FRANCE VISIT
============
From 2-Jul-13 to 5-Jul-13, a lady colleague, my counterpart in our customer's organization and his manager, a lady from New Delhi visited Paris, Bordeaux and Brest on work related reviews. This blog covers the "touristy" (I am sure no such word exists !) aspects of our visit.
BUILD-UP (PREPARATION)
----------------------
The preparation started in May, when our visit was planned initially : at that time I had not realized that my passport would expire in October. I would not have been able to visit France in May, since the passport needs to be valid for 6 months from date of travel. We were supposed to travel in the end of May but since the others also did not get French visa appointments in time, the visit was postponed to 2-Jul-13.
This gave me time to apply for tatkaal passport. The passport issue process went like a well-oiled machine. First, I got a tatkaal appointment in the Koramangala office at around 9:30 a.m. in the end of May. The passport office allocated to me was the Whitefield one. I caught an auto and reached the place at around 11:15 a.m. There was a crowd and an assembly line sequence of making the tatkaal payment and collecting the token ; waiting for the token number in one hall ; meeting the TCS (the organization that has got the contract for passport issue process from the Indian government) agent who enters the passport details in another hall ; getting the details verified, again by another TCS representative and finally meeting the
government representative. To my frustration, I had three iterations of verification due to an incorrect spelling, an upload which was missed out in the second iteration, which was corrected in the third iteration. By this time, it was nearly 1:15 p.m. or so. The TCS team and most of the government representatives took a break for lunch. I thought I would have to wait until 2:30 p.m. for action to resume. Thankfully, one of the government representatives took on the responsibility of verification. By 1:45 p.m. the process was completed. I ate lunch at Ibis next door, relieved that the process was completed.
The next evening, I got a call from the police station for verification. I went there in the evening drenched to the skin, due to a heavy downpour on the way. It was well past 9:15 p.m. in the night when the police station representative said that the passport would be on its way. Indeed in a matter of couple of days, my passport was renewed.
The next step was to obtain a French visa from the consulate. The procedure here was simpler. I showed the invitation letter from our customers at the Schengen office, but had forgotten to account for the cash payment. After a frantic search for an ATM I retrieved enough cash and was told to attend the interview in the French consulate at Vasanthnagar the next day.
The next morning, I reached the office a few minutes before the allotted time. I was only asked whether I had visited France and any of the Schengen countries earlier. I provided the details and that was it ! The next afternoon, I collected my visa from the Schengen office.
The day of 2-Jul approached. I purchased shirts, trousers, an American tourister suitcase and a pair of shoes. The lines of Polonius in Shakespeare's play Hamlet were in my thoughts : " .... For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief in that." My sense of dressing is one limited only to comfort and brands mean little to me, only as much as they can provide comfort. Luckily, my wife has a better sense and with her help, I was ready with my attire to take on France ! My father would have been upset with me for my casualness in dressing, I suppose. He was particular about dressing well.
On 1-Jul, I had a lot of last minute packing (stuffing !) to do. Before I knew it, the time was 9:30 p.m. I took a taxi to reach the airport. Our flight was at 12:50 a.m. on 2-Jul. we assembled in the airport and completed the formalities. The flight took off, on schedule. I had flown once earlier on Air France. This time, the service was improved - so much that at 3:00 a.m. or so, I woke up from an irregular spell of sleep on hearing some noise and found the purser distributing ice candies ! Before I could realize what was happening, I had one in my hand as well ! I am not a fan of ice cream candies and still only half awake, I wondered what I could do with the candy. After a minute of contemplation, I decided to eat it ! So, here I was eating a cold ice-cream candy that I did not want in the middle of the night. It was a bit surreal.
I went back to sleep after that ! I had kept my watch on India time. When my eyes opened, the watch showed me the time as 8:40 a.m. The aisle seat next to me was empty. I took the opportunity to go the rest room. It was just as well. Some time later, the air hostesses came with their food tray vans making movement difficult. Meanwhile, I explored all that the seat display had to offer, including a "Friends" episode and "Django unchained".
