Coming home early...

I just received a call tonight from my boss. The consultants didn't come through with the deliverables required for next week's work. So, we are to go home early. I'll finish up meetings tomorrow and see if I can get a flight home on Saturday or Sunday. The trip in February is still on but looks iffy.

SAP Projects

The other day, when we were at the Irish Pub, I noticed a fat man sitting at the bar. I could tell he wasn't from Paris and asked where he was from. He was Irish. And, he in turn asked if my group was on holiday. I said it was business. Then, he asked where my party were form. I explained that one was Canadian, one from Finland, several Americans, and some Australians. Immediately in response, he asked, "are you implementing SAP?". In surprise, I said yes. He then told me that he used to work for SAP. And, his final question was "Don't you think that the French are a pain in the ass to work with?". He read us like a book.

blah blah blah Paris

There's not much to share... I've spent the last two days in Rueil, outside of Paris. The area is mostly office buildings with little to do after work (which ends around 7:00 PM). I spent the day in discussions about transportation and foreign trade. The Indians are giving the presentations. I'm amazed by how well everyone communicates in English. I can't figure out how the Chinese and Indians can understand each other's very different accents.

I see very few suits in the office. Most French workers in my building wear a button up shirt with a black sweater and no tie. People say that this was not the case a few years ago. Apparently the French are getting sloppier in the office and even jeans are quite common. I think that the opposite is true at home in America.

Niels keeps mentioning how French women do not shave their arm pits nor legs. I can't know for certain as it is winter and everything is covered up. It seems that the Parisian women are very high maintenance. They all do their makeup just right and wear very nice, expensive looking clothing. So perhaps he is wrong.

For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant where I accidentally ordered what I would call a wiener schnitzel (a German dish like chicken fried steak without the gravy). You know, Paris is full of all kinds of ethnic restaurants but I've yet to see a German restaurant or a German beer. I wonder if there is still a prejudice here against Germans?

I miss my wife and toddler back home. It sucks to have to be gone so long and so often. I'm secretly hoping for project delays so that the trips will become more spread out. Regardless, it seems that they are doing okay. Being separated from them might be harder on me than them.

Sunday Pictures

Today is Sunday. This morning, we were going to go on a tour of the Paris sewer system. Leave it to the operations team to want to know how the city works behind the scenes. But, when we got there, we found that the tour was closed for 3 weeks. Oh well, maybe next month.

Next, we went to a natural history museum called Musee duquai Branly. I was a bit disappointed as some of the Native American displays were mislabeled. But, hey, most of this stuff was brought to Europe 100-200 years ago so I guess it's not surprising.

Afterwards, we walked around the Jewish Quarter and ate lunch. Then, we returned to our hotel. Angela, from our Quality department team has a "sling box" that allows her to watch anything on her home TV via the internet. So, we set up a projector and everyone is now watching football and eating pizza at the hotel.

Here are today’s snapshots of Paris:

Saturday Shopping

I had not brought enough clothing for three weeks. Laundry is extremely expensive here so I thought I'd find a place to buy some more socks and underwear. I found the prices to be extremely high on clothing. The same brands in Paris were often 3 or 4 times as high as at home. For example, a pair of Levi's jeans at 30% off is about $135. I spent nearly sixty U.S. dollars on a few pairs of socks and underwear. Ouch.

I do not recall the significance of the following pictures... I snapped this building near a square where artists sell their own paintings. I bought two small oil paintings there.

This picture was taken at the Galeries Lafayette, a Parisian shopping mall.

For dinner, we went back to the Latin Quarter and ate at a Morrocan restaraunt. The food tasted excellent but was very unique to me. The meats were mostly backbones, a part that we Americans rarely touch.

Friday night...

Most of the Americans on the team love French wine.

On Friday night, after work, several of us went out to a Brazilian restaraunt for "tapas". At this table (front left to right) are: Toola (Finland), Kim, Mark, Daron, Brad, Angela, Sarah (Americans), Richard (Canadian), Andrea, and Sabrina (Americans).

Shortly after we got there, the Australians arrived and sat at the next table. I don't remember most of their names.

After dinner, my boss Richard wanted to go to an Irish pub.

I'm not sure why Sabrina has two beers...

The bathrooms are often unisex here. At the pub, the urinal is at the end of a hall and the toilet room is just behind it. The women seemed to think it was funny to walk by men who were pissing. I don't recall who took this picture using my camera. I think it was Niels.

After leaving the bar, we caught a metro to the RER station. But, we missed the last connection and wound up taking taxis back to the hotel.

It's not all fun and games...

I am in Paris with 100 people who have traveled from all corners of the world. We are working together to implement a common system with common business processes. The scope and complexity is immense. We are working until 7:00 to 7:30 PM each evening. Even though it is winter, the conference rooms are extremely hot. The damned Parisians, Even though wearing sweaters are always cold. Even the Australians from the outback where it is summer are burning up. To make matters worse, we are packed into tiny crowded conference rooms and the French apparently don't wear deodorant. The mornings aren't too bad but by afternoon the stench is unbearable! It makes me want to vomit.

Comics related to the real project title...

Dinner first night...

Latin Quarter

Fondue

The fondue restaurant had several stuffed animals... this one was missing a bit of flesh on his nose.

Exploring on First Day in France

Week 2 - Arrival in France

For friends and family at home, I am including picutres of my new home at the Suites Hotel in Paris France:

The toilet room and bathroom are both quite small and remind me quite a bit of the bathrooms on a cruise line.