Paris 2003

Paris 2003 Introduction

This trip was not a planned vacation. It resulted from a new contract James' company received that required a visit to an existing facility just outside Paris. Julie, not wanting to miss an opportunity to experience new places, gave an ultimatum that James would not leave the country without her and therefore she tagged along.

Google Earth image of France

Also on the expedition were several of James' co-workers, one representative of the contractor who would build the project in the US, and one representative of the client. Two other wives also made the trek.

The trip was thrown together in little over a week while we were all trying to get a new project started. Chaos reigned supreme and we were all a little nervous heading in.

Google Earth image of Central Paris
Map of Central Paris

cat in suitcase
And it was obvious from the start not everyone was pleased with the idea of this trip...



Saturday, 5/10/2003 – Leaving Home

The cab arrived promptly at 8a to take us on our journey. We arrived at the airport at 8:30a and at our gate by 8:50a. No problems in arriving to depart on our travels. We had wonderful conversations with all of our traveling companions. We arrived at JFK approximately 10 minutes early. The next leg of our journey was via Air France so we needed to change terminals. We were able to find the next gate rather quickly. The flight to Paris was LONG. Julie was able to sleep about 2 hours but James was not. We arrived in Paris at 6a local time on Sunday and made it to the hotel by 7:30a.

Hotel in Paris
Our hotel in the Bercy area on the east side of Paris



Sunday, 5/11/2003 – Arriving in Paris

We were able to check into our rooms and get a little refreshed; but it took three cabs to get us all to the hotel and ours was the last to arrive. Since we got here last, we checked in last and had the least amount of time to freshen up before meeting at 8a to start the day’s adventure. All the travelers had agreed it would be best to stay up as long as possible to help with the time adjustment before Monday’s meetings.

We met in the hotel lobby at 8a and followed the lead of Steve, the only person who had visited Paris previously. Those of us, who enjoy sauntering, soon learned our guide was a “mission based” tourist. The first order of business was to find the nearest subway station so we could go to Notre Dame. The Cour St Emilion was within two blocks of our hotel. We bought a one-day pass and headed for downtown Paris. After exiting the Metro, we passed the Pompidou Center (image 1) and then turned south to Notre Dame.

James could have spent hours looking at Notre Dame (images 2-4); it is a significant piece of architectural history in a period he enjoyed studying in school. We walked through the cathedral and looked in awe at the rose windows (images 5-7). After Notre Dame, we went to Sainte-Chapelle (image 8). This was the chapel in the Palace of Justice where the kings lived prior to the construction of the Louvre. We were able to view the upper sanctuary where the intricacies in the stained glass (image 9) and building finishes are incredible.


Then we walked to and around the outside of the Louvre (image 10). The palace took 7 centuries to build because the kings kept adding on to the original part of the palace (images 11-14). After this we had a bit of lunch at an outdoor café. Following lunch, we walked around some of the streets of Paris and caught a glimpse of the Opera de Paris Garnier (image 15). At this point, we were all, except Steve, beginning to show the stress and strain of traveling so we hopped on the subway to go to the Eiffel Tower.

The walk up to the Eiffel Tower through the Champ-de-Mars is spectacular (image 16). We then bought a ticket to the top level of the tower. The first part of the elevator ride is at an incline and then you switch to a different elevator to reach the top. The view was magnificent (images 17-21). After the Eiffel Tower, we decided to go back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before supper.

We spent about two hours napping and resting our feet. We then met everyone for supper at 5:30p. We wandered through a nearby shopping area with several restaurants and learned that the kitchens do not open until 7p. We ate at an Italian restaurant where the food was great. At 8:30p, we all headed back to our rooms for the evening.




Monday, 5/12/2003 – Some work and some play

Today James worked all day and Julie was with Kim doing tourist stuff.

Julie:
Julie and Kim started their morning at 9a by taking the subway to the Louvre. They spent almost 6 hours going through about 75% of the exhibits. They, of course, walked by the Mona Lisa. The rooms in the Louvre are just amazing. The ornate ceilings (image 1) and marble tile work on the floors are beyond words. After the Louvre, they walked along the Seine and back to Notre Dame. They went through the Treasury and then walked behind the cathedral to see the back (image 2). They then brought the subway back to the hotel area and walked around to see what else the area had to offer.