PARIS
-----
We landed in Paris on time. We met the manager who had arrived from New Delhi and took a taxi to a hotel. We stayed in Paris for only half a day. We landed at around 9 a.m. and by the time we caught the taxi it was nearly 10:30 there. We travelled in bumper to bumper traffic. I noticed a lot of Peugeot and Citroen cars, as one would expect, in France ! There were also Hyundai and Toyota cars and the occasional BMW, Skoda and Audi. We passed through a lot of tunnels. The traffic was heavy. We had to travel to a suburb around 60 km from Paris.
When we were at school and asked to draw houses, there is a typical house that I drew. It was rectangular at the base (two rectangles actually) with triangular sloping roofs and a chimney, typically on the right side. I also remember drawing a circular window on the left side. Much to my joy, I saw several houses of exactly this type on the way from Paris ! The only
thing missing was the circular window. I have no clue why a house in India should have this kind of shape, but here then was the original inspiration, the original "muse" of my childhood scrawls !
There was also the European style of buildings with balconies and flowering plants in them that I noticed in Paris.
We reached the hotel where we planned to shower and change. We were puzzled to notice that there was only an electronic key pad, a display screen and nobody at the reception. It took some time for us to understand that the room payment had to be made and then we had to take the electronic key to unlock the door!. Struggling to understand the instructions on the display screen, I swiped my credit card and finally the transaction was complete !
Meanwhile, I had opted for international roaming on my pe-paid mobile phone. What I had not accounted for was the SMSs that I would receive ! All the SMSs that I received depleted the amount that I had recharged quickly. I was also unable to make outgoing calls, due to the nature of the plan I had chosen. I did not know this when I selected the scheme. So it was only by SMS that I informed home that I was safe and asked my wife to call back when she was free ! When I swiped the card, my bank promptly sent me an SMS - and to my horror, I saw that it reduced my pre-paid balance !
We checked in, freshened up and immediately checked out. Our customers graciously agreed to pick us up in two batches. I went in the second batch. The place we were in was an industrial estate, it appeared. There was a huge structure like a water tank just outside our hotel. We reached our customer's organization within few minutes. Our hosts treated us to a three course lunch. We had senior managers joining us. This was to be a feature in all three cities. We were accorded exceptional treatment. They had also organized vegetarian diets for the four of us.
I shall not discuss the professional meetings except to say that they went off well, in all three cities.
Our customers who were visiting from India had an early flight to Bordeaux. At 4 p.m. they left directly to the airport. Since our flight was at 8 p.m. we decided to see the Eiffel tower. To me, the Parisian roads looked old ; good, but old. Our taxi driver took us along a road that bordered the Seine river. We saw boats on the river and the Statue of Liberty on the Ile aux Cygnes. The huge structure of the Eiffel tower can be seen from here already. It is an imposing structure. We
got an idea of its size as we approached it. Since there was little time, we took photos near the tower. Around the tower, we saw enthusiastic tourists, romantic couples and souvenir sellers combine to make a colorful atmosphere. The Eiffel tower is an imposing structure. I noticed greenery around the tower from our vantage photography point. It made for a pretty sight.
My colleague had a French SIM card that she wanted to use. Our taxi driver got a recharge done at a "Tabac" (tobacco) shop. I studied French for 3 years in school. Though I did not need that, it helped as I walked through the Interactive Voice Response to get the SIM card usable for my colleague. We reached Orly airport at around 6:15 p.m. well it time for the 8:20 p.m. flight.
BORDEAUX
--------
In Bordeaux, we stayed at Ibis budget hotel in Meriadeck, which offers good value for money. The rooms are clean. Breakfast is around 6 Euros and the room around 55 Euros per night. The big advantage for us is that the Citadines Apart Hotel is just one road away, where our customers stayed.
The next morning, we went together in a taxi after breakfast to work. By this time, I had used the adapter I had purchased in India to charge my laptop and mobile phone.
It was a rainy day, rather unusual for the beginning of summer. The temperature was a cool 20 degrees Celsisus and there were constant spells of drizzles and light rain through out the day. Our colleagues who were in Bordeaux for a month said that we had brought the Indian rains with us ! After finishing for the day, we came back to our hotels to keep our laptops.
