quiet this AM. Old men drinking coffee in animated conversation with their friends; some women riding bikes or shopping for vegetables on the street or carrying big loaves of bread from somewhere (didn't see a bakery and I looked!) and a few young people puttering around on their scooters. Stores are mostly closed Sunday and even on Monday, and many museums are closed Monday or Tuesday - the way a truly civilized people should be.

I'm starting to see already what the fuss is about - this city's best asset isn't buildings (though it apparently has 1,800 classified monuments, 157 museums, 145 theatres and 380 cinemas alone!), according to a message from Bertrand Delanoe, the Mayor of Paris, in a guidebook I got from the Congress site. It's the people and a way of life that makes Paris the envy of the world, and the people of Paris really own their city. The streets, parks, rivers, buildings, etc. are designed more for people - not cars. Hard to explain - you'd have to be here to see it. Everything is much slower, more thoughtful and maybe less stressed - it feels like moving from the stress of New York City to the relative serenity of Saskatoon - but in the case, Saskatoon being the much bigger city. People even speak much quieter here than at home for the most part, especially in public (trains, stores and restaurants).

11:40 AM - came back to room and ate. Just after noon the maid came and straightened the room up. Watched the news. There are 8 or 9 English (mostly news channels - you can only watch so much of that before you want to throw the TV out the window), 6 Arabic (there are lots of people from the Arab world in Paris) and a smattering of most other European and Asian major languages (mostly Chinese, Japanese and Korean) on the TV here - very UN of them.

Honestly if I hear one more time about Kennedy's burial on TV this morning I'll fly to Washington and dig the hole myself to speed it up. Ugh. Europe is just fascinated with Obama and the Kennedys. I personally don't get it.

12:00 PM - just learned via email about a big problem - the little Congress bears I'm handing out were delivered here on Saturday and refused by the Congress Centre because the Congress hadn't started yet, and they didn't know where they were supposed to go, and no one from our team was here to deliver them. So now they are somewhere in Paris at a brokerage. Sigh - I feel like chopping heads right now - when I ask someone to make sure it goes from A to B, I would assume "B" isn't a warehouse across town that I've never heard of, especially when I'm standing at "B" and getting higher blood pressure by the minute. Stress that again I have to resolve from 9 time zones away. Everyone in Canada is sleeping and we need the tracking number so they can find our boxes, but I didn't care - this is just plain incompetence so I started emailing and leaving voice mail for the company we hired in Vancouver to get their butts in gear. The day will be over before they get up on a lazy Vancouver Sunday. What a brutal waste of time today will be - 8 hours in a booth with nothing to give away.

Second piece of fun news - was talking to a few people about my cab adventure on the way in, and they were all shocked - I was apparently charged literally double what I should have paid (about 40€). They think the cabbie didn't bother to clear his fare and let it run again. I was tired, disoriented, new to the city and paying more attention to the scenery - though he sure pointed it out a lot. I hope, for that idiot's sake, that he never runs into me again. I also hope he ends up on the side of the road with a flat tire and no jack for that stunt. And to think, he made me feel so bad and so stressed, and he wasn't even being honest with me. No wonder the bell captain gave him the once over when he looked at him - I wish someone would have said something. I would have refused to pay altogether - go ahead and call the police and justify that kind of fare to them. Everyone in Paris would have known I was ripped off. Ugh, I wish I had never known that.

1:00 PM - just got to the Congress site, and it's going to be a looooooong day. The Transplantation Society, the people who technically 'own' our Congress, were understandably upset about the bears not being here, and of course, I'm the only one here at the moment who can answer for it or get it fixed. I also the only one who actually had nothing to do with the botched issue. I got furious myself, and sent off a few more unpleasant emails to the staff back home, telling them that this had better be resolved by the end of my day, or there would be "significant internal changes" the minute I get back to Vancouver. Amazingly enough, within 2 hours, the staff in Vancouver were on red alert (and I must add, they are not MY staff - it's the company we hire to run the Congress for us that blew this so badly) and started to make progress in finding out where things were and getting it fixed - even though it was a lazy Sunday in Paris now. Go figure.

I think our booth was quite nice. It has a space-age look and feel to it. The only downsize is the stupid barstool chairs they have around the table on the right (see picture left, click for larger). You slide off of them because, believe it or not, they are made of shiny plastic and tipped a bit forward. It's like you are supposed to bruise your butt on the floor! I couldn't stay on them unless I hook the heel of my Mountie boots in the bar thing near the bottom of the stool. What a retarded design - so impractical. Paris tends to be a bit of that as well.

