It's been almost 2 weeks since leaving Tucson for first England, then France. Here's some notes on eperiences to date...Got to Heathrow in spite of flights being cancelled, and found my co-worker Jay there with a cab. We spent the rest of the first week in High Wycombe, England at the Holiday Inn. We had meetings each work day at the High Wycombe office and left for Paris on Saturday, so no time to sight see at all. An old friend Jorgen Rogde (from Norway) now works in the UK office, and took care of us, taking us to his favorite pub The Royal Standard of England (reported to be the oldest "freehouse" in England, over 900 years of service).
Our trip to Paris was uneventful - neither of us had to say or do anything for either passport control or customs (no question of work, or when returning). We just walked on through. We are stationed in Le Defense right now at the Residhome (a "residence hotel" that has a small kitchenette - this is handy for me to save take out dinners and beer in the fridge, but not getting too much action). Our work is about a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. Le Defense is a busy area during the week, but pretty deserted on the weekends. We had difficulty finding someplace to eat our first 2 days. On weekdays, it's quite busy, but once again closes up pretty tight in the evenings. I found a Lebanese restaurant I like to get take out from. There is also a small grocery store where I can buy instant coffee, apples, milk and beer...
The IFS group seems good, and our project manager Jeremy Cronshaw seems reliable. We had dinner with him across the river in Pont de Nuelly a couple times - once at Chinese and once at more of a bisto. Both were quite good. But I will be glad to have a regular flat to prepare some meals. Hopefully, someplace near some open markets to pick up fresh stuff.
We met with Michel Berthet of IFS France on Friday, and it appears we are set to move forward in finding a flat. He says he will provide some agencies to work with on it. This weekend, Jay and I roamed around some areas to see what looked good or not ( I'm hoping for the 7th Arrondisement as it is cool and also convenient to work via the metro). The entire Left bank looks good, as well as the 2nd. I did NOT care for the 1st - too upscale for me. We shall see.
That's a brief update. I'll start to add bits for each day - probably something small and unique to Paris (or wherever). I'll try to keep it brief as the only people who could possibly really enjoy all the details are probably my parents.
Au revoir
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