Paris - Arrival
I got in to work around 9:30 to get a few things wrapped up and have some buffer before we left for the flight. Augusto and I took a cab to the airport around 11:30, and got to the airport and through security with plenty of time to spare.
The guy sitting next to me on the plane was a kind of eccentric, very outgoing guy who was off to Bulgaria to do stunts for a Hollywood action flick. He had tons of videos on his phone and was very enthusiastic about showing them off, so I got to watch more than a few cars get blown up, flipped over, spun around, and just generally wrecked in spectacular ways. In his words: "I just love blowing shit up"
I enjoyed some surprisingly decent food on the flight over, and was particularly pleased to find a miniature wine bottle nestled in my dinner plate. It certainly aided me in getting an hour or two of sleep on the flight.
Upon arrival we grabbed another cab to the hotel and shortly arrived at the illustrious Best Western. We took a short break to drop stuff in our rooms before we set out in search of something to satisfy my now growling stomach. There are little cafes all over the place, and we just picked one. Lunch was quite satisfying, consisting of three courses: Plat, Entr é e, and Dessert. I had one plate with mushroom, egg and salmon, then a mushroom pasta, and crème brûlée for dessert. Mmmmm.
After lunch we headed to the office to start getting things set up. We stayed for a little while, but were a bit tired and essentially blocked on a few things so we decided to call it a day early. It is a bit of a walk from our hotel to the office, but it does provide a nice excuse to survey some of the Parisian architecture. Most of the buildings we saw had construction dates from 1890-1910, and all fit roughly the same style and height, making for a very pleasant result.
Once back at the hotel, I decided to go on an excursion to try and find some place that would sell me a power adapter from American to French sockets. I had heard of a place essentially down the street, but the instructions were not totally clear. I figured, "whatever', and decided I'd figure something out. I eventually came across and Office Depot, but they didn't seem to have what I was looking for. The trip quickly became more of a stroll around the city, and I managed to stumble across the Église Saint-Augustin de Paris along the way.
The more I wandered, the longer the walk back became, and I ended up pretty tired by the time I was back in the vicinity of the hotel. I figured it would be prudent to eat something, so I stopped by a bakery to grab some water and a baguette. Quite delicious.
I have now been up entirely too longer and shall be going to sleep. Bonne nuit.