2:30 PM - the President of TTS himself, who was the Chair of the Sydney Congress when I was there - and an overall good guy - bought each of the 4 of us at the booth (including himself) a beautiful pastry from a world-famous cafe, which is right by our Congress centre, called Charles Traiteur (see picture left, click for larger). I think he accurately sized up the mood in the booth not being so great, yet none of us caused the problem. He came to brighten the day - wow did he ever. Picture a cup of custard poured into a big tart shell and covered with 3 full strawberries cut in half on top, then glazed with sugar. If I put both my hands over it, I just barely covered it - the computer lock in the photo is longer than my hand is wide, to give perspective. I've never seen an individual pastry that big before, I don't think ever. Can't even imagine how much it cost, but I ate the whole thing - barely. I think that must be what food in Heaven will taste like.

3:00 PM - had some time to walk around and see the booths today. One had two kinds of fruit smoothies (Wyeth), another was handing out Italian coffee, a third (see picture right, click for larger) was actually handing out free sushi and had created a Japanese meditation garden, complete with bamboo fence around it. Yah, it stopped me in my tracks too - man, they get more creative every time.

One had nothing but TVs on it, with different things going on each one of them (see picture left, click for larger). And they don't rent those TVs in Paris - they buy the booth materials and ship it all in. One company (I'll leave nameless) in Sydney spent $200,000 on their booth, and it was 2 stories high with a coffee shop on top. When it was over, they tore it down - and threw everything in the garbage, because it cost too much to ship stuff home. Do you really still not understanding why health care is so expensive?

5:00 PM - The booth is in a dead spot in exhibit areas. All the traffic is down by main pharmaceutical booths (we're in the non-profit area) or rushing by us to various symposia. Same thing in Boston. I don't pick the booth, but not a good scene. Will this day: 1) ever get better and 2) ever end? Sigh. When I get the bears (and must get them for tomorrow AM or I'm going to get more than a little cranky on the organizers at home) I'm going to have to do guerrilla marketing and wander around, no matter who's booth I'm in front of when I hand them out. All's fair. I'm hoping, however, that when I hand out a few at our booth, that we'll create the kind of traffic we had everywhere else, and maybe I'll be the hero to all the other booths on our row that our dying.

The only good thing about that story is that the our competitor Congress in May 2010 in San Diego (I know, they're even on the same Coast as us, and only 3 months apart) is hurting even more than we are - they are handing out pompoms with eyes on a surfboard with a San Diego sticker on them. Honestly, when I think of San Diego, I don't think of surfing, but Shamu the killer whale at Seaworld! They literally rushed out to get something in Boston when our Mountie bears were showing up everywhere - we made them nervous. You'd think they would come up with something better for another Congress, however - those things are just embarrassing. And the lady running the show is also manning the booth!

6:00 PM - Dr. Keown, my boss, met us at the booth. I told him the situation and he wasn't happy about it. Said that he and I would meet with the company next week to set them straight, and thanked me for my help. It's totally dead on this end of the convention exhibit area - so much so that some exhibitors are threatening to leave the Congress early to go back home if ESOT, the European Society of Transplantation (who runs this Congress) doesn't fix the problem quickly. I think, when we get the bears, that we'll start building traffic for everyone else - they are a hot commodity.

9:00 PM - Congress just ended and I walked back to the hotel with Dr. Keown, who's staying in Concorde too. I really like working with him, such a great guy. We talked about our game plan for tomorrow, and then I said goodnight and went to the room.

Quickly changed and called and called and called and called room service for a hamburger and a Coke - took forever to get in touch with someone. In fact, I never did - ended up calling concierge to complain that no one was answering at "24 hour" room service, and they gave me another number. No one answered there either. I was about to give up when room service called me - now that's a first. I ordered my food - and a hamburger, fries and coke came to....33€ with the delivery charge! That's about $45 Canadian! Did I mention that I got a 25% coupon for drinks at the bar on the roof of the building - at 22€ a drink, they should be giving away the entire bottle! Water and Coke are just fine thanks (though each Coke in the minibar, which I won't even touch, is 6€ - that's $9 Canadian for a can of Coke!

This is the largest and last dime the hotel is getting out of me, but I was so tired I didn't care. My feet are killing me and I don't want to walk anywhere to eat. Starving too - what a long day. The little goodies they handed out at the Reception at ESOT were just pathetic - cream cheese sandwiches about the size of your knuckle was all I could find, and cheese balls on a stick. I thought I was going to throw up. The neighbour booth to us pointed out that she's not yet seen a fat person in all of Paris, and I realized she was right! If this is all these people eat, I'm surprised anyone's left alive to turn out the lights here at night.