My colleague experienced headache and the cool rain complicated matters for her. So, leaving her in the hotel, my counterpart, his manager and I walked to explore Bordeaux. We started at around 5:30 p.m. The lady from New Delhi suggested that we take the last bus tour at 7:30 p.m. This being summer, there was a lot of sunlight which would last until 9:30 p.m. or so. We decided to go to the bus stop which was near a bridge.
On the way, we saw a curious inverted conical building. We learnt more about it during our return. I was wearing slippers and I did slip in them on the wet footpaths ! Probably, I was the only character in slippers. We also saw trams that came on the road. These modern trams have two coaches and go on the roads itself. Car and other vehicular traffic is halted across the tram lines when the trams come. The frequency was one roughly every five minutes. The transport system is available until at least 10:30 p.m. While we did not use it in Bordeaux, we found it useful in Brest.
Bordeaux is famous for its wines, of course. There are several shops that sold it. There were also bakers and chocolate sellers in both Bordeaux and Brest. We saw old churches and other stately buildings. My counterpart and the New Delhi manager enjoyed shopping in the H&M retail store that offered good deals : there were sweaters for 7 Euros and other dresses also sold at a bargain price. The customer manager from New Delhi vouched for the quality of the purchases. She bought a coat. By this time, we had given up the idea of taking a bus tour and instead decided to walk and explore the city on our own.
We reached a square at the end of the road. The square is surrounded by old buildings and a tall light shade. On the ground, there are cafes and pubs as well. The square typifies the typical European square where people get together to relax and meet. When I saw the square first in Leuven, a Belgian town more than 11 years ago, I just loved the idea of a place to relax, watch children play football or skate and spend some time catching up with friends and near ones. The same idea is present in all European cities. This square in Bordeaux was no exception. The difference was that there was a sculpture of a child's face which is around 15 feet tall. The buildings around the square too lend character to the place. On the other side of the square was a main road that ran parallel to the river.
We walked along the square and saw another interesting sculpture and a fountain at a square a few hundred metres (if that) from the first square. The sculpture is of a man in a sort of "wire-frame" model. It is only when we approached it that we realized that the wire-frame were alphabets. The sculpture is by Jaume Plensa and symbolizes "the House of Knowledge". There was also a fountain in the square.
We walked across the road and came to a 3450 sq. meter stretch of "Mirror of Water". http://www.worldsiteguides.com/europe/france/bordeaux/place-de-la-bourse/ has more information. The "Mirror of Water" is a raised walkway with a layer of water. While walking on it, from afar, it appears that one is walking on water. The effect is magical. When we were there, thin sprays of water sprung forth from the area, giving the impression that we were in mist. Yet, we were dry. This area is called Place de la Bourse.
We discovered an Indian restaurant called Krishna and ate food there. I took biriyani for my colleague back at the hotel. While taking my jacket in the restaurant, by mistake, one of the napkins came with me. When I posed for a photo outside the restaurant, I realized it. I returned the napkin immediately, more so that the Sri Lankan owners do not go away with a lower reputation of Indians !
By this time, it was almost 9:15 p.m. We headed back, with the temperature being probably around 15 degrees Celsius. During our return, a South African couple overheard us discussing about the shape of a conical building near our hotel. The man said that the building was the local municipality. Cricket linked us and he said that while India was number one, the South Africans were also improving. We agreed wholeheartedly, pleasantly surprised to encounter a cricket fan in France ! My counterpart and his manager stopped for cafe au lait (milk coffee) at Ibis and then went to their hotel in the next road. I slept well that night, waking up only once at 3:30 a.m., since it would have been 7 a.m. in India.
The next day, we finished work by lunch time. Our customers went directly to Brest. We went to the airport, caught a flight to Orly, Paris and then caught another flight to Brest, which was delayed by 30 minutes.
BREST
-----
We reached Brest at around 9:45 p.m. I had called up Hotel Astoria informing that we would be late. The lady who runs the hotel with her husband gave me the pass code to the hotel. We entered, rang the bell and deposited our luggage. Another colleague based in Brest for the last year, took us to an Indian hotel. The kitchen had closed, but the restaurant owner (a Pakistani) obliged my colleague and prepared pullav and dal soup. We ate it at my colleagues room, which was two buildings away from the hotel.
