Paris, France
Paris France
My trip to Paris, France in 2019 was for business but I was lucky enough to extend and have a little fun mixed in. However, I came back with more than I bargained for, but I’ll explain more on soon.
As mentioned, business brought me to Paris and for the first few days everything focused on those efforts. The office being close to the 16 district, had a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. Also, due to the location I stayed closer to the office than the city center for the first part of the trip. Culture and office culture in Paris is very different than in the US. Honestly, Emily in Paris isn’t too far off. Office or not, you need to know your basic hello aka bonjour. The few times I said hello rather than bonjour, the reaction, especially in the city center, was very different, almost cold.
Paris was my second international trip and I learned a few things that I adjusted this time around. The first was to push my flight out and pay the difference. Not all, but most companies, as long as you pay the difference yourself and use PTO vs calling in sick, don’t mind if you extend your stay. After all was said and done with the company event, I changed hotels to a location closer to the heart of the city and location I wanted to explore. Pardon me, I don’t remember the name of the hotel. I do remember that the elevator was barley big enough for me and my carry on. I came back with a pizza one night and that was extra tricky.
Being that I had about 24-48 hours to explore the city, I chose things that would give me the best experience for the time. For example, I chose to explore the Musee de I’Orangerie which has a great artwork from Jean Walter, Paul Guillaume, and Claude Monet vs spending a ½ or full day in the Louvre. Destinations including Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, a walk along the Seine, one of the two lock bridges, the Louvre Museum (outside only), the Musee de I’Orangerie, and the Notre-Dame Cathedral (outside only).
The first thing that surprised me was the homeless communities in Paris. Some areas looked like the bay area with tents as far as the eyes could see. The second surprise was the glass wall around the Eiffel Tower. It cost 40 million, was completed in 2018, and was meant to protect against potential terrorist and vehicle attacks. There are still plenty of places for a good photo op, just maybe not as close. My biggest regret was Notre-Dame. Unfortunately, as you may or may not know, Notre-Dame caught fire in April 2019 and by the time I got there in October, the whole cathedral was walled off with plywood bords. It took 5 and a half years to re-build and I would love to be able to walk inside if I ever find myself back in Paris.
Ironically, other than the coffee and fried eggs I ate one morning for breakfast, I mostly ate Italian food in Paris but it was great quality and the gluten didn’t bother me which is always a bonus in Europe.
A few past lessons I learned that I adjusted this trip. First, currency exchange prior to the trip. When I went to Germany in 2017, I ran around to banks and malls trying to exchange USD to Euro to insure I had cash on me during the trip. This time around, I utilized the currency exchange counters at the airport. I also insured all the items I purchased while shopping in the city that I purchased them in local currency and vs USD when prompted. I utilized google translate especially with my uber driver from the airport and honestly, I think we both had a fun conversation.
A few new lessons I learned this time around were flight related. First, don’t depend in inflight entertainment, have something to keep yourself entertained. On the flight back, the row I was in, the TVs went out and were out of service the whole trip home. I only had one movie downloaded and with 11 hour flight, I was bord out of my mind, especially since I can’t sleep on flights. Second, if layovers can’t be avoided, do it on the outbound flight. If at all possible, have a direct flight home. On the way home I had a layover in LAX. I thought how bad could it be, it’s just an hour flight home to SJC. If that was only the case. Customs took forever and if my flight had not been delayed, I would have missed it. If that wasn’t bad enough, my flight continued to be delayed till it was cancelled in full and ended up being rescheduled till to the next day. For the first time, the airlines put me up in a hotel. A smart decision I did make during this new experience was not to take the first flight out at 6am and to actually get some sleep. I took the staff shuttle back and before I knew it was home in San Jose.
Now the one thing I didn’t bargain for, and I don’t think anyone could plan for, I’m pretty sure I came back home from Paris with COVID. Now don’t get me wrong, COVID was not officially announced till Jan 2020 and the earlies known documented case was in November 2019. However, there were people who experienced similar symptoms and that cases could have started to circulate as far back in October. By the time I got to LAX I was feeling crappy and within 24 hours of coming back to San Jose, I was down and out and calling in sick after already being gone for a week. I was so sick, I could barley pick up my phone to text my boss to call in sick. It just goes to show you, that no matter how much you plan, there are certain things you can never plan for.