10:00 PM - hamburger came (see picture right, click for larger), and appetite went. It was fancy alright - and disgusting. One bite and I was just about ill - they put blue cheese on it! Could you possibly do more damage to a hamburger than that? Why not just throw up on it - seriously, that's what it smelled and tasted like. Ugh. I pulled the cheese off and ate the rest. it was too thick and the meat was weird tasting. I was not impressed. For 33€ I should have gotten a tap-dancing cow in my room. I liked the little bottles of ketchup, mustard (Dijon? good grief, why not just poison me) and mayonnaise - though Boston had them as well. The one cool thing was Coke in a real glass bottle - I felt like I was 12 again. I kept the bottle.

11:13 PM - My body soon reminded me, however, that I was 42, going on 70. I hit the sack (and I mean hit it) right after I ate. My mind and body just couldn't function anymore. Is it possible to go into a coma and still be standing?

Good night for now from the eternal City of Lights! Now can someone please turn them out for me (thank God for black-out curtains).

Day 2d - The Night ...Life?

For the events of Saturday, August 29, 2009

10:00 PM - Woke up naturally after a few hours sleep, and decided to get up, get something to eat, and then work on my blog for awhile. Looked out the window in time to see the Eiffel Tower all light up with crazy Christmas tree lights that flashed, and then it calmed down and was beautifully lit. (see picture left, click for larger)

10:30 PM - Decided to go and get some cash from the bank machine, to avoid more of the hassle I'd had earlier with the cab - got 100€. The money is really different looking here. (see picture right, click for larger). The top coins are (l to r): a 2€ coin (like a toonie), a 1€ coin (like a loonie), and a 20, 10, 5 and 1 cent coin. Like in Australia, there are no quarters.

I was also hungry, so wanted to get something to munch on. I went for a walk just out the door of the hotel and a few blocks down, and came across another McDonald's. I figured I would get something different there, and though some other sit-down restaurants were open still late at night, I didn't feel like spending a bunch of time or money sitting in an eat-in place tonight. I didn't have patience for that and just wanted to get back to the hotel to get my blog going. Got a burger, fries and drink and walked back to the hotel.

Noticed something neat on the way back. There are a lot of electric and gas-powered scooters here, which is not so unique. Sydney, Australia had tons of them too. However, something I've never seen anywhere else in the world was road-side gas pumps ...designed just for scooters and small Smart Cars! (see picture left, click for larger)

The streets are really quiet, with a few couples sitting together in outside restaurants drinking wine, and a few people on scooters coming and going from same. It really dies down here at night.

11:00 PM - Got back to the hotel and started working on my blog to get some of it up - want to get caught up if I can.

3:00 AM - Still couldn't sleep (think I'm overtired now) so decided to take a break and looked out the window, and the Eiffel Tower was black. No lights at all. Like David Copperfield had made it disappear, just like his trick with the Statue of Liberty.

And speaking of that, I couldn't believe my eyes - I thought I was in Vegas for a minute! As most of the city lights were darkened now, I thought I could make out the Statue of Liberty down below and just a few blocks away! I remember in the movie National Treasure 2, as Nicholas Cage was racing through Paris, that he was standing in front of it. I thought it was some kind of movie prop. Nope.

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who created the New York version of Lady Liberty in 1889, also gave a smaller version to Paris at the same time. You'll recall that the big one in New York Harbor was actually gift of the people of France to America to celebrate the American Revolution (French soldiers actually supported America's fight against the British in the Revolutionary War, mostly because they hated the English and wanted them to lose their colonies in America). Will head out to get pictures of it one day this week and let you see.

6:00 AM - incredibly, I was still up working on the blog until now. Going to hit the sack - set a wake-up call for 10:00 AM to get breakfast, etc. before I have go to the Congress for the day. I've been up for the most part of 24 hours now. Ugh, as I said earlier, I hate flying east - always throws me off!

Day 2c - Checking Out The Sun King's "Digs"

For the events of Saturday, August 29, 2009

11:30 AM - Alarm just woke me up after a few hours sleep and I admit I feel like I've hit a wall. I would have just gone back to sleep, but realized I've already wasted 80€ on a cab today, so I just can't ignore the fact I paid 25€ already for the Versailles pass. Whether I want to go or not, I'm going out there to see it. I really want to, but my body was saying "no no no".

12:00 PM - Got showered, changed, and headed out. I asked several staff in the hotel how to get to the Metro or RER line, and all of them gave directions that in hindsight would have led me to the RER, but at the time made zero sense (and I admit I was a bit disoriented anyway) - so I ended up losing over 1/2 hour just trying to find the stupid station. I was irritated with how poorly some of the staff, especially the concierge staff, work with people. The one bell captain was helpful getting me the cab paid for, but the rest of the concierge staff were, as one American put it in his review of the hotel, "surly and rude".

