Friday, June 13, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 17 (Départ et voyage)

Today was all about getting home.  Nothing I could imagine was more important.  It didn't matter that I'd had three hours of sleep.  It didn't matter that my back hurt, my knee hurt, my cold hadn't significantly improved.  I was getting the hell out of France.  I woke up struggling, admittedly, from three hours of sleep, but I was getting everything ready to head out the door.  I chose to not shave, and scrambled to get everything into the suitcase.  Quickly showered, and I was actually ready to check out before 6:45.  I shuffled downstairs, realizing I'd locked the key in the room.  I hope I hadn't left anything as there was no going back for it.

Checkout was almost comical.  I had 382 Euros worth of room charges.  It was all laundry, literally.  The room was prepaid, so I didn't have it on my bill.  There was one bottle of mineral water from the mini bar and two telephone calls.  Those three were less than 30 Euros.  It was stunning.  I am sure somehow that will come back to bite me on the butt, however, I don't know what alternatives I would have had.

Got to the metro station with a bit of time I thought until my train.  I saw on the window that I could buy my RER ticket there at the stop, so I plunked down the 10 Euros for the ticket and tucked it away.  I got through the turnstile and onto the platform just in time to watch the train pull away.  Still, I was ahead of schedule in my own mind and didn't mind that the next one was 7 minutes out.  I got to the transfer stop and was glad of having purchased the ticket ahead of time.  There wasn't an RER window anywhere in this level, and I'd have had no way to get onto the train.  Well, I could hop the turnstile, but with the luggage, that didn't seem an easy proposition.  So, I managed to get onto the train heading toward the airport and knew that I'd be there ahead of my target of 8 AM.  My flight leaves at 10, so I knew that 2 hours was adequate even for International Travel when flying business class or using my gold membership on American.

Through security and into the Admiral's Club lounge.  All this flying has its own rewards I suppose, and business class International means into the lounge.  The ones in foreign airports are always very nice.  They offer free drinks, snacks, and very clean private toilets and showers.  I had two very strong double espressos, but also two very strong bloody Marys and a glass of a reasonably good port.  I wanted to be able to sleep some on the plane, as I knew it would be a very long day.

Boarding was uneventful.  I hate flying next to a stranger, though.  I should amend my profile to indicate an aisle preference, as window seats are roomier, but they also mean I have to step over people to get to the restroom.  Even in business class I feel so invasive to ask for that.

Arrived at JFK about 30 minutes early.  That was surprising, but very cool.  Clearing customs itself wasn't all that bad.  What I found ludicrous, however, was the notion that we'd clear customs and then literally exit a secured area.  To make our connections, we had to check back through security, which meant taking off my shoes and the whole thing.  I don't understand that notion, and I guess I don't care.  It just annoyed me at the time as I was somewhat cranky from less sleep than I should have had.

Something wrong with my phone?  I couldn't get the charger to charge my phone and I couldn't tell if it was something wrong with the phone or not.  I just know that my phone would be out of juice before I got home.  I quickly tried calling Colleen at work, but they said she'd called in sick?  I was panicked.  Why was my wife out sick?  I called the house and she said she had just felt a bit under the weather, and was not really playing hooky from work.  I was glad she was OK.  I knew I would be home soon enough.

The flight from JFK was odd.  I had a window seat on the side of the tiny jet with two seats.  A woman and her son had thought they'd be sitting together, when in fact she was in the single seat across from him.  They asked me if I'd move and since I didn't care, I moved to the single seat side of the aisle.  Then, the stewardess came and asked me if I'd be willing to sit in the exit row seat as someone else was not willing.  I didn't care then either, and this actually gave me more leg room anyway.  So, after two moves, I was finally in my seat and ready to fly home.  The flight was uneventful, though we were a bit slower than they'd expected.  Only 10 minutes, but later than expected.  I knew that Colleen and her mom would be waiting for me at baggage claim. :-)

Got home and started the process of getting settled back into the routine.  I was home, safe, sound, and now ready to become totally manic over becoming a father.  A good trip and one that I'd ended reasonably well.

Cheers!

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 16

The last day of the tournament, thankfully.  I was able to go in late, so I told them I'd be in around noon.  It allowed me to sleep late again (still no running since I caught this *&^%%$ cold) and when I got up, I took the opportunity to pack as much as I could of the remaining items in the room.  I am flying home tomorrow and I don't care what it takes.  I'll forgo sleep if it means I can get onto the plane Monday morning and back in my home Monday evening.  I miss my wife.  I love Colleen dearly, and this trip has made me miserable knowing what she had to go through here without me.  By the time I get home tomorrow, we'll be under two weeks until our projected due date.

