7:20 AM - I was just told by email from Vancouver (it's 10:20 PM there) that our bears should arrive by 9:30 AM at the booth. They will be the first things off the truck this morning, and the office opens at 9:00 AM. I'm not holding my breath, but cautiously optimistic.
7:46 AM - Remember how I was looking for insoles on Sunday and couldn't find anything that I didn't have to mortgage a house for? Well, this morning I was prepping to go to the Congress Centre for 8:00 AM, and my left boot had been digging into my foot. I grabbed my Swiss army knife and was try to cut off a piece of something that was clumped up inside the boot. I yanked and out came....an insole. My insole - from Boston! These were the exact same boots that I had prepped for that city - I recognized instantly the different kind of insoles I had bought for them. Since them they must have been used a lot because they were flattened right out and pretty much useless now. Ugh. Oh well, at least I was able to cut them down to fit the boot better, and the excess stuff shouldn't cut into me today.
8:00 AM - Congress began this morning rather slowly - many people in a session or not yet arrived. Funny how people will pay to come around the world for a Congress and not show up for half of it. I guess they have the excuse to come and get their office to pay for it, and then they disappear!
9:11 AM - was really really tired this morning - I feel like my whole body is slowly shutting down and I have to be here for another 9 hours today, which is so ridiculous. So, for the first time ever, I had an Italian coffee, which was given out for free from the Novartis booth. It's really really strong, and they only put about a cm or 2 in the bottom of your cup. Tastes really good, however, with one sugar and a little cream - almost has a hot chocolate taste to it.
9:12 AM - was preparing for the Italian heart attack to follow, but it never came. The coffee tasted really strong, but caffeine usually hits me hard and this didn't at all - I think I'm going to like Italian coffee from now on!
9:30 AM - Just as I got back to the booth, I discovered the bears had arrived! We ripped open a few boxes and found black bears, which were new! Ooooooh they are so cute! I instantly grabbed 3 bags for our office staff and friends/family, and hid them away. These will go fast. Many people come to our booth and say they saw me in Sydney, Boston or Toronto, and ask if I can give them one that they didn't have before - the whole collection so to speak. I think there are now 6 of them - raccoon, white bear, brown bear, black bear, beaver and moose. I have them all at the office.
12:30 PM - Once the bears arrived, the morning was a blur. So many people came by at once that sometimes I couldn't even look up at them - just handing stuff out. We received 16 boxes and emptied 3-4 in the first 2 hours alone, and each had about 144 in them.
1:00 PM - Lunch was served at the Congress, and it was really neat - and free for everyone! It came in a wooden box (see picture left, click for larger) instead of a bag, and had a full chicken salad sandwich cut in half and wrapped in plastic, another cream cheese sandwich in a hoagie bun wrapped in plastic, a little skewer with 5 pieces of French cheese and some weird stick with dates on it that I didn't at all like, and a pile of grapes topped with a wonderful chocolate mousse cupcake with a chocolate coin stuck in it.I know I'm going to sound like a hick, but sometimes I think French cooks try too hard to be unique or different, and they end up wrecking the food, because they get too fancy and use ingredients that just taste weird together, or use materials that aren't that fresh.
2:00 PM - Had an interesting chat with a security guard at the Congress, about being in Paris. He was fascinated by the video we were playing about Vancouver, and came to talk to me about it for a minute. I feel like a Tourism Vancouver staffer more than a Congress promoter - more people ask questions about the weather, shopping, attractions etc. than they ever do about the science, etc. of the Congress itself. Whatever gets bodies in chairs - we know they go for the science, but since that's what all Congresses focus on, the location and social events becomes what makes it special.
He made an interesting comment about Paris - he said it's a "good city for tourists, but not a city for living". In other words, great place to visit, but you don't want to live there. I guess it's incredibly expensive to live in, and many people are relegated to the suburbs, which aren't that great. A 2,000 year old city must have some slummy areas, it's almost inevitable. So far, however, it's all anecdotal - I haven't seen anything like that yet.
2:30 PM - had a minute to walk around, and came upon the Internet cafe (see picture right, click for larger), sponsored by Novartis. Really neat - they had both PCs and Macs here, and you could just line up for which one you wanted to use. A really great idea we need to use in Vancouver - I don't remember seeing that anywhere before, but I could be wrong.4:15 PM - Frank said I could come in at 10:00 AM tomorrow, which is great. I'm so bone tired right now I'm barely functional - I find I'm stuttering some times when I talk to people because my brain just isn't functioning very well. You get so many people come at you at once, you have no down time and you are wearing a very uncomfortable outfit that is actually choking me and killing my feet at the same time. I also have no relief here so I can leave for a bit, like I did in every other Congress, because the congress organizer didn't send a staff member. I'm actually a bit annoyed by that now - there's no excuse for not being here, it's a huge event. Was told yesterday by ESOT organizers that there are 3,500 registrants as of yesterday, plus many that will walk-in register. That brings it closer to 4,000 - and I feel like they all came up to me today!
6:30 PM - Went to a store in the shopping centre connected to Palais des Congres called Galeries Gourmandes, a food store. First real store I've been to in Paris, and it was huge. I'll bet 80% of what I saw I've never seen or tasted before in my life. It was almost overwhelming because I really just wanted to find something familiar, and being so totally exhausted, I didn't have much patience for shopping. I wanted some snacks for the room - I think I mentioned that a can of Coke is €6 - that's $9 Canadian! I bought a 6-pack of Coke for 1/2 that, some "Hollywood" gum, Poulet Roti et Thyme (Roast Chicken and Thyme) chips and a bag of Aglio e Basilico (garle and basil) bruschetta - which were really small and crunchy bruschetta, looking and tasting much like chips. Total bill came to only €10.64, which seemed relatively reasonable to me.
On way back to the hotel, I stopped at a drug store and bought some Lidene brand "insomnie" (sleeping pills). There were 10 in a package for only €2. I just have to get my sleep regulated. I noticed when I did that they don't seem to charge any sales tax here. I asked about it later with some people at the Congress and they told me that in fact the tax is built into the price of everything, so what you see is what you pay. I remember the day we had the same thing (other than PST) - I hate GST even more, having been in France now. In restaurants, you pay exactly what the menu price is as well. Very cool.
When I got back to the room, I looked out the window, and saw the traffic jams still going on at nearly 7:00 PM. I don't know what time Parisians finish work for the day, but holy cow this is bad (see picture left, click for larger).7:30 PM - took 2 sleeping pills as box directed (at least I think, I can't read French that well but it says there are 10 'comprimes' in the box, and I read something about '2 comprimes' on the back. I watched TV for a few minutes and felt them taking effect right away - wow, North American ones aren't like this! Good night - I'm going to ride the wave and hopefully get caught up on some sleep! Set the alarm for 6:30 AM just to be safe.
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