The hotel is connected to an 80-store mall called the Boutiques of La Fayette, which had some very pricey stores in them and, as I walked through this Saturday afternoon, had absolutely no shoppers. How they continue to stay open is beyond me - the place seemed completely lifeless inside.

The signage in the mall, which would lead me to the connected Metro and RER stations, was completely useless, so I ended up walking outside at an entrance. I walked to the end of the street, the opposite direction from the entrance of the hotel (i.e. to the "back" of the hotel) and there was the Palais des Congres de Paris (the Congress Centre of Paris - see picture left, click for larger). The architecture wasn't that interesting I must say. But what did catch my eye was the "Metro" and RER signs I saw across the street.

Again, I must have been a bit disoriented from being tired still, because even after seeing the signs, I still walked by the RER station several times. It was called both SNCF and RER on signs (see picture right, click for larger), and I had no idea what that meant. I thought SNCF was some brand name for a bank or something, not realizing it was the name of another transit system that links all of France together. It would be, in Canadian terms, the Via Rail of France. Apparently I had more connection opportunities to the world around me, from this one little spot, than I really realized at the time.

I finally figured out the little granite building in front of me (see picture left, click for larger) was the RER station, and quickly spotted some ticket machines. Excellent, it had an English option, though I didn't see that at first and panicked a bit pushing buttons and having things beep back at me in French that I couldn't read. I fought with that machine for the next 5-10 minutes and it kept declining my card. Ugh. Finally was about to head out and go back to bed at the hotel when I turned and saw a ticket booth. The lady working there didn't speak much English, but was extremely helpful.

She told me that my VISA wouldn't work in the machine because it didn't have the new smart chip in it, which is apparently widely available in Europe, but not North America yet. How useless is that? She sold me a return fare to Versailles (which is outside the main Paris zone, so was about 7,60€ return) and a 10 pack of tickets for the RER line (which can also be used on buses, Metro, etc.) for the rest of the week - the latter being 11,60€ for the 10 of them, which makes it one of the cheapest, yet largest subway systems in the world.

The tickets are very small (see picture right, click for larger) and like most cities, you stick it in a turnstile at the beginning of the trip to activate it, and stick it in a turnstile when you leave to verify how much time you have left on it (they give you 90 minutes in any direction). For an extra 5€ you can purchase a plastic credit-card-sized pass that you keep loading in the machines with your amounts wanted, but Rick Steves' book says not to bother if you aren't staying here long - the little tickets work the same way and you save 5€. The downside is that they are very small and easy to lose, so I keep most of them in my safe in the room and take out only what I need that day.

The tickets to Versailles, however, because of the nature of the end point, were only good in one direction. However, I didn't think a 3,80€ ticket on a train for 1/2 hour was a bad bargain, considering the cab fare I just had paid! (I may never get over that disaster).

Apparently at a station called Champ de Mars I'll have to get off the train and look for another train coming through called Versailles. She gave me a little piece of paper saying the same thing, should I forget the name of the station. Shouldn't be too difficult. RER is much like a hybrid of West Coast Express and Skytrain - they are two-level electric trains that run underground by the Congress Centre, but mostly were above-ground commuter express trains (see picture left, click for larger).

Like most other systems I've seen in Boston, Sydney, Toronto, etc. the trick to these trains is knowing the name of the station you are at, and the station you are going. Then, you have to look up at the electronic monitors as trains come into the station (see picture right, click for larger) to see if the final destination you are going to is listed. If your destination is the first name on the list, you're on the wrong platform, and need the train going the other way. If your destination station isn't listed on the monitor at all, don't get on that train!

Every second RER train goes to the destination you want - much easier to learn than Sydney, with it's 8 tracks that run parallel to each other - making you run to get to the right platform in time (and hope, unlike Boston, that the train you want is going the right direction too!) Most signs would say what time the next train was coming and what time it was now, and I have found so far in Paris, though human-driven (unlike Skytrain, which is all computerized) all Paris trains always ran on time, to the minute.

Our train started to barrel along going east, and soon I got to the Champ de Mars... and then realized it had a second name under it - check it out! (see picture left, click for larger). Gulp - the Eiffel Tower is right here! Why on earth not tell people to get off at the Eiffel Tower stop - like Champ de Mars is something easy to remember!

I didn't get out of the station (though I was really tempted to see the Tower as it was right above me) because the turnstile would have registered (perhaps) that I had used up my special one-way pass, and I didn't want go through the Boston nightmares again! Oddly, when I first arrived at this station, I had to cross over to the other platform for my connecting train, and was waiting for it to come the opposite direction. When it came the same direction as the one I got off, I panicked, but this was correct - as the Versailles train veered off at this station, crossed the tracks just ahead of our station, and went southwest toward Versailles. \

At this station, for the first time, I saw the River Seine outside too, as the station were now all mostly above ground. The River Seine isn't much to look at - in fact, it's more like a wide canal than a river. The Fraser in Vancouver is probably 3-4 times wider - Seine would be more like the Elbow River as it runs through downtown. In fact, in places it was narrower than the widest point of the gondola ride in the Venetian resort in Las Vegas!