James:
The group arrived at our destination shortly after 8a to discover not all the information had gotten to security. After an hour of discussions, they were allowed into the client’s site and headed for the project location. There they met with a representative who helped run the process here and were led to a small conference area to use as an office. The first day was spent getting familiar with the operations, the buildings that support the work and identifying, and scheduling tasks that needed to be done the next couple of days. They returned by train and got back to the hotel around 6:30p.

Together:
Together, everyone enjoyed supper at a true French Restaurant. After supper, the two of us headed back to the hotel while the rest of the crew enjoyed a few drinks at one of the local pubs. James went to bed about midnight after returning some e-mail to the group working for him in Orlando.



Tuesday, 5/13/2003 – Another day doing different things

Again, Julie and James went separate directions as James had another day of meetings.

Julie:
Julie was able to sleep in before joining Kim and Shelley (another spouse) for breakfast and then heading out for the day. The trio headed to the subway station at 10:30a but were not sure if the trains would be running due to “Black Tuesday”. The rail employees were striking due to the retirement age being raised. This affected the subway and the rail trains. The line that ran near our hotel was running so they rode it to the end of the line.

Their plan had been to visit the Musee de O’rsay, but because of the striking rail workers, the museum was not open. So they then walked to the Louvre and then headed west toward the Arc de Triomphe. This walk took them along the Champs-Elysees (image 1) past the Place de la Concorde (image 2). After reaching the Arc, they took pictures (images 3-4) and then headed back the way they had come for a bit of lunch. After lunch, the threesome wound their way back to the subway line that returned to the hotel. They spent some time walking the shops in Bercy Village (a lot like the historical district in St. Augustine.) they were back at the hotel around 4p to wait for the husbands to arrive.

James:
Having been warned the day before about the rail worker’s strike, the working stiffs had arranged to be picked up at the Hotel around 6:45a by one of the client’s employee’s who drove by the hotel on their way to work. Tuesday was spent photo-documenting the site and operations and determining what would have to be modified to work in the Florida facility layout space. There was not quite as much space at the Florida site as they were trying to put the project into an existing complex while the location in Paris was built on a greenfield (undeveloped) plot of land.

They spent some time working with the document control group at the Paris location trying to get electronic files of the current operation. This would prevent them from recreating much of the documents that are not changing from the existing location. We were loaned a client company vehicle and James' boss was given the pleasure of driving back to the hotel; we arrived between 6:30p and 7p.

Together:
After James arrived at the hotel, Julie and James went to a restaurant named The Hippopotamus for supper. This was the only evening we had completely to ourselves. We then walked around for a few minutes before returning to the hotel for bed. Again, James went to bed about midnight after returning some e-mail to the group working for him in Orlando.




Wednesday, 5/14/2003 – Last day apart

This was the last day James needed to go to meetings. He wanted to leave by 6:30a but the railway line that travels to the client site was still on strike. So he returned to the hotel to ride in the van with the rest of the gang. Julie was up and out with the girls by 9:30a.

Julie:
They got on the Metro and went to the Basilica (Sacre-Couer) in Montmartre (image 1). From the top of the hills, there is a beautiful view of the city. After walking inside the church, they walked to the part of town to see the Moulin Rouge (image 2). That area was a bit seedy with Adult Stores lining each side of the street.

Then they retunred to the Metro to visit the Musee de O’rsay (image 3). Luckily, the museum was open today. They ate lunch at a small café inside the museum behind a clock. The building used to be an old train station. The artwork was ok. They saw Van Gogh and Whistler’s Mother but Julie thought the Louvre was much better. After about two hours, they left and rode the RER (actual train) and Metro back to the Bercy area for a little R-and-R before the guys arrived at the hotel.

James:
James tried to leave early to get some extra time to photograph some details before the operations started for the day. Unfortunately, after waiting for the train that heads out to the site for half an hour, he retuned to the hotel to ride in the van. The group got to the site about 8:15a which shot any chance of getting the pictures he wanted. Wednesday was spent documenting more of the technical aspects of the operations and discussing how to technically make the modifications that would be required for the Florida adaptation. There were meetings with both the Architect and Electrical Engineer who had completed the facility in France where they learned a lot of valuable information about the thought process and decision making that went into the original design. They were also able to discuss some of the lessons learned that could make the Florida project more efficient and durable.

The operations finally shut down about 5:30p so we could finally get the necessary pictures and at 6:45p we headed for the train station. However, we then discovered that the workers on this particular line were still on strike and we therefore had to find an alternate way home. We split our group into to 2 groups of 3. The first group went with the project architect and had dinner with him and several of the client staff members who were having a reunion of sorts at a nearby pub. The other group of three (the three with wives at the hotel) piled into a cab for the ride back into Paris. James' boss called the hotel and located the wives in the bar waiting; he let them know what had happened and we were on the way. 70 Euro’s later, they got to the hotel just before 8p.