We had work in Brest for half a day. Our colleague in Brest guided us to take tram tickets. One only has to select the language, select the number of tickets, pour the money into a slot and collect the ticket and the change. I don't know what the machine does if it runs out of change ! I expect that it will warn if this is the case. The operation is simple, after using it once. Inside the tram, one has to get the ticket punched.
Brest is a coastal city located in France's Brittany region. The region had its own language (Briton), which other French people do not know. I was not surprised: even in Belgium there are the Flemish speaking people and the French speaking people. It is similar to North Indians working in Bengaluru or Biharis working in Mumbai. When I enquired, I was told that Briton language borrows words from Dutch language. I saw signs in both French and Briton in the city. The city was bombed during the Second World War and has been reconstructed.
After we finished work, we came back to our hotel first. Our colleague who stayed in Brest had work and had to stay back. It was left to my colleague and me to do the process of booking tram tickets on our own. She provided the change and rather gingerly, I used the touch screen to obtain the tickets from the vending machine. We got it and soon we were headed back to our hotel.
The only problem was that we got down one stop later ! The fare is the same wherever we go (1.40 Euros), but we were lost. I enquired at a shop who guided me in halting English to take the third left turn down a particular road. We followed the instructions and sure enough found ourselves on the road to our hotel.
By this time our customers had called us and asked us to meet on a main road. We fixed a spot and when my colleague and I reached there, they were not to be found. My mobile did not work as I had exhausted my pre-paid balance and my colleague's French SIM car also asked for a registration (at least that is what it sounded to me !). So she and I were on our own. We ate ice cream cones since the day was warm, at around 28 degrees Celsius.
Our next adventure was shopping for chocolates from an old lady. She knew only French. Some of the home made chocolates that she had did not have the price written on them. They were arranged in shelves with the price written in stickers and I did not know where I picked up the bag from ! She was polite and pretty comfortable talking with us. My knowledge of French numbers and our fingers came in handy to understand the price ! We purchased two bags of chocolates. I decided to use my credit card. The old lady asked me to swipe. The card did not work; so I paid cash.
Using the wisdom of the New Delhi manager, we asked for the location of H&M in English and my broken French. We went there. To our surprise, we found our customers there also. The ladies (my colleague and the New Delhi manager) had a happy time shopping while my counterpart and I also picked up stuff for our families. I took his advice in selecting a bag and he deferred to the ladies' selection for his daughter's dress.
By the time we finished, it was 7:30 p.m. In a flash, nearly all shops were closed. We headed back towards our hotel so that they could take the tram back to their hotel. My colleague and I informed them about the Indian hotel. They decided that we could all eat dinner there. On the way back, we saw a fountain that glinted in the evening sun. I took a photo. There is also a war memorial near the fountain. We walked along the road back towards our hotel.
Our customers ordered dinner while we settled the final bill since we had to check out early the next morning. After a filling Indian vegetarian meal, our customers took the tram at around 9 p.m. and we headed back to our hotel. I heard the cries of sea gulls. It was Friday and youngsters who had partied, were screaming with drunk joy. I wanted to see the beach, but decided against it, seeing the boisterous crowd. The Oceanopolis is famous in Brest, but we could not visit it. There is also a castle, but we missed that as well.
The next morning at 5:30 we took a cab to go to Paris. We barely had time to buy chocolates and souvenirs at the duty free shop. To my pleasant surprise, I found colleagues from my previous organization in Paris. We met again in the plane and caught up on mutual friends and statuses.
The flight was normal. I completed watching "Django unchained" and "Skyfall". Skyfall sets the stage for a new Bond. There is a new Q, a new M and an aging Bond. The next movie should be interesting !
The trip was a memorable one. I enjoyed the company of my colleague and our customers who mingled closely and enriched the travel experience. The professional work was interesting, but I also had an equally interesting time exploring France with them. I returned home with memories of the French cities we visited, the squares in the cities and above all, the walk in Bordeaux.