Until you actually left Paris, it didn't look like much, but as we got closer to the town of Versailles (which grew up around the Palace and took its name), the countryside started to look more like a movie set and less like an unattractive mismatch collection of cream-colored old buildings. The stations were cute and picturesque, such as this station called Chaville Velize (see picture right, click for larger).

One thing that really surprised me was how completely dead the system was - there were about 6 people on my entire car of the train, and they seemed to all be from one family. For a Saturday at about 1:00 PM, that seemed extremely odd to me. I wondered for a bit if perhaps Versailles wasn't actually closed today. After the day I'd had already, I wouldn't be surprised if I bought a ticket for nothing. However, the website sold me the pass for today, and clearly had black-out days on Mondays when it truly was not open.

Note to tourists: - Almost everything is closed in Paris on Sundays and Mondays, in lieu of the fact they are open Saturday. Paris still operates on a 5-day week for everyone, much like when I was a kid. The stores in our little town would be closed Tuesday, if I remember correctly, because they were open on Saturday. I think we in North America miss a lot of physical and mental recovery time by running around 6-7 days a week. This city is on a whole other frequency to North America - stress is left to the over-crowded freeways, but the people's personal lifestyles indicate a much more relaxed pace than we have, and I like it here for that.

Nothing I had read online at the hotel previously indicated any issue about Versailles today, so I just kept going. The Palace is the last stop on this line, so I didn't really worry paying attention to the name on the stations as we whizzed by on the 1/2 hour ride out.

1:30 PM - Finally, we arrived at the end of the line - and I got off the train and walked toward the exit, along with everyone else. Oddly, there was no turnstile to validate my ticket going in or out, which I thought seemed a bit odd considering you had to do that everywhere else on the system. That means, unless they had fare inspectors, that you could technically have hopped back on the train at the end of the day and not paid a fare. No wonder they sell the return tickets when you buy the one to come out here! A bit overcast here, but warm - probably about 22C.

While the train was practically empty, The Town of Versailles was anything but. It was like a sea of ants as I walked out of the station. Rick Steves' book says to 'follow the crowds' to the Palace, and that was exactly what I did - because it was like a river of people flowing both directions from the town to the Palace. I walked by several very photogenic buildings (see picture left, click for larger) on the 10-minute walk (only about 5 city blocks) to the main entrance of Versailles.

When the Palace of Versailles was first built, the town of Versailles was just a country village, far from Paris, and King Louis IV (also known as the Sun King) came out here to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the French capital - much like Presidents use Camp David as their 'home away from home' to relax. France was not much of a united country before Louis IV, and he built Versailles to create a seat of absolute power.

It is estimated that it took 30,000 laborers and cost approx.116 million gold livre (a coin of the period, replaced later by the French franc) to build the Palace. In today's dollars, that would be over $2 billion - twice what it cost to build West Edmonton Mall, the world's largest shopping centre, in Edmonton. It took 25% of the entire income of France just to run and maintain the Palace!

Of course today something like this would never be completed before the people revolted - and of course in France they eventually did, and had King Louis VI and the Queen Marie-Antoinette beheaded. The people destroyed most of the furniture in Versailles, which was a real shame from a historical perspective. Napoleon then took over - and also ruled from Versailles as a divine Emperor. Man, the French are seemingly very slow learners.

There is so much to see and do in Versailles that I think I will only highlight the bare minimum here, to save you from dying of boredom. I would suggest, however, that if you are ever in Paris, this is an absolute must-see location.

The statue of Louis IV (see picture right, click for larger) welcomes you to the gates of Versailles. Hey Louis, nice wig! This guy that was so vain and insecure because he was losing his hair that he invented the worldwide wig fashion phenomena of the day, that we see to present day!

The main building, the Château de Versailles (see picture left, click for larger), also known as the King's Palace (yes, the Queen had her own!) is one of the largest in the world with 700 rooms, more than 2,000 windows, 1,250 chimneys, 67 staircases and 19,800 acres of grounds. More than 3,000 nobles and staff lived in the Palace during Louis IV's reign! And no, what you see there isn't gold paint!

The features inside this main building include the Chappelle Royale (Royal Chapel) (see picture right, click for larger), with a beautiful gold-plated pipe organ, solid marble floors and a beautifully painted ceiling. The King and family would alone celebrate Mass daily in this chapel.

