summe update

8 July 2007…I am actually once again on the Eurostar to Paris… meeting tomorrow in our Paris office. Who knew I would be visiting Paris on such a regular basis.. Some people have it really tough.. Anyway, I have been writing, just haven’t posted it. So, here is a catch up…

Can you believe it? I am once again on a plane to Istanbul! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine going to Istanbul twice in a year --- boy life can be amazing!

So, to catch up… Where has the time gone.. It is mid June and I will have been here a year in August. I was last at home in May, both for a staff meeting and Mother’s Day… It was good to be home, the whistling three year old, my adult children, the Brook girls + Teya, Sally and Paul, Larry and Em, Chris and Steve, Jess and John, Mike and OOO Olivia … the new “love of my life,” Macklin (he loves me too!), but best of all I was able to celebrate my brother Neil’s 50th birthday with all the Kelly’s minus Chris and Steve who were in Oklahoma with Ben… even the infamous Danny Kelly and his wife attended. A good time was had by all!

End of May (I have lost track of the days…) My friend Sally’s daughter flew in from Africa… boy did she have great stories and pictures to share. She started her trip off with three friend in Kenya then she went off by herself through other areas, landing So. Africa. She is amazing.. She had a short layover before going back home but we had a ball. We went into London, went to the British Musuem, Buckingham Palace, Picadilly, Covenant Garden …. Had a great early dinner in a traditional pub.. lots of fun. We spent a whole day talking, drinking champagne and looking at her pictures… just could not have been more fun!

On June 20, my 57th birthday… yes, I am getting older looking…don’t feel any different inside.. it is a shame because the mirror and what others see is not really what’s inside.. Oh well, everyone gets here eventually….

Anyway, my handsome nephew Patrick (Neil and Di) arrived with his friend Scott for the first leg of a grand tour of EMEA!! He and I share this birthdate… Oh he was only 22, but still, we had a great time. I picked them up at the airport, we dropped their stuff at my house and went to the train for the trip to London. We were planning on seeing the play ”Wicked” hich has become one of my favorites… I have seen it twice.. so we got our tickets and had time so we walked to Buckingham Palace, had a great dinner at tappas restaurant and then to the play… after the play (yes, they fell asleep during the first part but then coffee at the break got them through the second half. They enjoyed it. We then walked from Victoria Station to Picadilly Circus and then into SoHo where we hit a pub and a drink. Both boys seemed to really be enjoying themselves. We rode the “drunk train” back and then back to my house by about 1:30pm (see, I can keep up)… the next day they went into London themselves armed with a list of things to do and a map of how they would get it all done. That Patrick is very organized. Anyway, the stayed until Saturday the 23rd then off they went to Amsterdam, last I heard they were in Prague, “having the time of their lives” to quote Patrick. Their trip includes, London, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Croatia, Rome, Lake Como…and more, but all in one month! Pretty impressive.


29 –June -2007

I am once again on the Eurostar returning from Paris. A meeting with an agency and the Seagate Retail Marketing Manager was the reason for the trip. Since Joe was visiting, I thought he would enjoy the visit to Paris… What was I thinking??

To begin the trip:

First of all, it took too long to get to the train (Waterloo Station)… we had a driver who was taking us there. Joe could not believe the traffic… this sucks… (his favourite phrase!) We arrive at the train station and he gets something to eat, so he is a little happier… but, those seats were so uncomfortable! His legs were just too tight!. We finally made our way to the bar car where he was much more comfortable because he could stand and have one beer after another until we got into Paris…
Arriving in Paris:

Ok, so now, I know he is going to be impressed! Wrong! Oh, it was such a long walk when we got off of the train, … why did I bring an umbrella? … he wasn’t going to carry it!... As we worked our way through the crowd to the main part of the station… he seemed to really begin to take in the Parisan atmosphere… until… we took a right to the taxi line… What the hell!!! The line was unbelievable. It wrapped around twice and then extended beyond the entrance almost to the front of the building. I thought he was going have a stroke! All kinds of dramatic sighs, tongue snapping.. You know, Joe at his patient best! He suggests we just start walking and try to catch a cab.. I know better and tell him it is best to just wait it out, after all, we have no where to go except our hotel! He does settle down and accept that we are now on Parisan time… 45 minutes later, we finally get into a cab. The driver speaks no English and has no clue where our hotel is, even after I show him the map… “Oh my God!” Joe exclaims… I then tell him to head towards the Louvre… He doesn’t know what I mean… Joe says… “Louvre”… loudly to the cab driver…The cab driver patiently keeps looking on his map to find our hotel… Joe then roles down his window and folds his hands over his chest, closes his eyes and lays his head back. Thank God!

Finally the cab driver figures out where to go and proceeds to drive. Joe is making noises and complaining about the traffic, not even looking at his surroundings! As we are getting close to the hotel, he exclaims,” I have to take a piss so bad..” Gee, I guess four beers go through you pretty fast! Anyway, finally we get to the hotel and Joe jumps out while I am arranging payment and receipts…He proceeds to grab our bags from the trunk and slam it down so hard the car moves and the poor driver looks at me in fear! Oh my god… what a start!

