EMEA Trip - Day 2 - Paris and Travel to Munich

After a solid nights sleep thinking their metro trains were a bit noisy, I learned that was actually very strong winds making the noise and keeping the airport closed. The group I was with last night had to take the train this morning because the flights were continually canceled and pushed.

A good day of meetings and chance to wonder a bit on the way to the train station to catch my flight. There were 2 things that caught my eye on the way to the Metro. The first was a a scooter with 2 wheels on the front.

From 2009- February - Paris Day 1.8

Leave it to the French to get training wheels on backwards – evidently this helps on loose sand and dirt – when someone grabs the front breaks – it makes it less likely for the bike to slip and tip (not sure why they don’t just use the rear breaks – probably a law against it or something).

The second thing to catch my eye was an advertisement - I'm not sure what this is calling out, but as a pilot I will think about where I park my planes.

From 2009- February - Paris Day 1.8

I do wonder what type of Pilot Jimmy is (was)?

I also did a self portrait with the Eiffel Tower to prove that I was there.

From 2009- February - Paris Day 1.8

It was another cold wet day - looking forward to even colder weather in Germany.

I've updated the Paris Album with a few more photos.

Getting into Germany was no problem - I picked up my rental car - brand new VW with only 12km on it - I tried to take a short cut out of the garage.

From 2009 - Feb - Germany 3 Days

JUST KIDDING - Another advertisement that really catches your attention.

I'm in for the night - here is the link for my Germany Photos - look for future updates.

Travel'n Jay

EMEA Trip - Day 1.8 - Paris

After waking at 6 AM on a Sunday morning to catch an 8 AM flight, I arrived in Paris at 6:30 AM on Monday – yup – whole day gone with only remnants of a few movies that I caught between naps, 4 airline meals, and lots of dry air (maybe even a bit of a cold to boot). The 21st century sky warrior – fortunately I was upgraded to Business Class so I at least had great service.

I’ve arrived in Paris and it’s cold and rainy. Not a huge deal since we have a day packed with Meetings. Not going to bore you with the meetings, but a couple of interesting observations always add a new dimension to any trip. First, we went to a Lebanese restaurant for lunch and had wine, what else would one need with a large meal, Jet Lag, and lack of sleep to keep the afternoon meetings interesting. The interesting point was that our wine was from Lebanon also – so much for only drinking French wine in France. I guess they are getting over the importing issues.

After dinner tonight I had a chance to go for a quick walk (only rained a bit) and came across a second interesting point – electric bicycle automated rentals. I’ve take a picture of the machine and the bikes – you drop your card – pick a bike that has been charged and off you go – return it and you’re done. I’m curious about how long the bikes last between repairs and how well the electric bikes handle the excessive humidity (aka rain).

I picked up a couple of perspective shots of the Eifel Tower and the city through out the day. Here are the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/jason.fiala/2009FebruaryParisDay18#

Hope all’s well.

Travel’n Jay