The tournament is always so anticlimactic from a Web site perspective.  The first week there are kinks to work out, test plans to execute, and a ton of matches.  By this last day, there are 6 matches scheduled.  The men's final doesn't even start until 3 PM, but the first matches start at 11 AM, which means we've still got to get in at 10.  I love tennis, but the end of the tournament always makes me sick of tennis venues.  Still, it was some very good tennis and Rafael Nadal proved that he's head and shoulders above anyone else on clay by destroying World Number 1 Roger Federer.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have by no means written off the undisputed King of tennis and in my mind one of the greatest of all time, but he's got some sort of serious mental block about the clay.  Either that, or Nadal just has an air of invincibility when he's on this surface.  The media coverage said that it was Roger's worst defeat in 183 Grand Slam matches.  I can believe it.  He was thrashed.  I might have won as many games as he did, and I still can't serve overhead. LOL

The last day of the tournament is terrible for hosting, if we let it become terrible.  Everyone wanted to stay as late as needed to get everything done and shut down on Sunday.  Now, I had agreed to this premise, as Steve said I could fly home a day early.  I had even done 95% of my packing on the front end so that I wouldn't need as much time in the morning before leaving for the airport.  Little did I know what I had signed on for.  The first part is reasonable.  Writers need time to wrap up the tournament, so we have to be there to allow that content to reach the Web site.  That's a couple of hours work, no question.  Given the thrashing Nadal handed out, the tournament ran out of matches just after 5 PM CET.  I allowed for the writers to still be working until 8:30.  That would mean we'd need one or two hours of work and we'd be out by 11 worst case.  YEAH RIGHT!  The writers were done by 8:30, that was a good estimate on my part.  The shutdown and transfer of the publishing systems however, ran significantly over.  We didn't get out until after 1 AM.  Trains stop running from this side of town at 12:30 AM, so we were out of luck on that front.  Also, dinner would have to be Chinese at Opera Mandarin as it would be one of the few places open until 2 AM.

Got back to the room after 2 AM.  OUCH!  I was dead on my feet and I'd have to be up just before 6AM to get checked out of the hotel and onto the train by 7.  I didn't call Colleen, though I promised her I would.  That means I'll call her from the airport at some God awful hour of the morning for her, but I do need her to know I am getting out of Paris safely.

Cheers!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 15

Woke up today feeling better than I had in a few days, but still not enough to merit a run.  I guess I fell short of my goal in that regard.  Today is the Women's final which means we're about to wrap this thing up.  I started doing some of my packing to get mostly items I won't need access to out of the way and allow me a bit more time to get ready and out the door on the day I leave.

I agreed to go in early and let Brian come in late.  His girlfriend is here and I am sure he appreciates it but he wouldn't actually say anything.  So, one more good walk to the metro and from the metro and I'm at work one more time.  At least it won't be a very long day.

I left early, for no reason other than I could.  I walked to the metro, purchased some additional tickets (I managed to run just short by two days) and got out another cash advance (I just ran out of Euros as well.)  I got back to the hotel and did a bit more packing.  I now have almost everything packed other than the clothes I have on, and the items I'll need for tomorrow morning.  I decided to get out and watch some of the first Euro Cup 2008 match.  It wasn't one I cared about, but sitting in a bar watching sports of any kind is never a bad thing.  I went back to the pub that offered Kilkenny on draft and settled in.

I got bored watching the match and started playing on my iPhone.  A Malaysian man next to me leaned over to see what I was doing and spilled his Guinness onto the bar, the floor, his lap, and my right leg!  Oh well, I wasn't planning to wear the jeans again this trip so other than being a bit wet I didn't really mind.  What I did mind was that he decided to start injecting himself into my personal space and to attempt to talk about how important the US president was.  He had the audacity to claim that who I voted for as the next president had significant impact on his life.  I couldn't even accept that premise, and I tried to explain to him that voting for 5 presidents in my lifetime has seen absolutely zero change in my daily life and for him to claim so living in a country other than the US was ludicrous.  He tried to argue a couple of times, and I finally told him that I'd given him the chance to end it and he either could, or I would end it for him.  I was dead serious and to prove my point I stood up and moved to the other side of the bar.