My favorite of all was the 250-foot long Galerie de Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) (see picture below, click for larger). By the way, I'm listening to my Rick Steves' Versailles audio tour on my iPhone in this picture - forgot to take my headphones off when an American asked if I wanted my picture taken.

There were originally two palaces, connected by an outside courtyard, but the King didn't want to get wet all the time walking between the two, so this magnificent Hall was created, which is used to entertain heads of state to this day. in fact, the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I in this Hall (and, some say, it started World War II).

Many people were milling about in the room when I got there and it was fairly noisy in the room. It was gloomy outside, and suddenly the sun broke through and glinted off the chandeliers and mirrors in the room, and everything lit up. People let out a collective gasp and the room went quiet with just the sound (for a brief moment) of cameras clicking. Amazing to behold - so glad I was able to see it.

Had to cringe at some of the terribly-translated English signage throughout Versailles. It's like they did the translation in some places word for word, and the words didn't make sense in English when put together. You'd think something as big as this would do it right.

The Gardens of Versailles (see picture left, click for larger) were also amazing - everything perfectly cut, and lots of water fountains and rivers, and two man-made lakes - all from that day! Pretty amazing to have running water in the 1700s! The King would grow real orange trees here (note: they get real winter here!), which amazed the people, and gave him the nickname "Sun King" (he'd have gardeners hide them in greenhouses all winter, but they didn't need to know that)

5:30 PM - well, that was fun, but I'm starving and have a headache from it now! I bought a book on Versailles in the gift shop, and then left the area. Walked by a McDonald's on the way back to the RER station, and they had this cool machine in English (see picture right, click for larger) inside that you could use to place your order and pay at. Then you went in a special line to pick up your food, saving a ton of time. Versailles closes in 1/2 hour and thousands were leaving at once, so you can imagine the lines at McDonald's. Actually, trust me, you couldn't - they were outside the door and down the street!

It accepted my card, and I ordered a Bacon Royal Burger which was really good - French cheddar cheese (which they are famous for making) is much better than in Canada/US I think. And no, they don't just sell these by Versailles, but so far throughout Paris. I'm happy to report that McDonald's fries taste the same in Sydney, Paris and in the US as they do in Vancouver!

5:45 PM - Headed back on a standing-room only train (which I got a seat on - yay!) and headed back to the hotel. I can't even believe now how tired I am. Ate food on the train, and when I got back to the hotel, I decided to crash - my body just gave up. I didn't bother to set an alarm, as I figured I wouldn't sleep past 1:00 PM tomorrow...haha. More soon!

Day 2b - Arrival In Charles de 'GAG ME' Airport

For the events of Saturday, August 29, 2009
...Now back to our original programming, already in progress...

7:00 AM - Wild. I can't see out the window very well as we taxied up to the terminal, as I'm in an aisle seat, so got a surprise when I stepped off the plane and started going down stairs ...onto the runway! Apparently this plane, though an international flight from Canada with hundreds of passengers, isn't good enough for an actual gate at Charles de Gaulle International Airport! So they have brought buses out to us (picture left, click for larger). They need to make room for those big Ethiopian Airlines and Gabon Airlines planes I saw coming in, I guess (sniff)! Not the best picture, but best one that turned out. I tried to adjust the lighting, but didn't really work - the sun literally was just coming up as we landed.

We were whisked away quickly onto a large bus (standing room only) - in fact somehow I ended up being one of the first on the buses and the very first dozen people into the terminal, which I still don't understand because I was at the back of the plane! It just worked out because I slipped very last onto the first busload of people, and then I had to get off first because I was on the back of the bus! So that worked out well in the end.

Then I opened the door of the terminal - and stepped back into 1965. I could not believe the poor state of what I saw. Paint flaking off everywhere, the lighting, the flooring, everything was like a museum exhibit of bad airports long since dead. Wow, what a shock to the system. You read about how sophisticated the city is, and then you see this and think - HUH?

Truly unbelievable. I do not exaggerate when I say that the airport in Kingston, Ontario last year was nicer, newer and cleaner. Vancouver's airport might as well have the Jetsons landing at it, compared to this. I got very nervous to see huge planeloads of people from Africa being pushed into the open area with us, where we were obviously going to go through security even before getting our bags. Some were coughing like they had TB, and no one was stopping them from coming through. I tried to step back as much as possible from them, then felt ashamed I was doing it and just kept walking, but secretly covered my mouth with my sleeve slightly as some walked by. Seriously, some of them looked and even acted like they were really sick.

I got honestly scared when I saw the cattle-car styled line-ups they created to go through customs - it was like a rat's maze (see picture right, click for larger). In this picture, it looks like one big mass of people lined up, but was actually a very tight zig-zagged single file line of people which made no sense, and was not even remotely efficient.