Together:
Dinner that evening with the 6 spouses was at The Hippopotamus. We finished with dinner about 10:15p and returned to the hotel. Again, James went to bed about midnight after returning some e-mail to the group working for him in Orlando.




Thursday 5/15/2003 – Group visit to Versailles

Today was a vacation day for the boys so everyone met at 9a in the lobby for a trip to Versailles. We rode the RER to Versailles where we visited the Palace and the Gardens (images 1-2). The palace was not as impressive as the Louvre but the Gardens were gorgeous (images 3-9). We did not stay to see the fountains, as we wanted to get back to Paris to do a few other things.

We arrived in the city around 4:30p and got off the train at the Eiffel Tower to ride on a boat in the Seine. The Batobus took us from the Eiffel Tower down past Notre Dame (image 10) and back again. We got off the boat at the Louvre in hopes of buying a few things along the river, but the vendors had already closed for the day. So we wandered around until 7p to have supper.

After supper, we had planned on riding the boat again, but the boats do not run after that time. So we found a pedestrian bridge and watched the sun set over the river (image 11). Then a few of us went to Notre Dame to take some pictures at night (image 12). We returned to the hotel around 10:45p and James went to bed about midnight after returning some e-mail to the group working for him in Orlando.




Friday, 5/16/2003 – A day to ourselves

Friday was spent tying up loose ends and getting things done we wanted to accomplish before leaving Paris. We got up around 7a and left the hotel around 8:30a. We headed back to the Basilica (Sacre-Couer) since it was one of the buildings James wanted to go see. Then we took the metro back down the hill and visited the Opera de Paris Garnier (image 1). This is the setting for the musical Phantom of the Opera. We could have taken the 90 minute guided walking tour, but there was too much left to do so we took some pictures in the lobby and left (image 2).

We then boarded the rail line that goes out to Disneyland Paris (image 3). We ate lunch in the Festival Disney area, which equates to Downtown Disney in Florida, and picked up a couple of souvenirs. We then returned to the hotel to drop off our purchases. James' boss had successfully picked up some CD’s that the work group had been waiting for which freed him up for the rest of the afternoon.

We then took the Metro back down near the Louvre and purchased some items from some of the street vendors along the river. Julie was very impressed with the Louvre when she visited and wanted to take James through it so he could see the architecture and detailing that had gone into the palace. We got there around 4p and they closed at 6p so we took a whirlwind track through the Napoleon Apartments (image 4) and other parts of the building to see some of the interesting architectural features (image 5). We also saw the French Crown Jewels (image 6), the Mona Lisa, and other art pieces while we were there (image 7). James spent much of the time looking at the finishes, ceilings, and where "new" expansions tied into older sections of the building (images 8-12).

We then returned to the hotel and started packing our stuff. About 6:45p, we met Kim and Mike and went out for a bite to eat. We got back to the hotel, finished packing as much as possible and went to bed around 11:40p. This happened to be 24 hours before we were supposed to land in Orlando.




Saturday, 5/17/2003 – Back home

We woke up a little before 5a so we could finish packing and get down to the hotel lobby by 5:30a. We all piled into 2 cabs and left for the Airport. We got there and checked in for our 8:30a flight by 6:15a. We were all tired and hungry, but the shops in the airport did not start opening until 7a. We started boarding around 7:30a and left on time. Our flight to New York was scheduled to be 7 hours and 50 minutes, but we actually landed about 45 minutes early.

At this point our happy little group split. Some of the people had to transfer from JFK to La Guardia for the flight back to Orlando. We stayed at JFK with the Mike and Kim. We spent the 6 hour layover discussing the trip and eating at one of the airport bar and grilles. It was nice to sit and enjoy American food again. (James had nachos and a quesadilla; not really American food). Our flight from JFK was a little rough, but all in all we were happy to be back in Orlando.

We got back to the house a little before 7p, unpacked and made some phone calls. We were in bed by 9:45p Saturday night and both fell asleep quite quickly in our own bed.




Additional Notes

We would like to thank Mike, Kim and David who supplied some of the photographs used in this web page.

Since time has passed, James can say that the project he was working on became the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show ran from 2005 until 2015ish when it was closed and torn down to make way for the current Star Wars themed area.