Friday March 9

I arrived in Paris around 530 am but didn’t get to customs until around 6:20. It seemed like we taxied to Switzerland. But customs was unbelievably brief and I found myself with a solid six hours before my next flight. So I decided to go with my plan to explore the city. The subway connected directly to the Airport. It took me longer than it should have to buy a ticket and then I got on the Blue line to downtown.

The Blue line does not show the best face of Paris. Lots of trash, rail yards, industry and squatter communities (but a lovely sunrise). Surprisingly, until the downtown stops most of the train patrons were non-Anglos. It took about 40 minutes to get to a stop that looks pretty centrally located. I did no research for this little side excursion, so I was winging it. I wanted to get to the river and start from there...But I begin walking north instead of south and ended up in a sort or red light district (or was it just a standard business district in Europe?). I soon figured out my mistake, but not before I found a nice lady in a bread shop who sold me an éclair.

I finally made it to the river. You could see a lot of Paris from there. The Eifel tower, Notre Dame and a couple of other big buildings that looked important. I liked the River. There is a water level pathway that you could jog or bike on. But my overall take on Paris is that it is not nearly as nice or romantic as London. At least the river neighborhoods.

I walked around a while, just trying to ingest the spirit of the city. That is kind of dramatic language for why I like visiting new cities. I like seeing the built and natural environments that surround people and think about their history and imagine how these things affect the city culturally and spiritually.

Finally I tried to make good on the only ‘when in Paris’ suggestion I got…a Nutella crepe. Unfortunately, it was pushing 10:00 and Paris was not yet really open. I searched St. Michaels square for the object of my quest. There were lots of little crepe shops (some with people in them) just none of them were open. I finally settled on a café and had a chocolate crepe (not quite the same but sort of).

So something I observed about the French. In the cafés, they would often just sit. Whether they were smoking a cigarette, drinking their coffee or done with their meal. I observed several Parisians just sitting. This does not fit with the culture of efficiency, marketing stimulants on the go of our corporate coffee culture. I tried just sitting there. Three minutes later or so I was reading my book.

I bought a ticket for the Blue line (at a different stop than I got off at – which I was proud of) but accidentally got on the high speed East West commuter instead. This was stressful. I did meet a couple of nice guys from Florida, though. So far in my trip it seems like strangers are encouraging and thankful when they hear about my plans in Kabul.

I finally got on the Blue line. I have to say that the Paris subway is by far the most confusing I have tried to figure out recently. The different language thing doesn’t help…but it is just poorly marked.

I got back to the Airport with plenty of time to spare, only when I got to the lobby the police were stopping everyone. We waited for 20 minutes and the cops apparently explained the situation to everyone to their satisfaction in French. Then a whistle blew and an explosion went off in the information booth on the next floor up but in sight. Then they let us go. I have no idea what exploded.

The part of Paris airport that is finished is really nice. I had a salami and pickle baguette and went to a shop to get a drink. I met John Hazelton in the drink shop, the guy I am going to be teaching with. John’s a really good guy. We met at an HEC class a while before I worked there and went to a Giants game together. He’s spent over 10 months in Afghanistan during two trips. When no one at HEC wanted to teach with me we called John.

The next leg was Paris to Dubai on Air France, 6.5 hours. This was a really nice flight. I got to choose a movie, the seats were comfortable and the food was excellent. I saw Stranger than Fiction and really enjoyed it. There is something about Will Ferrell that I really like despite my better judgment. It is almost like he has an innocent likeability that most of the other comedians lack. Maybe he is less cynical. This was also the first movie I’ve seen with Maggie Gyllenhall in it and she stole every scene she was in. For the rest of the flight I read a History of the Middle East. It’s pretty good.

When we reached Dubai the government had hired a handling service to move us through customs and get us a ride. I guess this is helpful for some, but John and I agreed that we could have gotten from plane to hotel in about half the time (and we’re sure less money). There was a lot of waiting.

The hotel was one of the nicest I’ve been in. Foot for foot, Dubai is one of the richest places in the world because of an unusually high concentration of oil money. But there are still signs of poverty everywhere you look. This is perhaps the greatest contrast I’ve seen.

John and I check in and then got beers at the bar. There was a live band and the whole bar seemed to be staffed by east Asians. I guess that is how you have a bar in the middle east.