We then hopped on a train to Paris, France. The owners of the hotel in Brussels also owned a hotel in
Paris. The price was cheap, so we booked it. We arrived in Paris around 3pm [1, 2]. We booked our train
ride from Paris to London and then headed out to find our hotel. During our walk to the hotel. We saw two
men on the sidewalk arguing. The tall man seemed to be very upset with the smaller guy. To our surprise,
the tall guy flicked his foot out and kicked the smaller guy in the nuts. The smaller guy walked away with a
look of pain on his face. We all felt his pain.
When we got to the hotel, we asked the guy at the front desk where to eat. This was the same guy that
checked us into the hotel in Brussels. He recommended his cousin's place down the street. We had a
good meal and headed out to find the Eiffel Tower [3, 4]. It was an awesome spectacle. It looked a lot
bigger than I expected. I thought it was going to be like the Statue of Liberty which looks big in pictures,
but in person is much smaller than expected. After taking the requisite pictures, we walked over to the Arc
de Triomphe Etoile [5, 6]. We were all feeling tired, so we got some pizza down the street from our hotel
and called it a night.
The next day, we decided to split up and meet back at the hotel at 2pm in time to catch the train to London.
Gardo went to the Museum of Natural History. Victor went to the Louvre. Rey and I went to the Louvre
also, but separate from Vic. The Louvre was absolutely massive [7]. It is daunting to think about how
much art is in there [8]. Once inside, we headed straight (as straight as we could since we kept getting
lost) to the Mona Lisa. It was cool to see something so famous. There was a big crowd around it. We got
as close as we could and took pictures. We weren't really up for looking around the whole museum, so
Rey and I headed out to see Notre Dame [9, 10]. The architecture was cool. There were lots of gargoyles
scaring off the evil spirits. We got some pizza and beer and then walked over to a square called Bastille. It
was getting close to 2pm, so we headed back. Gardo was down the street eating, so we went to get him.
My old supervisor from Bechtel had moved to Paris last year. I wanted to hang out with her, but she was
on vacation. She was arriving back in Paris that night, so I decided to stay an extra night while Gardo,
Victor, and Rey headed off to London. After they left, I headed back to the hotel and took a nap. I made
some phone calls home and then went back to the hotel. I thought about going out, but didn't get inspired
enough. I went to bed early.
The next morning, I got up and took the train to Joan James' house [11]. She lives just outside of Paris in a
town called Les Vesinet. What should have been a half-hour trip took over an hour. It was a holiday,
Assumption Day, in Paris and the trains were running irregularly. I finally got there and Joan was waiting
for me. We took a trip to the grocery store to buy some lunch and then headed to her place. She told me
about life in Paris and how difficult, frustrating, and expensive it could be to settle a family there. It was
nice catching up with her. We worked very hard together at Bechtel and improved the Compensation
function there. We hung out for a couple hours before I had to start heading back to catch my train to
London.
The trip back was quick. I got some food and got on my train to London. The train went through the
Chunnel that Bechtel helped build. I arrived in London around 6pm. I took the bus to Elizabeth's place. It
was nice to find that I was familiar enough with the public transportation there to successfully find my way
through London. Gardo, Victor, and Rey were all hanging out at Elizabeth's apartment. Elizabeth came
home shortly after.
We headed out to Wagamama, a place Elizabeth said was good and cheap. We went along a canal that felt
more like Amsterdam than London. Alvin met us there and we ate. It was good, but the service was bad.
We then headed out to a bar and had a few beers. It was a fairly mellow night as everyone was a bit tired.
We walked home which took a while, but felt nice.
The next day was our last day of the trip. Elizabeth took off for work in the morning and we said our
thanks and goodbyes. It was going to take us a while to get to the airport and we were getting a late start,
so we headed straight for the bus. We ate along the way. We got on our first flight to New York which was
over seven hours. In New York, we had to go through a long line at customs and barely made our
connecting flight to Los Angeles. Waiting for us at the airport was Evette, Rey's girl, and Amy, Gardo's girl.
Iberia was on a road trip to Oregon and couldn't be there. The trip was over. Eight cities in twenty-one
days [12].
The End
Note: Picture is inverted