Left to meet Steve for dinner.  It was Italian again.  This time, it was a place around the corner from an Italian place I wasn't all that impressed with.  This one had a daily menu out front, which was an indicator they served different foods depending on their mood.  We got in just in time as we didn't have to wait and suddenly there was a queue out the door waiting for a table.  My appetizer was more than my main, which was comical.  It was quite good altogether.  We had two carafes of house red which weren't bad.

Went back to the hotel, but it was still early and I was in the mood for a couple more pints.  Back to the Kilkenny I went!  I had two more pints, lost at darts to a Scottish couple and watched a Frenchman try to pick up a Swedish woman 15 years older than he was.  It was all comical and entertaining, but it only served to remind me how isolated I really was and how much I wanted to be home.

I got back to the room and saw that French television on Saturday night never is the same.  They were showing hard core pornography on one of the channels, but their exit was to show the -18 logo which means none under 18 should view.  Crazy stuff, but they are far more mellow about sex and consider violence that American television shows to be far more obscene.  Hard to say, so I'll let you judge.

I left a drunk message on Colleen's phone and on the home phone.  I did all my nightly routine and then fell into bed, knowing that tomorrow would be the last day I'd have to worry about work for a bit.

Cheers!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 14

Friday.  The weekend couldn't get here soon enough.  This thing may actually end like they all do.  I worked late, but took another day of rest instead of working out.  Can't quite kick this cold, though I do feel much better now than I have the past three days.

I got out into town this morning to head to Montparnasse Cemetery.  It is less about ancient stones, but it does house two existentialists of note; Jean-Paul Sartre and Samuel Beckett, though I suppose Beckett is more a minimalist than an existentialist.  Either way, both are names in my pretentious mind were worth of a visit.  I caught the metro to the closest stop, or so I thought.  When I got out, I couldn't see the cemetery at all.  So, I started walking.  Finally, managed to find it and start wandering.  I snapped a couple of pictures and then discovered that there were few others I was interested in, and the site had no maps I could carry, so I left after about 30 minutes there.

Well, that presented a mild dilemma.  I was now in Montparnasse with about 2 hours to kill before my day began.  I decided I'd walk in.  So, I pulled out the cheesy mall sponsored street map I had and started heading out.  About 20 minutes in, I decided I should stop and validate the sinking suspicion that I was walking the wrong direction.  Sure enough, I was. :-(  So, I back tracked for the 20 minutes to get back to where I started and began walking toward Roland Garros.  The walk was fascinating, as I got to see some very interesting parts of Paris.  One section of town I swore every other shop offered massage and steam therapy.  Then, I moved into the manicure and pedicure district as every other shop offered those services.  Last, it was the barber district, offering men's haircuts, women's haircuts and afro-European styling though typically not all in the same salon.  I even saw a man getting a traditional shave from a barber using a straight razor!

The walk was just under 6 miles total.  I guess I got a workout in after all, though at much lower intensity than a run.  Of course, I was sweating, so I'll count it anyway. :-)  I got to the venue just after 1:15, which meant I was still a bit early, but essentially right on time.

Play ran oddly longer than it should have.  We didn't get out of work until almost 10 PM.  Another late night for dinner.  We decided we'd try out a suggested 24 hour restaurant L' Alsace.  It was a very odd mix of Eastern French food and seafood.  The plate I ordered was a mix of steamed then chilled seafood.  I wasn't all that impressed, and would up doing more work than the food was really worth.  The total dinner including dessert cost me 70 Euros and that was just my portion!  Oh well, I tried to be a team player.  It will mean I likely will lose money on this trip though as that one blew out my per diem and it wasn't the first night to do so.

Because we got out at 10, we got to the restaurant at 11 and then had a 30 minute wait for a table, we didn't actually start the trek back to the hotel until after 1:30 AM.  I was scheduled to be in early shift, so I know I won't be running tomorrow now either.  At least the walk back was almost a mile, so I got a little more exercise in anyway.

Called Colleen at the house and they were out.  The global card ran out of money for sure as the card operator broke into my call while I was listening to the message on our machine and then it hung up on me.  I called her cell phone directly, but she didn't answer.  She likely wasn't expecting my call and it was 2 AM.  Sigh, I miss her.  I left a quick message and then hung up so I could crawl into bed.  It will be a long day tomorrow.

Cheers!

