With break coming to an end, our last weekend before returning to school would be spent in Paris for a meeting with the Director of the Family Business Center and the EDHEC Job Fair. This weekend couldn't have come at a better time as we had recently come back from Rome and had taken other small adventures around the Nice area. We had just taken a train to Ventimiglia, Italy a few days before with our friends from Brasil (Henrique and Gabriela) to check out the large outdoor market and have lunch. We were ready for another adventure!
We arrived in Paris very late on Wednesday night, so we decided to go straight to our hotel in e Latin Quarter of Paris which was next to the Jardin de Luxembourg. Little did we know, our hotel was the same building where Sigmond Freud had lived for two years. An interesting coincidence indeed! She. We awoke the next morning, we went for a walk around he neighborhood and ended up eating at a small cafe outside of the Pantheon. Eventhough I really enjoy the food in Nice, I had forgotten just how wonderful the food in Paris was......Amazing!
Alex had to leave around lunchtime to attend the EDHEC Job Fair and a meeting with the Director of the Family Business Center (FBC), from which he hoped to obtain an internship. With Alex gone, it left me time to wander and eventually end up in front of the TV watching BBC soaps and house hunters.....don't ask me how I ended up sucked into this, it just happened ok?!
Upon his return, Alex had wonderful news. He had not received an internship opportunity, but instead a part time job with the FBC! He was so excited and could not wait to tell me about what he would be doing. Alex would be tasked with detailing a competitive analysis of the market of FBCs around the world. From his analysis, EDHEC will be able to further develop their own FBC to make it the most cutting edge and renowned. (After returning to Nice and meeting with human resources we would discover that not only will Alex be getting paid, he will be receiving full healthcare, a pension, and even meal tickets!) Vive la France!!
We celebrated that night by going to a restaurant that one of my clients had recommended, Le Procope. This restaurant is one of the oldest in Paris and had frequent visitors from La Fontaine to Voltaire, Rousseau, Beaumarchais, Balzac, Hugo, Verlaine, and even the infamous Napoleon. In the past, it was known as the spot for intellectuals, artists, and politicians (please notice how I separated intellectuals from politicians). The food was wonderful. Alex had a beef stew while I had a shrimp dish, of course. The dessert was great too. Eventhough Tiramisu is Italian, my taste buds like the French version better.
The next day we had some very special events planned. At noon we took the metro to the Cafe des Chats (Cat Cafe) where we were surrounded by cats of all kinds as we ate our lunch. And because I am a crazy cat lady and can read cat behavior, I spotted a cat who looked to be very anxious. I watched him from time to time wondering if he had just been dropped into this odd place. My suspicions were confirmed when I witnessed him peeing under our table as we were up petting a kitten. I told our waitress about the accident and she was embarrassed,but I asked her if the cat was new and she said that he had just been brought in that morning. Poor little guy! Other than the accident, the place was a pretty neat experience. The cats were really mellow and would sleep anywhere. The food wasn't too bad either.
After the Cat Cafe, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We had purchased tickets online so that we would not have to stand in the long lines (I recommend this very much as they will let you in the very front of the line when you buy online). Since we arrived early for our tour, we went to find a padlock that we could write our names and wedding date on. Traditionally, married couples will place their lock on a certain bridge on the Seine River and there is also another bridge for lovers, but we decided that we would be a little brave and lock ours onto the Eiffel Tower since the tower itself had meaning in our relationship (Alex proposed to me on November 23, 2005 on top of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas).
The tower itself is a magnificent engineering feat. When we rode the elevator up, we discovered that the elevator doesn't go precisely vertical. It starts off at more of an angle, then goes vertical after the first floor. Needless to say, it has an amazing view. We saw for miles and it was neat to see the entirety of Paris, it was like a painting. We decided to take the stairs back down to see the internal structure of the tower and to get a different perspective. Going down the stairs wasn't nearly as exhausting as coming up would be!
Seeing the big city must have been too much for my country husband. The next day, we rented a car and drove into the countryside. We took a very long tunnel to Versailles, visited a "horse town" which was beautiful, and drove into some very serene farmland in the middle of nowhere. It was very nice to see this side, just outside the city limits of Paris. We even saw a farm cat! We also came across one of the best sandwiches I had ever eaten (it had Rosemary, cheese, and lettuce). It was a beautiful end to our quick trip to Paris.
(Versailles)
(Somewhere in between Paris and Versailles)
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