Bon Voyage!

6 Novembre

Bonjour!

I am very happy that you decided to check out my blog about my travels in Europe, specifically Paris, France. I decided to keep this in order to keep my friend's informed and entertained about my whereabouts and travels. I want to give a shoutout to Biff, Mom, Matt, Jessica, the Keffer's, Asian, Rube, Jim, Ashole, Apollo and to everyone else who has played an important role in where I am today. Merci beaucoup!

So, I decided to make tonight the first post because I have just arrived back from a party and I felt that I wanted to share the evening with the rest of you. In the past 3 days that I have been here, I have seen more than I ever thought I would and it is very exciting.
For starters, I should share the fact that the plane ride over was only 6 1/2 hours and not the anticipated 10-12 hours. Yey! But on the otherhand, it was the most turbulent plane ride that I have encountered thus far. Regardless I was in the last seat on the plane which, Biff can verify, is the safest seat in the house. LoL! Anyway, once I arrived my first task was to pass customs and catch a taxi. No problem, right? Haha. I didn't realize that I needed to sign my passport and the agent at customs gave me a hard time about it. So I am off to a terrific start:) Anyway, then I change over some money to Euros and head out to catch a taxi. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, I hop in and ask, "Parlez-vous anglais?" This means do you speak English? Of course the answer was, inevitably, no! Haha! So I tried to explain in French where I needed to go and after about 5 minutes we came to an understanding. Yey again!

When I arrive at the company at 5 rue de Charonne, 75011 PARIS, I am greeted by a man known as Jacques. He is one of the partners in the company for which I came to work, known as NAKeD. He takes me to my flat and I am very impressed. It is a terrific space, mostly decorated with IKEA. It is exactly what I was hoping for, a queen size bed, a new computer, a full kitchen and bath. The flat has a wonderful view of both the rue de Charonne (Charronne Road) and the beautiful courtyard in the rear.

Here is a Google Satelite Image:



Here is a video of the place:



After unpacking, Jacques introduces me to Patrick, who is the CReative Director at NAKeD. I have a tour of the office, which is located in the same building and then we go to le dejeuner (lunch):) This was my favorite part because not only did we drink beer but the food was superb. I had what is called fois gras. It is a duck that was overfed in order to make it more fatty. Delicious! But here was my favorite part, and Biff and Face listen up, one of the sides were these little balls of goodness. I have no idea what they were called but they were essentially mashed potatoes inside a deepfried ball of bread. Best thing ever!

After lunch I went back to the office and watched some French TV and passed out for a bit. Then Jacques woke me up to go to le diner (dinner). We went to a small restaurant with Patrick and we just sat and talked for about 3 hours or so. We went through 2 bottles of wine and I tried, per Mike, the Steak Tartar. It was very interesting. Basically, it was ground beef raw mixed with certain spices and sauces like ketchup and tabasco, etc. it was served like a hamburger patty that wasn't cooked and the you are supposed to mix it up more with your fork. I ate about half and that was enough. It wasn't terrible but it definately wasn't my favorite food ever.

7 Novembre

The next day I woke up at about 8:30 and got ready for work. I arrived and was in desperate need of caffeine. I go to the kitchen area at work and pour what the French call le cafe, which is basically the same as a 6 oz. glass of expresso. I added a cube of sugar and down it went. Delicious! Much stronger than what we are used to and I enjoyed that. At about 2pm we went for lunch. Jacques asked if bagels were ok and I said sure. But really thinking, who eats bagels for lunch? Then I realized who. Everyone in Paris. It was the most delicious thing on Earth. I had the Grande Central. I thad turkey, bacon, tomato, mayo, etc. So good:) After work that night, I went home at about 7pm and passed out immediately. It hit me like a ton of bricks, I was tired!

8 Novembre

So the following morning, I woke at 5am because I went to sleep so early the evening before. So I decided that I should beef up (no pun Biff) on my French. So for the next 3 hours, I learned as much as I could. Then I went to work and it turned out to be a pretty normal day for what I do. Then just after lunch, my coworker asked if I would like to go to a concert in the evening. Of course I said yes! So one of her friends met us at the office and off we went. First, we went to a bar very near to the Moulin Rouge! How cool! (Mom stop reading) So then I noticed that there were signs that read SEX every other building. So I asked my friend if "Sex" in English is the same as in French and she replied "Oui!" That is when I knew that I would be just fine here in Paris! Lol!

Anyway, so we met up with a bunch of her friends at a local bar and had some drinks. Then it began to pour and the girls did not want to get soaked so we missed the concert and just ended up drinking and smoking. That is something I forget to mention. Every single person here seems to smoke. It is crazy! And they are allowed to smoke wherever they want. In restaurants, bars, wherever... After the rain dies down, we head over to the after party for the concert. It is in a club similar to what we have in The States. Cheezy music with girls dancing, blah, blah...

This is where I had to speak French for the first time for real. I needed to order a beer or la biere, as they say. so I went up to the bar and did it. I was very proud and very motivated considering that 95% of the people there I could not talk to because of the language barrier. Anyway, the night grew long and it was time for Chris to go to bed. So I had my second chance to use French when hailing a taxi once again. I did get one to stop and when I told him of my destination, again I got the confused look. Apparently, I cannot roll my R's in Charonne well enough and it sounds like something else. After a few minutes, we got it straightened out and all is well. Anyway, I start French lessons on Monday and I will be doing 10 hours per week at my flat. Please wish me well or bonne chance (good luck)!

So there is the story of my first few days in Paris. I hope you all enjoy and come back again to hear new stories in the future. I miss you all very much and hope that some will have the opportunity to visit while I am here:)

Au revoir!

Chris