Friday, June 06, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 13

Woke up yet again feeling like poop.  I didn't run, knowing I was still too ill.  My only hope is that I can tune myself up enough to actually get to the soiree tonight.  Otherwise, it will be a really crappy day.

I made arrangements to allow Brian to work a very short day.  His girlfriend arrived today and he needed to pick her up at the airport, and then get her settled at the hotel.  He also needed to pick her up for the soiree.  So, I came in for the morning and he let me leave for a little over an hour so I could grab my stuff to change.  The soiree is a white party, so there was no way I was going to wear it all day and of course wearing it on the metro is risky to begin with.  I've already got a stain on the jacket they provided that had to come from the metro.  So, I took my backpack to the room and swapped it for an RG bag full of the essentials to get through tonight.

The weather got cold.  I hate it.  I have managed yet again to pack incorrectly for an event.  I am tired of being cold, tired of not having any way to compensate, and not having enough clothing. :(  Oh well, it is going to end soon enough.

I made arrangements to leave on Monday instead of Tuesday.  I don't care about a free day in Paris, my wife is about to give birth.  I'd rather be sitting in my living room with her than wandering the streets alone.  Besides, the dollar being so weak means this trip is brutally expensive anyway.

The soiree started at 8 and play ended just before that.  By the time I had finished my work it was about 8:15.  Walking in, they immediately hit us with a shot of mango juice, vodka and something that had a coffee taste that was the consistency of a grape.  It was very odd.  From there, it was a few glasses of vodka and either basil and ginger or crushed berries.  The crushing was so bad, though, you risked getting red berry on your white clothes.  That seemed a poor choice.  All in all, I pounded drinks as much as I could.  I was in a sour mood and I figured it couldn't hurt. :-)  Dinner was portioned fairly small.  It also wasn't well suited to Brian's need for vegetarian.  There was one French woman at our table who did eat vegetarian, but apparently that required some advance notice we had no idea about and so Brian really got the short end of the deal on dinner.

Walked back to the train stop in time to catch the last train heading our way.  I could have caught the one  before, but while running the venue cell phone fell out of my pocket so I had to double back to get it and the metro pulled away.  I used the opportunity to call Colleen.  It was good to hear her voice.  We agreed I'd call her after I got back to the hotel.

I guess I ran out of minutes on my calling card.  The phone hung up part way into the call at the hotel.  So, I took a risk and dialed directly on the cell phone.  I was able to talk to her, so maybe I have enough time left on this SIM to do that for the remainder of the trip.  I don't know what happened, and there's no English version of the operator for me to understand what they are trying to tell me.

Passed out more than drifted off, knowing I had to work late tomorrow, and that it was the next scheduled day of rest so no risk of missing a workout due to this stupid cold.

Cheers!

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 12

Woke up feeling at least as bad as I had the day before.  Missed a run for the first time this trip, which was disappointing.  Still, I knew that pushing my body while it was fighting this off wasn't wise, and the extra sleep would only help me in the long run.  I managed to have breakfast and then spend some time sitting in the steam of the hot shower again.  I was working the later shift, so I didn't have to be in a rush to get in, but at the same time I wasn't feeling well enough to go wandering Paris.  I just haven't felt like it anyway.

Got to work about an hour and a half early.  I hate sitting in the hotel room, and there's no real point anyway.  There's nothing but news channels that are English speaking, so unless I wanted to sit through 3 hours or so of CNN International, going to work at least allows me to watch movies on my laptop.

Today I was invited to have lunch in the IBM Hospitality area in the Roland Garros vendor village.  I know speaking about this to some extent violates my mantra of not talking about work in my blog, but this particular situation merits discussion.  The village is where customers are taken to watch demos, discuss business options and to wait for tennis to start.  They serve very good food, wine, and cocktails to keep the customers happy.  When there are low numbers, they will on occasion extend the invitation to those of us in the technical areas.  Two of us were invited and since I had not had lunch prior to coming in, I jumped at the chance.  When we got there, the table was empty and only one of the 6 in the IBM area had even been set.  I sat down and then I saw some consternation amongst the IBM France people that ran the area.  I don't speak a lot of French, and they, like all foreign languages I have mild depth in, speak far too quickly for me to pick up more than 1 out of every 5 words.  What I did manage to overhear, though was count bad.  Then, the person that invited us looked at the two of us, then turned back to the woman who was visibly annoyed.  Then I heard not eat, and the woman turned to look at the two of us sitting down.  In the end, they honored their invitation to allow us to eat, but at the cost of neither of them being able to enjoy lunch with us.  That disappointed me slightly, as I had hoped it would be a chance to talk to some of them in a more casual environment.  It also embarrassed me a bit because they had to miss their own chance to eat because they had miscounted the number of available meals.  Still, I thought it noble of them to not ask us to get up, which I would have, and it was a very good lunch.  Filet of Sole and white asparagus with white cheese and an egg and potato souffle.  A lot of white on the plate, which my mom would say is a bad way to cook, wanting a variety of colors on the plate to make it more appealing to the eye, but it was very tasty. :)