============
From 2-Jul-13 to 5-Jul-13, a lady colleague, my counterpart in our customer's organization and his manager, a lady from New Delhi visited Paris, Bordeaux and Brest on work related reviews. This blog covers the "touristy" (I am sure no such word exists !) aspects of our visit.
BUILD-UP (PREPARATION)
----------------------
The preparation started in May, when our visit was planned initially : at that time I had not realized that my passport would expire in October. I would not have been able to visit France in May, since the passport needs to be valid for 6 months from date of travel. We were supposed to travel in the end of May but since the others also did not get French visa appointments in time, the visit was postponed to 2-Jul-13.
This gave me time to apply for tatkaal passport. The passport issue process went like a well-oiled machine. First, I got a tatkaal appointment in the Koramangala office at around 9:30 a.m. in the end of May. The passport office allocated to me was the Whitefield one. I caught an auto and reached the place at around 11:15 a.m. There was a crowd and an assembly line sequence of making the tatkaal payment and collecting the token ; waiting for the token number in one hall ; meeting the TCS (the organization that has got the contract for passport issue process from the Indian government) agent who enters the passport details in another hall ; getting the details verified, again by another TCS representative and finally meeting the
government representative. To my frustration, I had three iterations of verification due to an incorrect spelling, an upload which was missed out in the second iteration, which was corrected in the third iteration. By this time, it was nearly 1:15 p.m. or so. The TCS team and most of the government representatives took a break for lunch. I thought I would have to wait until 2:30 p.m. for action to resume. Thankfully, one of the government representatives took on the responsibility of verification. By 1:45 p.m. the process was completed. I ate lunch at Ibis next door, relieved that the process was completed.
The next evening, I got a call from the police station for verification. I went there in the evening drenched to the skin, due to a heavy downpour on the way. It was well past 9:15 p.m. in the night when the police station representative said that the passport would be on its way. Indeed in a matter of couple of days, my passport was renewed.
The next step was to obtain a French visa from the consulate. The procedure here was simpler. I showed the invitation letter from our customers at the Schengen office, but had forgotten to account for the cash payment. After a frantic search for an ATM I retrieved enough cash and was told to attend the interview in the French consulate at Vasanthnagar the next day.
The next morning, I reached the office a few minutes before the allotted time. I was only asked whether I had visited France and any of the Schengen countries earlier. I provided the details and that was it ! The next afternoon, I collected my visa from the Schengen office.
The day of 2-Jul approached. I purchased shirts, trousers, an American tourister suitcase and a pair of shoes. The lines of Polonius in Shakespeare's play Hamlet were in my thoughts : " .... For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are of a most select and generous chief in that." My sense of dressing is one limited only to comfort and brands mean little to me, only as much as they can provide comfort. Luckily, my wife has a better sense and with her help, I was ready with my attire to take on France ! My father would have been upset with me for my casualness in dressing, I suppose. He was particular about dressing well.
On 1-Jul, I had a lot of last minute packing (stuffing !) to do. Before I knew it, the time was 9:30 p.m. I took a taxi to reach the airport. Our flight was at 12:50 a.m. on 2-Jul. we assembled in the airport and completed the formalities. The flight took off, on schedule. I had flown once earlier on Air France. This time, the service was improved - so much that at 3:00 a.m. or so, I woke up from an irregular spell of sleep on hearing some noise and found the purser distributing ice candies ! Before I could realize what was happening, I had one in my hand as well ! I am not a fan of ice cream candies and still only half awake, I wondered what I could do with the candy. After a minute of contemplation, I decided to eat it ! So, here I was eating a cold ice-cream candy that I did not want in the middle of the night. It was a bit surreal.
I went back to sleep after that ! I had kept my watch on India time. When my eyes opened, the watch showed me the time as 8:40 a.m. The aisle seat next to me was empty. I took the opportunity to go the rest room. It was just as well. Some time later, the air hostesses came with their food tray vans making movement difficult. Meanwhile, I explored all that the seat display had to offer, including a "Friends" episode and "Django unchained".