The hotel:

In an effort to enhance my knowledge and experience in Paris, I chose a three star hotel (I prefer 4 star). This hotel was in an area quite close to the Louvre and shopping… close to Notre Dame… Well, the hotel is a small one (35 rooms)… ok, we check in. The night clerk is a very nice black man who spoke English with a combination French and So.African accent, which meant it was very hard to understand him. Joe found a toilet, and I checked us in. We proceed to the elevator which was originally constructed as a dumb waiter, I am sure. Joe and I squeezed in with our bags under our feet. We were told to go to the 4th floor and then through the door up a flight of stairs to our room… As we made our way up the dark, carpeted stairway… Joe looks at me like I am the worst person in the world… “Where the hell?...” he says. Ok, this is what made it a three star… anyway, we get to the top floor of the building to a dark hallway. Luckily, I have been in these type of hotels and know that there are usually light switches by the doorways… sure enough, we turned on the light and could see that the 5th floor consisted of three rooms, ours at the back. We open our door to find what looks like a double bed (I specifically asked for two beds!) Again, my experience has been that they try to make these rooms look like they have a double bed but it is really two beds pushed together… Thankfully, this was true… Ok, Joe “tisked” at this… Oh, we had a window… it overlooked the four cornered inside space between buildings where the air conditioning (yes, we had aircon) vents and various other pipes…very charming! I decided we better head on out to eat or he was going to flip!

First night in Paris:

Directly across the street from the hotel entrance was a sushi restaurant. Joe suggested we go there…fine I said, not wanting to search for a restaurant with him. So we enjoyed an excellent meal of sushi and sake… his mood was improving. He commented on the bathroom in our room…”that bathroom in our room is OK”.. well that was positive!

After dinner we decided to walk around the neighbourhood and I wanted him to understand where the Louvre was in relation to our hotel so he could check that out in the morning while I was out at my meeting across town.

The hotel is located near the back of the Louvre, close to the Saint Eustachia Church, in a great area full of restaurants, bars and cafés… Ok, so he is somewhat impressed. As we start to walk, he tells me that his feet and legs hurt. (On Monday he had done a run in my neighbourhood and then took the train into London and walked all over the British Museum.) …Now, I think, this isn’t going to work… you really have to be able to walk around Paris! Oh brother!

Ok, so we walk around to the front of the Louvre, along the Seine. You can see the Eiffle tower, all lit up, he is a little impressed… but his legs really hurt… We head back to the hotel because he needs the toilet again… once back at our hotel, I decide to get on line and do some work. It is now 11:30pm. He decides he is going to go back out and have a drink but because he is tired, he said he would be back soon. He takes the cell phone (my extra one, I forgotten my work one…) I give him the map and the room number so he will be able to find his way back…

As I am finishing up my emails, I notice that it is 1am… hmm, I think, he has been gone an hour and a half, he must have found a good bar. I go to sleep… wake up at 2am… hmm… no Joe. Well, he is an adult, not to worry… try to go back to sleep, nap a little, expecting him to arrive at any time… 4am… no Joe.. ok, now what to do.. I don’t know the phone number of my extra phone because it is programmed into my other cell phone that I left at the office…Bars don’t close in Paris, he will be back soon though.. 4:30, 5:00, 5:30am.. Now I start to worry… has been arrested? Did he get attacked and left on the street? Did he hook up with some French girl and go off to her apartment…(no, I knew it wasn’t that… he wouldn’t talk to French girls..,) anyway, I guess I will wait until 7am because I can call one of my UK friends who know my extra cell phone’s number…

At 6:30am I call down to the front desk because I am going to ask if someone might have seen him when he left so I can search in that directions… the kindly desk clerk said, oh 504, your son is on his way up…

Thank God!

Sure enough, Joe stumbles in… he got lost! He tried to get a cab but the cab driver kicked him out (because he didn’t know where the hotel was…) no, I think it was because Joe was too drunk and probably belligerent! Anyway, Joe said he kept saying… the Louvre… and the cab driver didn’t know what he was talking about! Joe got lost, walking all over the place on those sore feet and with those bad legs!

2nd day in Paris:
So, now I have to get up and go to my meeting with about two hours of sleep, my heart pounding for the better part of six hours… yes, I was in great shape. I leave Joe a note that I will meet him back at the hotel at 5:30pm… knowing full well, he would never leave that room for the rest of the day, but I was trying to be positive.

I had to meet my colleague at the train station so that we could travel to the meeting together. She carried my forgotten phone with her. Thankfully.

Once we finished the agency meeting, I thought I would call Joe and check in… It was about 3:pm… Yes, you guessed it, he was still asleep! No Louvre or sightseeing for him.

Once I got back to the hotel, about 7:30pm, he was once again sleeping… He had gotten up and gone out and had something to eat and then went back and laid down. We walked to a restaurant suggested by one of the people I had been meeting with. It was good. Joe didn’t have much to say except that he did not like France. Mostly because he doesn’t speak the language. He said the women are beautiful, but he doesn’t speak their language.

The original plan was to come back to the UK on Saturday night from Paris, giving us two full days together to do sightseeing in Paris… Well, you know, all the lines you have to wait in, the traffic, French people don’t speak English…his legs and feet hurt so he can’t walk… he only has a week vacation.. Joe wanted to go back the UK asap. So we rescheduled our return for Friday, at noon.

Not sure whether he will ever return to Paris. He was not at all impressed as I expected him to be… you know, the history major that he is…

Oh well, I am back to Paris in a week anyway for another meeting. As I told him, it was probably good he was with me and wanted to return early. It is the “sales” season in Paris and I would have just spent too much money… As it was, I upgraded us to Business Class on the way back…I didn’t want to hear about his sore legs and feel! He did enjoy the champagne and wine with lunch as well as the extra leg room… believe me, so did it I! It was worth every Euro!!

Once back in the UK he was happy. We got back to my cottage at about 2pm. I had a few conference calls so he rested on the couch. Then he decided he needed to go out, boy so did I!...We had a great walk to a pub on the other side of the “green”… had dinner then went to the pub close to my house and closed the place (11:30pm) Yes, there was a new girl working there who was a very nice, tall, blond… Oh, and she spoke English… We were happy again.