Play ended reasonably early and I had the chance to get back to the hotel well before dark.  I was glad, as I wanted a second night in bed early and a good night's sleep to help me kick this thing for good.  I had Chinese again at the restaurant across the street.  Steve came with me and we enjoyed a very quiet meal.  It was nice and I like that place more than the one considered the preferred spot by the regulars to Paris.

Got back to the room and called Colleen to let her know I was going to bed early again and would not be able to call her at home.  It is on this side of the time shift that it is harder.  I find it easy to call her in the morning US time as it is early afternoon here, but to call her in the evening means I have to be up past midnight and I'm too old for that very often.  I miss her terribly.  She was busy at work and sounded frustrated.  I felt bad that I couldn't find out why.  Maybe in the morning.

Cheers!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 11

Woke up today and it was apparent I was ill.  More than just a scratchy throat, I have a full blown head cold.  I hate it, because it means I will be miserable for the next several days at work, at the hotel and of course Colleen isn't here to take care of me.  She lets me act like a baby (what man doesn't) when I am sick and I love her even more for it.

I was glad today was a day of rest.  Being ill, I don't think I could have worked out anyway.  I just want this to get done so that I can get back to it on Wednesday.  If not, I still have worked out more this tournament than I did last and I am settling into the notion that I can work out while on the road.  It just has to be a priority in my life.  I need to live to be an old man, I have two very good reasons to do so now. :-)

I got up long enough to turn in my laundry order.  I didn't have a ticket, so I called down to the desk to ask they deliver some.  The brought me one.  Lame.  I had two bags of laundry.  I called the laundry service and managed to get out my "parle Engles?" so they handed me off to the English speaking laundry woman.  She indicated she'd be right up.  When she knocked, I apologized that I had one ticket but two bags.  She said not to worry she was going straight down to the laundry and would take care of it.  I wasn't sure what that meant, but she said it smiling, so I put my trust in her.

I got to work early enough that it was actually dark in the office.  That was an odd thing.  I hadn't gotten here before anyone to this point.  I managed to laze around the hotel even after getting up 3 hours early to not make it to work at 10.  Must be getting closer to the end.

Spent the majority of the day sniffling and feeling pitiful.  Finally, they talked me into leaving early though I only left one hour early and only 2 hours before the end of play for the day.  I walked back to the metro feeling poorly for the first time all day really.  I guess I am sick.  ARGH!  Where is a cigarette and a drink?  I bet if I were fat, smoking, drunk and out of shape no virus could live in my polluted body! :-)

I made a stop at a Pharmacie (yes, that's the only difference in the French versus the English word) to see about some cold medicine.  Pharmacies (oddly, our plural reverts to the French style) are very different here from in the states.  None of the medicines are available out in front of the counter.  None.  The store is full of face creams, lotions, condoms, and feminine hygiene products, but all the drugs are behind the counter.  One more "parle Engles?" and the woman was pumping me for questions about the nature of my symptoms.  I couldn't just get a cold medicine.  She wanted to make sure I had the right one.  So, after explaining I had no fever that I could tell, no body aches, and nothing of a cough other than a very dry throat, she handed me an Actifed Jour/Nuit dual package.  Basically three tablets with some Ephedrine in them to keep me up all day while relieving my cold symptoms and one with a little Benadryl to help me sleep at night while relieving my cold symptoms.  I had the first part handled, now I just needed some supplies and dinner.

I got back to the hotel at a reasonable time, so I went first thing to the closest grocery.  I needed more bottled water and diet coke in the room.  The mini bar fridge holds a decent amount, and buying it out there is obviously cheaper.  As I walked back I saw a place calling itself a pizza parlor.  Pizza is comfort food for me, and feeling like poop, I decided pizza for dinner couldn't be a bad thing.  I dropped off my stuff and found my laundry was back from the hotel service.  The woman when I left it this morning was nice enough to split the ticket into two tickets one for each of the two bags.  I guess I did learn the lesson correctly.