PARIS
-----
We landed in Paris on time. We met the manager who had arrived from New Delhi and took a taxi to a hotel. We stayed in Paris for only half a day. We landed at around 9 a.m. and by the time we caught the taxi it was nearly 10:30 there. We travelled in bumper to bumper traffic. I noticed a lot of Peugeot and Citroen cars, as one would expect, in France ! There were also Hyundai and Toyota cars and the occasional BMW, Skoda and Audi. We passed through a lot of tunnels. The traffic was heavy. We had to travel to a suburb around 60 km from Paris.
When we were at school and asked to draw houses, there is a typical house that I drew. It was rectangular at the base (two rectangles actually) with triangular sloping roofs and a chimney, typically on the right side. I also remember drawing a circular window on the left side. Much to my joy, I saw several houses of exactly this type on the way from Paris ! The only
thing missing was the circular window. I have no clue why a house in India should have this kind of shape, but here then was the original inspiration, the original "muse" of my childhood scrawls !
There was also the European style of buildings with balconies and flowering plants in them that I noticed in Paris.
We reached the hotel where we planned to shower and change. We were puzzled to notice that there was only an electronic key pad, a display screen and nobody at the reception. It took some time for us to understand that the room payment had to be made and then we had to take the electronic key to unlock the door!. Struggling to understand the instructions on the display screen, I swiped my credit card and finally the transaction was complete !
Meanwhile, I had opted for international roaming on my pe-paid mobile phone. What I had not accounted for was the SMSs that I would receive ! All the SMSs that I received depleted the amount that I had recharged quickly. I was also unable to make outgoing calls, due to the nature of the plan I had chosen. I did not know this when I selected the scheme. So it was only by SMS that I informed home that I was safe and asked my wife to call back when she was free ! When I swiped the card, my bank promptly sent me an SMS - and to my horror, I saw that it reduced my pre-paid balance !
We checked in, freshened up and immediately checked out. Our customers graciously agreed to pick us up in two batches. I went in the second batch. The place we were in was an industrial estate, it appeared. There was a huge structure like a water tank just outside our hotel. We reached our customer's organization within few minutes. Our hosts treated us to a three course lunch. We had senior managers joining us. This was to be a feature in all three cities. We were accorded exceptional treatment. They had also organized vegetarian diets for the four of us.
I shall not discuss the professional meetings except to say that they went off well, in all three cities.
Our customers who were visiting from India had an early flight to Bordeaux. At 4 p.m. they left directly to the airport. Since our flight was at 8 p.m. we decided to see the Eiffel tower. To me, the Parisian roads looked old ; good, but old. Our taxi driver took us along a road that bordered the Seine river. We saw boats on the river and the Statue of Liberty on the Ile aux Cygnes. The huge structure of the Eiffel tower can be seen from here already. It is an imposing structure. We
got an idea of its size as we approached it. Since there was little time, we took photos near the tower. Around the tower, we saw enthusiastic tourists, romantic couples and souvenir sellers combine to make a colorful atmosphere. The Eiffel tower is an imposing structure. I noticed greenery around the tower from our vantage photography point. It made for a pretty sight.
My colleague had a French SIM card that she wanted to use. Our taxi driver got a recharge done at a "Tabac" (tobacco) shop. I studied French for 3 years in school. Though I did not need that, it helped as I walked through the Interactive Voice Response to get the SIM card usable for my colleague. We reached Orly airport at around 6:15 p.m. well it time for the 8:20 p.m. flight.
BORDEAUX
--------
In Bordeaux, we stayed at Ibis budget hotel in Meriadeck, which offers good value for money. The rooms are clean. Breakfast is around 6 Euros and the room around 55 Euros per night. The big advantage for us is that the Citadines Apart Hotel is just one road away, where our customers stayed.
The next morning, we went together in a taxi after breakfast to work. By this time, I had used the adapter I had purchased in India to charge my laptop and mobile phone.
It was a rainy day, rather unusual for the beginning of summer. The temperature was a cool 20 degrees Celsisus and there were constant spells of drizzles and light rain through out the day. Our colleagues who were in Bordeaux for a month said that we had brought the Indian rains with us ! After finishing for the day, we came back to our hotels to keep our laptops.
