Day 9: Brussels and Paris

We had a business visit this morning at the European Commission.  I was really excited to go, but left feeling a little disappointed.  The lady who presented is in charge of a committee about corporate social responsibility.  First off, this is not something I am familiar with.  The whole concept of corporate social responsibility is passing legislation to encourage companies to make decisions that are socially responsible.  I can understand why this would be important, but I had a few issues with the content of our presenter.  For starters, her committee did not seem to have any clear goals.  When we asked questions about that she danced around our questions and would never give a straight answer.  The way she responded made it seem to us that she was not very knowledgeable and that her job was not very important.  I think she also had some problems with us.  She seemed to notice right off the bat that many members of the group were having a difficult time staying awake.  I got the feeling that she was ticked off because of this.  Overall, it was not the best experience for both parties and I am thankful it is over.

After grabbing some lunch in the town square, we boarded the bus and made our way to Paris.  The trip went really well until we got about 10 kilometers outside of the city.  That is when traffic came to a complete stand still.  This was our first experience with Parisian traffic.  It took us nearly an hour to go one kilometer (which is less than one mile).  Everyone was getting really restless on the bus and finding creative ways to entertain themselves.  Three of the guys started running in place in the aisle.  This turned into a game with Patrick, the bus driver.  He would put on the gas, which would make the guys go backwards, and then then brake which would fling them forward.  It was pretty hilarious to watch and helped to pass the time.

My first impression of Paris was not a very good one.  The first thing I noticed was the stench that seemed to be everywhere.  I soon came to realize that we were not staying in a very nice part of town.  There are two bums that live right outside the front door of our hotel.  I was feeling a little disappointed until Patrick took us on an evening bus tour of the city.  This is something that is not part of his job, but something that he wanted to do.  Patrick is an awesome guy.  His tour helped me to see the beauty of Paris that I have always imagined.  He drove us around to all of the big sites, which is an amazing feat in and of itself.  The roads in Paris are absolutely crazy!  The craziest one I saw is the circle that goes around the Arc de Triomphe.  There are no defined lanes so people enter and exit the circle anywhere they want.  Patrick charged right on in there with the bus and almost gave me a heart attack.  It was an adrenaline rush to say the least.

The other sites were impressive, but nothing quite as impressive as the Eifel Tower.  For whatever reason, this is the thing I most wanted to see in Europe.  There is something romantic to me about the Eifel Tower.  It did not disappoint.  Patrick dropped us off so we would have an hour to explore.  I think I could sit and watch the Eifel Tower all night.  At 10:00 the tower began to light up to the applause of everyone seated on the lawn n front of it.  At 11:00 it started to sparkle, adding to the magic of that is Paris.  I cannot wait to come back here and climb to the top.  That is one of the top three things I want to do in Europe.  I am so excited for my stay in this city.  It is going to be amazing!