Walked back to the Pizza bistro and it had started sprinkling just a bit.  I walked into a shop where I was almost the only customer in the place.  It always takes me back a bit at how small some of these restaurants can truly be.  I sat down, and ordered mixed grilled veggies in olive oil and a 4 cheese pizza.  It was funny because as an Italian place, they had it written as 4 formaggi pizza.  Formaggi is Italian for cheese, fromage is French for cheese, quatro is 4 in Italian and quatre is 4 in French.  I guess using the number avoids any confusion. :-)  I also ordered a half bottle of wine.  I like that premise.  It is more than one glass, less than getting hammered drinking a bottle by myself.  It is literally a small bottle they uncork in front of me just like any other bottle of wine.  I ended it with a strawberry torte.  Tasty stuff.

Walked back to the room (it was just down the street from the restaurant) and called Colleen at work.  I hated to do it, but the chance I'd be up when she got home from work was low.  I wanted her to know I was a bit ill and that I'd not be able to stay up to call her later.  I miss her, and hearing her voice was good, though she was busy and I always feel guilty calling her at work.  Took a very hot shower mostly to see if I could steam out some of the illness and then drifted off to sleep.

Cheers!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 10

Woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and the sniffles.  I am guessing I have managed to catch cold, though I do not quite know how.  It was raining out and I decided to sleep an extra hour instead of running because despite appearances, I am not a die hard runner and I was not about to wander out into the garden in the pouring rain.

I woke up an hour later and it was still raining.  So, that means I will verify the gym facilities in the hotel instead.  The building is generically very odd to start.  It is really two buildings; the Saint James and the Albany.  That means significant parts of the hotel are disjointed.  The Spa is one such area.  It is in the Saint James basement, which is not accessible from the elevators in the Albany portion of the building.  Since I am staying in the Saint James half, I took my elevator down and walked to the desk.  They asked for my room number and then made me give them my key as well.  She put a post-it note on the card, but it made me a bit nervous.

The gym is relatively well equipped.  There is a treadmill (presently broken), one elliptical, and two stationary bikes.  Since the elliptical was in use, I moved to one of the bikes.  Besides, that will mean a lot less impact on my knees and should give my hip a chance to calm itself. :-)  I managed almost 20 km in the 55 minutes, which isn't a bad pace.  The room, however, is like many for me in Paris, little to no circulating air.  I was drenched in sweat so I could not in good conscience go straight to breakfast and it was in the Albany basement anyway so I couldn't get there directly.  So, a quick run to the room and change and then down for another buffet.  They still don't quite recognize me there, but I am getting better at my one phrase of French to get entrance. :-)

Today was going to be my day to go to a cemetery to see the headstones of famous dead people.  When a city is as old as Paris, it is possible to have thousands of famous names on headstones, and Paris has four distinct ancient cemeteries which are no longer actively used (unless you have a family plot or tomb that can still hold additional family members.)  I chose Cemetery of Père Lachaise as it had a few names I personally was impressed by.  It was a fairly long haul to get to the Eastern side of the city (almost 18 total metro stops) but I made it and there was no appreciable rain falling as I walked out.

The magnitude of the place cannot be described in blogs.  The Web site link above gives an inkling.  The place is huge, divided into sections, and densely packed with headstones and tombs.  They provide maps at the visitors center, but even then that doesn't really give more than a vague idea of where to look.  Paths meander and change without warning.  Still, I managed to find the headstone (which has been moved now three times due to vandalism and theft) of Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, Sarah Bernhardt, and Oscar Wilde.  I would call myself cultured, considering this list spans 4 centuries of a variety of cultural icons, but I am just a vat of marginally useful knowledge and they are names lost in the vat.

The cemetery for some reason gave very odd signal.  Standing still I could get five bars and zero bars all at the same time.  I tried to call Colleen from there, but kept losing her.  She had a doctor's appointment and had to leave the house very early so we had to cut our conversation short anyway.  I walked out a different entrance and tried to call her back but she was between phones at that point.  I saw an Indian place, but I was almost at the extreme end of Paris from work so I decided it would make more sense to bail on lunch and get onto the metro to head in.