My colleague experienced headache and the cool rain complicated matters for her. So, leaving her in the hotel, my counterpart, his manager and I walked to explore Bordeaux. We started at around 5:30 p.m. The lady from New Delhi suggested that we take the last bus tour at 7:30 p.m. This being summer, there was a lot of sunlight which would last until 9:30 p.m. or so. We decided to go to the bus stop which was near a bridge.
On the way, we saw a curious inverted conical building. We learnt more about it during our return. I was wearing slippers and I did slip in them on the wet footpaths ! Probably, I was the only character in slippers. We also saw trams that came on the road. These modern trams have two coaches and go on the roads itself. Car and other vehicular traffic is halted across the tram lines when the trams come. The frequency was one roughly every five minutes. The transport system is available until at least 10:30 p.m. While we did not use it in Bordeaux, we found it useful in Brest.
Bordeaux is famous for its wines, of course. There are several shops that sold it. There were also bakers and chocolate sellers in both Bordeaux and Brest. We saw old churches and other stately buildings. My counterpart and the New Delhi manager enjoyed shopping in the H&M retail store that offered good deals : there were sweaters for 7 Euros and other dresses also sold at a bargain price. The customer manager from New Delhi vouched for the quality of the purchases. She bought a coat. By this time, we had given up the idea of taking a bus tour and instead decided to walk and explore the city on our own.
We reached a square at the end of the road. The square is surrounded by old buildings and a tall light shade. On the ground, there are cafes and pubs as well. The square typifies the typical European square where people get together to relax and meet. When I saw the square first in Leuven, a Belgian town more than 11 years ago, I just loved the idea of a place to relax, watch children play football or skate and spend some time catching up with friends and near ones. The same idea is present in all European cities. This square in Bordeaux was no exception. The difference was that there was a sculpture of a child's face which is around 15 feet tall. The buildings around the square too lend character to the place. On the other side of the square was a main road that ran parallel to the river.
We walked along the square and saw another interesting sculpture and a fountain at a square a few hundred metres (if that) from the first square. The sculpture is of a man in a sort of "wire-frame" model. It is only when we approached it that we realized that the wire-frame were alphabets. The sculpture is by Jaume Plensa and symbolizes "the House of Knowledge". There was also a fountain in the square.
We walked across the road and came to a 3450 sq. meter stretch of "Mirror of Water". http://www.worldsiteguides.com/europe/france/bordeaux/place-de-la-bourse/ has more information. The "Mirror of Water" is a raised walkway with a layer of water. While walking on it, from afar, it appears that one is walking on water. The effect is magical. When we were there, thin sprays of water sprung forth from the area, giving the impression that we were in mist. Yet, we were dry. This area is called Place de la Bourse.
We discovered an Indian restaurant called Krishna and ate food there. I took biriyani for my colleague back at the hotel. While taking my jacket in the restaurant, by mistake, one of the napkins came with me. When I posed for a photo outside the restaurant, I realized it. I returned the napkin immediately, more so that the Sri Lankan owners do not go away with a lower reputation of Indians !
By this time, it was almost 9:15 p.m. We headed back, with the temperature being probably around 15 degrees Celsius. During our return, a South African couple overheard us discussing about the shape of a conical building near our hotel. The man said that the building was the local municipality. Cricket linked us and he said that while India was number one, the South Africans were also improving. We agreed wholeheartedly, pleasantly surprised to encounter a cricket fan in France ! My counterpart and his manager stopped for cafe au lait (milk coffee) at Ibis and then went to their hotel in the next road. I slept well that night, waking up only once at 3:30 a.m., since it would have been 7 a.m. in India.
The next day, we finished work by lunch time. Our customers went directly to Brest. We went to the airport, caught a flight to Orly, Paris and then caught another flight to Brest, which was delayed by 30 minutes.
BREST
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We reached Brest at around 9:45 p.m. I had called up Hotel Astoria informing that we would be late. The lady who runs the hotel with her husband gave me the pass code to the hotel. We entered, rang the bell and deposited our luggage. Another colleague based in Brest for the last year, took us to an Indian hotel. The kitchen had closed, but the restaurant owner (a Pakistani) obliged my colleague and prepared pullav and dal soup. We ate it at my colleagues room, which was two buildings away from the hotel.
