Business Travel

Another day of rain, but we're from Seattle, that won't stop us! Luckily we brought our coats and umbrella, but they make us stick out like a sore thumb since they're not black - Nathan's coat is bright green, mine is purple, and the umbrella is rainbow. Nathan introduced me to his business traveler lifestyle: up bright and early (6:00), breakfast in the hotel (7:00), and train to work (8:00) (while I window shop and wander around the city) then back to the hotel (5:00) for a couple hours to relax and refresh before free drinks in the "Boeing lounge" (7:00), and a very late dinner (9:00), coming home to bed (11:00) on a full belly and a fuzzy head, to do it all again tomorrow. But, being Friday, and being France, he got off at noon today and we went to a market for a really neat lunch, ordered in French, no less! He had boeuf (beef) and I had poissons (fish), on a typical prix fixe menu complete with entree (appetizer), plat (entree), and dessert (dessert). I got the assiete de fromages (assortment of cheeses) which included 3 selections: a brie, another creamy cheese, and one absolutely awful bitter cheese! All this was 13 euro per person ($20). Last night's dinner, also prix fixe, was 35 euro per, ($52) and a 35e bottle of wine. Worth it though, it was a very nice restaurant requiring reservations, with only 8 tables, serving the regional specialties, foie gras and cassoulet canard (duck). So as you may tell, most of our day revolves around mealtimes, but we have had time for some sightseeing in the city, of which I'll attach pictures. Today's highlights were the Jardin des Plantes, Cathedral St. Etienne, Le Capitole, and of course the Victor Hugo Place market where we had lunch. We're excited to get going tomorrow, but uncertain when we'll have internet access again, as our next hotel is a 12th century monks' cloister. I'll write when I can. Au Revoir!

I made it! My sweet husband met me at the airport and expertly got us a cab back to the city center, where the hotel is located. Despite the late hour (11pm) there were still lots of people about, probably the university crowd at the pubs. I stayed awake long enough to use the bidet and the douche then gratefully went to sleep in a horizontal position, an improvement over last night on the plane! Wake up call came early and we went down to breakfast (chocolate croissants!) in the hotel with a Boeing colleague, then I went back up to the room and napped for a couple hours while they went to work. The weather here is exactly as I left Seattle, 55' and raining, unseasonable but not uncomfortable. I can see a sea of umbrellas from my hotel window overlooking the Capitol Plaza as I write. I got in a couple hours exploration of the city, but didn't find any markets today. I'm saving my Euros for Provence and Barcelona anyway. Nathan's taking me to a nice French restaurant tonight, but it doesn't open until 8:30, so we're in the room watching weightlifting on EuroSport - more entertaining than the English channels, which are CNN and MSNBC. It will get more entertaining from here on out when Nathan's not working. I fare okay on my own, with the little French I learned on the plane. The usual pleasantries, as well as "how much does it cost?" and "too expensive!", my favorite phrases in any language! It's certainly more expensive here than my previous travels, but as Nathan points out, we didn't have to get any shots to come here, and it's nice to be able to use the tap water to brush our teeth! Hopefully I'll have more entertaining content to relate tomorrow. Au Revoir!