Dinner at the end of the day was decided to be A Tavola.  I love that place, and even Colleen has eaten there, though at the time she was still having lactose issues and I am almost sure she had gotten ill after.  It was once again awesome, though I managed to drip olive oil onto my venue T-shirt.  I even broke down and had Tiramisu for dessert, though I had wanted to try something different.  At the end of the meal, the owner, who knows IBM by name and the number of times we frequent his place, came over to offer us a sampling of a variety of Grappa.  They were very good, though the last one he offered was by far the best, and of course most expensive.

Literally caught the last train out of Boulogne.  Eating dinner at midnight is still a shock to me but if they're willing to serve us, I am willing to eat.  I was a bit buzzed from the beer and Grappa and knew I had to get up the next day for an early return.  At least Tuesday is a rest day so I don't have to get up too early.  My only real chore is to once again get laundry sent out.  I didn't call Colleen, though I really wanted to.  I was just dead on my feet and the cold had taken a bit out of me.  I drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

Cheers!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 9

7 AM comes early.  There is no easy way around it.  I fell out of bed and into the workout clothes I'd laid out and hurried to get my run in today.  Another 5.4 miles under my belt.  The run doesn't seem to get any easier really.  Add to it what is now a dime sized blister on a toe on my right foot, the nagging hip pain and the return of a mild amount of left knee tendonitis and I feel like I am abusing my body for no good reason.  Still, I am determined to keep fit and that means some degree of sacrifice even when working out of the country.

Working the early shift makes for much shorter postings, as I don't really do much more than get up, run, have breakfast, walk to the metro, go to the venue and then sometimes leave early for dinner.  When I started the day, I had planned to stick around all day and then go to dinner with the rest of the crew.  Steve managed to talk me out of that though, so I did leave though only about an hour before the end of play.

Today was shopping day.  I bought some items for Colleen, some items for Derek, and some items for Haylie.  I spent more than I should have, but less than I could have. LOL  It is always that way.  I just hope I have enough room in my bag to get it home.  I don't have a sense of how much more loaded down the suitcase will be, but I am bringing home more than I took.

For dinner I chose to get out and just wander to over to the Opera area.  It seemed relatively tourist friendly, and had a variety of restaurants available.  I found one that served horse burger, and quickly wandered on, settling on Bistro Romain which is a chain, but I was in the mood for Italian and it was the closest to where I was.  I hate that I eat at 10 or later while here, but it happens. They had an all inclusive menu at 33.50 Euros which included a starting champagne cocktail, a half bottle of wine, entree, main, dessert and coffee.  I added in a half liter of Evian and a Limoncello as a digestive.  It wasn't a bad meal, though it was quite chain.

I left with a bit of a stuffy nose and a tickle in my throat.  I don't know if the wine caused an allergic reaction or if I am coming down with something.  We'll have to see as the remainder of my time here lurches on.

I called Colleen from the room.  I miss her so terribly I can't get past it.  Hearing her voice is such a welcome relief.  Seeing the picture she mailed me from her phone was awesome too.  I love her with all my heart and I haven't quite gotten beyond the guilt of being here this close to the due date.  We chatted about nothing much and then she let me go as she was trying to get settled from a very busy day.

I drifted off to sleep knowing that I'd be up yet again in the morning for a run.  I also had decided that tomorrow would be one of the two cemeteries I wanted to see while I was here.  We'll see if the weather cooperates with both activities as the forecast is for rain all day.

Cheers!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 8

Woke up this morning and my mood was still not what I had hoped.  So, I hit the ground to get running.  I felt rested, and it did show in the run.  I did discover I've got a massive blister on the top of a toe on my right foot, which is lame, but I still managed to run my 5 miles.  I have been quite pleased with the amount of running, though I am not sure the levels are correct.  I also know I am not doing enough stretching before and after, which is my own fault.

I told myself that since the weather looked to start nice, I was getting out today and going sightseeing.  I figured spending money on my daughter to be allowed me the chance to shake these blues.  Besides, I had to get some pictures taken to show Colleen I was more than just a voice on the other side of the phone.  I took two in the hotel room showing me in my work tee, and then headed out the door.  Once again into the bowels of the city onto a metro line iPhone blasting away random tracks from my play list.

My first stop was Chatalet, which was a few blocks from Notre Dame.  I could have taken a closer stop, but it meant one additional transfer, and I wanted to walk anyway.  I won't take the tour of the cathedral, mostly because it is a serious tourist spot and like Westminster Abbey, the queues are in my opinion too long to make going to see worthwhile.  So, I snapped a couple of pics along the Seine and with the cathedral in the background and wandered on.