It reminded me (with all due respect) of movies I've seen of Jews being herded into Auschwitz. 20-something kids on power trips (and wearing really nice suits that didn't quite fit) were barking orders to us in French and I had no idea what they were saying. I truly became fearful at this point, because I realized customs was going to ask me questions about why I was here, where I was staying, etc. and I would have no idea what they were saying to me, and I couldn't answer anything in French. They looked mean - well, more like dead inside. Not even remotely friendly. I couldn't believe what was happening, and we weren't really even in the airport yet! What an awful first impression of what I heard was such a great city.

7:12 AM - Well, that was different! I panicked for nothing! I saw big security guards that looked like prison guards standing by the main entrance, and I felt myself shaking a bit, and wasn't sure if I was just tired, cold (it was only about 8C outside and I was wearing shorts, which was another surprise) or if I was really scared.

Then I came up to the French Customs window... and the lady never asked me a single question. Not a bonjour, nothing. Took my passport, scanned it, stamped it (yay!) with the EU "F" stamp for France, gave it back to me ...and that was it. And I still think it's so weird that we didn't even have our luggage yet.

No customs cards to declare goods, not "what are you doing in France by yourself for 9 days", "are you bringing lots of money or foreign food into the country", nothing of that kind at all. And I'm sorry for how this sounds, but if you would have seen the planeload from Gabon coming in, for example (a country in West Africa), they seriously looked like they may have had chickens on the plane with them - it was like nothing I've ever seen before.

I'm still not sure whether the French (or EU in general) are just way ahead of us or so far behind they'll never catch up - I'm really not sure which. 12 minutes from the time I stepped off the plane until I walked into this big barn full of people, to the time I was standing by the luggage carousel. Unbelievable.
Well, whatever, I wasn't waiting around for them to decide they made a mistake. I went over to the 1970s luggage carousel area (seriously, if they had a disco ball, shag rug and taxi drivers with shirts cut to the navel, gold chains and fuzzy dice in their rear view mirrors, I wouldn't have even blinked after seeing this area - see picture left, click for larger). 10 minutes after standing at the carousel, I was only half-jokingly still looking for chickens to come out of the carousel.

Then, after 15-20 minutes, I was starting to wonder if my own luggage was going to come out! It was literally the last pile of bags to come off the plane, and there was a full Continental Airlines jet from New York on our carousel too at the same time, so you can imagine how many bags I saw go by again and again before mine came. Remember, hundreds of people were still behind me in the "customs corral waiting for their "detailed security passport stampings", just like I had done, so their bags were piling up on the carousel like crazy. I was one of the first ones - there must have been 4 plane loads of people behind me.

7:35 AM - finally, there's my bags! Grabbed them and got the heck out of Dodge - the place was just crawling with people on top of each practically at that point.

7:50 AM - Got a cab right away with a friendly guy that spoke extremely bad English to match my extremely bad French. Yah, and he wanted to talk to. What a great time we had struggling to figure out what in heck each other was saying! We got by... at least for awhile.

8:10 AM – Then I asked if the cabbie wanted my credit card to do the authorization before we got to the hotel. We had only left the airport a few minutes before. And he turned and said he didn't take credit cards. Excuse me? Good Lord - I thought I would have a stroke. In Vancouver, they have to take them by law. I figured a big modern city like Paris would as well - apparently I was wrong.

They guy hardly spoke English either, but for some reason wouldn't take me back to the airport. I said I could just take the train into the city, and he could get another fare - we were only minutes from the airport. Felt bad, but I hadn't had a chance to get cash yet and didn't even see a bank machine in our terminal anyway. Besides, I wanted to pay with a card - it was a justifiable UBC expense.

He said in very broken English (and I hoped I both understood him and trusted he was telling the truth) that "we'd figure it out" at the hotel. He seemed to indicate the hotel would pay him cash, and just charge my card. That seemed a bit presumptuous in my opinion - never heard of that before in my life (I was about to get a real big lesson in Parisian customer service). My mind was racing - I'm a nobody to this hotel, I haven't even checked in yet. I'm here for 10 days, what kind of stupid first impression is this, etc. etc. At this point he was speeding into the city so fast at that point I was starting to get scared all over again. And then I kind of laughed to myself - I was going to the Concorde (hotel) apparently by flying on the Concorde (the supersonic airplane). Sigh.

When we got closer to Paris, I was saying "je suis désolé" (I am sorry) over and over and I was feeling sick to my stomach, and he'd just smile and say "no problem, they take care of it". I thought, "not a chance, this is ridiculous for you to assume". At one point I got really quiet because I felt so uncomfortable, and out of the blue he pointed off to the left of the car, turned around and smiled and said "le tour Eiffel".

