Tired and alone in Paris

A very early 5.30am departure from my hotel in Sweden to get the 7am flight to Paris.  It wasn't until I arrived and departed the plane that I realised that, although I have been to Paris a number of times, I have never flown into Charles de Gaulle airport before.  I have always been by either Eurostar or by car.  I have to say that I hadn't missed much.  The arrivals luggage collection hall was in a concrete bowl that has definitely seen better days and looks like something that would have featured in a 1960s Bond film as the villains lair!

I was then off in yet another taxi to the offices.  Now the taxi driver decided for some reason that, although he had a satnav and the full address and postcode, he was going to use his old battered map to find it.  After going round in circles for a while and a couple of dead ends he finally gave in and decided to use the technology he had!  Not unsurprisingly we found the office quite quickly after that...

As far as culture differences go the main one here in Paris was that unlike Sweden, apart from the senior management team, most of the office did not speak any English.  This made it a more difficult and isolating visit to my previous one in Sweden.

The office had booked me in a hotel near where the MD lives so that he could pick me up in the morning and also so that I could go into the centre of Paris easily by taxi if I wanted.  The MD told me that there was a hotel near the office but they would never put anyone in it.  Not because there was anything wrong with the hotel but the location that the office was located in left a little to be desired.  It is in a very run down area and I can imagine after dark would have been quite intimidating.  It reminded me of the location for the John Carpenter film "Assault on Precinct 13"!  The MD told me that one night he had finished very late and found a gang hanging around the front of the office.  He nearly decided to sleep in the office for the night!

Despite the hotel being only a 10 minute taxi ride from the centre of Paris I decided that an early night was needed and after a quick meal in the hotel restaurant I retired to my room for some reading and off to sleep. 

The following day was very productive and after a good chat with the local MD to finish it was off to the airport for the trip home.  I arrived back at Heathrow Terminal 5 for the very first time.  It certainly is very large, shiny and new!  It will be interesting to see how it looks in 20 years time....

So finished my first week of the consultancy project.  Next destination the United States of America....

So for this blogs music.  A blast from the past for this one in honour of my old amp that has come out of retirement due to our other one packing up. This amp really was part of my music life support system as a teenager when I lived at home! I decided to put aside the CDs and iTunes tracks and return to vinyl and I am playing "Vivid" by Living Colour as I type this. A real favourite at the time of its release in 1988 for my circle of friends and the soundtrack to many car journeys to various country pubs.  I haven't played it in years but from listening to it today it still is an excellent and very funky album.  Got a lot of coverage at the time due to a black group playing heavy rock which seems very strange now looking back.  Had the 1980s music journalists all forgotten Jimi Hendrix?!! 

A few years later I went to see Living Colour at the old Marquee Club in its Charing Cross Road version.  The band (and the venue) was past their peak and seemed to be going through the motions.  The only reason this gig sticks in my memory was that the lead singer, Corey Glover, decided to stage dive and ended up landing right in front of me.  After a 30 second stand off when he stared right at me he jumped at me and used me as a ladder and springboard to crowd walk back to the stage!  I was left with the marks and bruises to show for it!

Here is Living Colour with "Cult of Personality" on American TV at their peak...