I walked through a section of town full of Anime shops and shops featuring a ton of Tin-Tin figures, books, and old magazines.  I would have bought some of that for Haylie, but I only vaguely remember Tin-Tin and it is unlikely Colleen would have any idea who it was.  I walked until I found the next train station and jumped on heading toward my next stop near Montmartre.

I chose deliberately to take the stairs up the four flights out of the metro stop as I hate the elevator there.  Once I was up, I began the slow assent to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.  It is at the top of a fairly significant staircase, or a slow tram ride up the hill.  I once again chose the stairs, more than anything to make myself feel more fit.  It always makes me sweat, though I made it all the way up without stopping this time around.

There were street performers aplenty.  This is yet another tourist stop and I was once again just here for the few pictures I'd take of the view, the Basilique and me with it behind me.  I walked around the square where I had purchased some art before and the same artist was there painting the same painting I now own.  It was much more in 2008 than in 2004.  Inflation?  I suspect she just thought more highly of her skill, though there were no differences my untrained eye could see.

I had considered going to the Dali exhibit which is a permanent fixture at the top of the hill.  Unfortunately, I recognized that I had inadequate time to merit paying the 10 Euros to enter so I thought perhaps I'd save it for another day.  Of course, that likely means I won't make it back, but it is a good thought.  I've been here twice and said the same thing twice now, so my money is on me not getting back there.

Came down the hill through street vendors aplenty and found two that did custom name based art or toys.  Of course I had to buy something for Haylie, so she now has a wooden and plastic train of letters spelling her name and a watercolor of her name in an odd Asian calligraphy that we can likely get framed later.  On the way down, I witnessed what is in my mind the oldest short cons I have ever seen:  the 3 card Monte.  It was being played at three distinct stops coming down the hill.  Every one was run almost the same, which made me wonder if there was a con artist school nearby and this was an active lesson.  I was several shills win and then the mark lose significantly larger sums.  I even watched a tourist hand one man a 100 Euro bill only to see it get quickly pocketed as she could not win.  If I had understood any of the language, I would have asked if I could just kick her in the ass for 100 Euro as it would have produced the same results.  Some people are really stupid, and I guess the aphorism "there's a sucker born every minute" (I won't attribute it to anyone in particular as the real origin is somewhat in doubt) is very true.

I kept walking down to Pigalle.  That's what I call the sex district, as it is rampant with peep shows, table dancers, and the classic tourist burlesque shows Paris is notorious for.  The street hawkers here are exceptionally forward, and once I had to pick up the pace to avoid speaking to one I had inadvertently made eye contact with and one that apparently believed I had looked a bit too long at one of the posters in front.  My only goal was to get the Moulin Rouge just to take a picture of me in front.  While walking the street, I popped into a Lebanese spot for a gyro and pomme frittes.  As I was leaving, there was a group of men speaking French with one in an obvious S & M outfit.  His friends would point at someone on the street and it became his job to go over and convince that person to swat him with a riding crop.  I am no sure the goal, but I half expected it was someone getting married or perhaps moving away and this was their celebration.  One was carrying a very old boom box and two others carrying cans of silly string.  At one point I was convinced an innocent bystander was going to come to blows as he was sprayed with the stuff, but I guess he decided the group of 6 was more than he could handle.

Looking at my watch I realized it was going to have me at the venue almost late for work.  I scrambled to get onto a more direct line and then headed to work.

Play ended at the typical time, though there had been a 1 hour rain delay in the middle that pushed us out later than I would have expected.  We decided to have Chinese at "their place" (the regulars on the venue team have restaurants they will eat at multiple times in the same year, believing their expertise has weeded out inferior offerings of the same cuisine) as the spot was relatively close to the hotel.  Dinner was OK, but it wasn't as filling as I had hoped.  Still, I managed to crank up the spice and found it quite tasty.  They even threw in a free dessert for the table as they knew we'd been there before and would be back (Eeee-Bay-Emmm the waiter said.  Cinq Tsing Tao?)

Dinner ended well after midnight and I walked back to the hotel through an incredibly upscale part of our side of town.  I saw more 70K USD cars than I care to even detail.  I called Colleen to see how she was holding up waiting for her mom to arrive by train.  Then, I drifted off to sleep knowing that it would be a short night with a job waiting for me in the morning.  At least at the end of the day I was no longer in the funk that threatened the rest of the event.

Cheers!