We had work in Brest for half a day. Our colleague in Brest guided us to take tram tickets. One only has to select the language, select the number of tickets, pour the money into a slot and collect the ticket and the change. I don't know what the machine does if it runs out of change ! I expect that it will warn if this is the case. The operation is simple, after using it once. Inside the tram, one has to get the ticket punched.
Brest is a coastal city located in France's Brittany region. The region had its own language (Briton), which other French people do not know. I was not surprised: even in Belgium there are the Flemish speaking people and the French speaking people. It is similar to North Indians working in Bengaluru or Biharis working in Mumbai. When I enquired, I was told that Briton language borrows words from Dutch language. I saw signs in both French and Briton in the city. The city was bombed during the Second World War and has been reconstructed.
After we finished work, we came back to our hotel first. Our colleague who stayed in Brest had work and had to stay back. It was left to my colleague and me to do the process of booking tram tickets on our own. She provided the change and rather gingerly, I used the touch screen to obtain the tickets from the vending machine. We got it and soon we were headed back to our hotel.
The only problem was that we got down one stop later ! The fare is the same wherever we go (1.40 Euros), but we were lost. I enquired at a shop who guided me in halting English to take the third left turn down a particular road. We followed the instructions and sure enough found ourselves on the road to our hotel.
By this time our customers had called us and asked us to meet on a main road. We fixed a spot and when my colleague and I reached there, they were not to be found. My mobile did not work as I had exhausted my pre-paid balance and my colleague's French SIM car also asked for a registration (at least that is what it sounded to me !). So she and I were on our own. We ate ice cream cones since the day was warm, at around 28 degrees Celsius.
Our next adventure was shopping for chocolates from an old lady. She knew only French. Some of the home made chocolates that she had did not have the price written on them. They were arranged in shelves with the price written in stickers and I did not know where I picked up the bag from ! She was polite and pretty comfortable talking with us. My knowledge of French numbers and our fingers came in handy to understand the price ! We purchased two bags of chocolates. I decided to use my credit card. The old lady asked me to swipe. The card did not work; so I paid cash.
Using the wisdom of the New Delhi manager, we asked for the location of H&M in English and my broken French. We went there. To our surprise, we found our customers there also. The ladies (my colleague and the New Delhi manager) had a happy time shopping while my counterpart and I also picked up stuff for our families. I took his advice in selecting a bag and he deferred to the ladies' selection for his daughter's dress.
By the time we finished, it was 7:30 p.m. In a flash, nearly all shops were closed. We headed back towards our hotel so that they could take the tram back to their hotel. My colleague and I informed them about the Indian hotel. They decided that we could all eat dinner there. On the way back, we saw a fountain that glinted in the evening sun. I took a photo. There is also a war memorial near the fountain. We walked along the road back towards our hotel.
Our customers ordered dinner while we settled the final bill since we had to check out early the next morning. After a filling Indian vegetarian meal, our customers took the tram at around 9 p.m. and we headed back to our hotel. I heard the cries of sea gulls. It was Friday and youngsters who had partied, were screaming with drunk joy. I wanted to see the beach, but decided against it, seeing the boisterous crowd. The Oceanopolis is famous in Brest, but we could not visit it. There is also a castle, but we missed that as well.
The next morning at 5:30 we took a cab to go to Paris. We barely had time to buy chocolates and souvenirs at the duty free shop. To my pleasant surprise, I found colleagues from my previous organization in Paris. We met again in the plane and caught up on mutual friends and statuses.
The flight was normal. I completed watching "Django unchained" and "Skyfall". Skyfall sets the stage for a new Bond. There is a new Q, a new M and an aging Bond. The next movie should be interesting !
The trip was a memorable one. I enjoyed the company of my colleague and our customers who mingled closely and enriched the travel experience. The professional work was interesting, but I also had an equally interesting time exploring France with them. I returned home with memories of the French cities we visited, the squares in the cities and above all, the walk in Bordeaux.
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