And looming out of the distance on our left side was one of the "7 Modern Wonders of the World" - the Eiffel Tower - in all its early-morning glory. It was far away still and it disappeared quickly behind a building - but I think he did that to say "it's going to be OK buddy, and don't forget where you are!"

Truly remarkable. Seeing it for the first time was much like the Sydney Opera House - you just look at it - and part of you is going "is that it?" - kind of like "ho hum" to some degree, and at the same time it's like discovering you are actually meeting the Wizard of Oz - it just doesn't register how amazing this is.

I looked at the tab as we got close to the hotel (I could see Concorde La Fayette in big letters on a tower in front of us) was getting close to 70€, which really scared me (that's over $100!). I wasn't sure if I felt like crying or throwing up. I had visions of the police being called, people yelling at me in French (and I was all alone in this city) and I kept thinking of my defense: "well, I told him to take me back to the airport", but he could just say he didn't understand what I was saying. My mind was racing.

I had no idea it would be so expensive, but hadn't had time to figure out the trains, etc. Found out later an Air France shuttle bus would take me, for 15€, into the city and drop me at my hotel. But without cash, and relying on my cards, I probably still would have been lost. I know now for going back home, but I can't even begin to tell you how much I panicked as we pulled up to the hotel (see picture right, click for larger). This day could go very very badly, and I silently prayed for help.

It came to 76€ and he said "I'll tell them 80€?) and I said "OK". Why not ask for 500€, they aren't going to go along with this anyway (so I thought). That's almost $120. So ridiculous I was speechless. But he walked up to the porter who was outside, and he looked me up and down and gave him a bit of a snooty look and said to go talk to the bell captain. The driver smiled and still looked like he was going to get his money and I felt like I was walking into prison.

Walked up to the hotel concierge and the cabbie explained in French. He took one look at my sick face, looked me up on the computer when he asked for my name, and said "Mr. Jorgensen (in English) of course we can help you. We'll give him the cash for the fare and then have you sign to charge it to the room". I felt like he punched me in the face - what a shock. They actually agreed to this? I'm still taking the train going back - office expense or not, that's the most retarded cab fare I've seen in my entire life. But what a relief.

8:35 AM - within minutes after the bell captain bailed me out as if it wasn't a big deal, I walked up to the check-in like I was a new man - actually kind of giddy. The lady was extremely friendly and said they'd "been expecting me" (as if they actually had been in the largest hotel in Europe). Told me she had a "wonderful room" ready for me, gave me my security cards, some free coupons for the hotel bar, and the coupons for my Seine River cruise (in all my fear, I forgot all the great stuff I got with my deal - thanks again for finding it Mom!) and sent to the elevator lobby.

Went up to the 21st floor, to room 2109. I thought to myself "oh god, here we go" thinking, after the morning I had, could I really handle a room that was a dirty, horrible dungeon with poor water temperature and a crappy view of a parking lot or something? (I forgot they guaranteed a nice view). Opened the door and thought...

"Holy crap, this is all brand new!". (see picture above, click for larger). And it was. I learned later that they had just finished renovating it in June - all the furniture, the LCD TV (I've never seen an LCD TV in a hotel room!) - even the bed - was brand new.

Then I walked up to the window, and couldn't believe my eyes. I sent this picture to most of you - here's the view I have (see picture right, click for larger)! Wow! Still quick early in the morning, so the photo looks as I actually saw it out my window - didn't touch it up at all.

The Eiffel Tower is the most visited paid monument in the world - last year over 6 million people climbed its stairs or took its elevator up to one of several observation decks. Since it was built for the 1889 World's Fair, over 200 million people have visited it. It's as tall as an 81 storey building, making its top observation deck (outdoors, of course) the tallest in Europe, though when it was built, it was the largest in the world. I'll go check it out up close later.

9:03 AM - Well, just fried my RCA alarm clock – plugged it into the 120 volt adapter I bought in Vancouver and it worked for a minute, and then "crack" and I smelled smoke and it was dead. Ugggggghh! I’m scared to use these adapters for anything but my laptop (I know it's safe for that). I thought I used my alarm in Sydney with no problems, but remembered after that I had an older alarm then. The adapters look really weird (see picture left, click for larger). Downloaded this picture from the Net - mine is being used for my laptop to write this!

I can’t even buy a new alarm here because I won’t be able to use it at home! What a day I'm having, and it's not even 9:30 AM yet.

9:15 - Going to lay down for a few hours. I’m so exhausted I can barely think or function - even walked into a doorway by accident - ouch! Will see how I feel by 11:00 - whether I go to Versaille or just head out another time and lose the money I spent on the pass (25€)! More soon!