Wednesday after lunch with Cyril, I did some work at the hotel while Maggie and Sue went to Montparnasse in the Latin Quarter to find the famous catacombs and to have a few beers. After a very refreshing few minutes on my back (for a nap, of course), I struck out on my own in the city to find some of my people. Rather the place my people congregate, as you can't swing a hand-beaded Chanel clutch without hitting at least three queens around here.
I carefully studied several websites with information on gay locales and cross checked them with my map. It quickly became clear that La Marais is the queer epicenter of Paris. I stuffed the map in my pocket, zipped up my coat, and headed for Rue de la Temple which runs right through Ground Homo.
The delicious scent of fresh bread and pastries started to give way to the musky smell of cologne mixed with desire, and the high-end clothing storefronts morphed into quaint shops whose windows were filled with plastic male torsos adorned with the latest underwear trends. Soft, relaxing music was replaced by the thump-thump of club remixes. I had arrived.
Having written down a list of intriguing venues as described online (several having * by their name...a note to myself about clubs with special activities), I immediately saw La Friendly. My note said "small and friendly" which I guess is a self-fulfilling prophesy. I was greeted at the entrance by a gentleman and lady standing at the door smoking. The lady insisted I speak English to her so she could figure out what part of the US I was from. Amazingly she deduced upper western.
The bar is literally one bar. It's not more than 50 square feet with enough room for stools at the bar and only one person standing behind them. It made for an interesting walk to the bathroom at the end of the bar. Everyone seemed nice enough though I didn't have many conversations. I expected an older crowd but I was on the upper ranges of those that were present that night.
After one beer, Sue texted saying they were coming to meet me in La Marais for dinner so I waited at the corner of Rue de Temple and Rue de Rivoli. At the intersection is a beautiful old hotel called the De Ville. After several phone calls and 45 minutes, they finally appeared. Seems they were a block away and asked for directions only to be told the opposite of where the hotel was. I'm quite sure bystanders thought I was for sale since I kept pacing up and down the street, then leaning against the buildings, etc. When they approached, Maggie saw me and squealed my name across the street and waved with what seemed like her whole body. Oy. I just about turned and disappeared into the night.
We found a cute cafe and ordered dinner. I had the third croque madame of the trip. Can't get enough of them. We stopped by the hotel lobby on the way home for a night cap but couldn't stay out too late. The next day (Thursday) had potential to be a little strenuous with the meetings we had scheduled.
I was up and atta 'em (and I was Adam) in the lobby by 9:10, a few minutes past our scheduled meeting time. I called Sue and (correctly) deduced my call just then had woken her up. By 10, I was just getting up to go find my own way to breakfast. Just then Sue pops out of the elevator, less fresh than normal. Seems the bottle of wine proved too tempting in her room the night before.
We had quite a journey to the office. Our hotel was in central Paris to be close to the office where most of our meetings took place. The main headquarters for Euro/Havas are outside the city in a place called Suresnes past La Defense. It required a metro line as far as it would go and then another 20 minute cab ride. We arrived at 11:30. Thankfully our hosts were delayed and unconcerned of our late arrival.
After introductions and a quick catered luncheon, we got to the business at hand. It was quite nice meeting some of the people as I have worked with them for several years but never met them in person. One the guys from the US I had met through meetings in NYC. After about five hours of meetings led by a rather intense account manager, I wrapped up the meeting because we still had two more to meet with before the end of the day.
Another quick meeting with Cyril. Each time we cross sections of the office, we have to go down at least one floor to cross. Seems on Sunday night there was a big fire in the building that destroyed most of one floor and part of another. Everyone seemed quite vague about what happened but finally someone confessed that most believe a person was working late at the office and was smoking (a big no-no with the smoking ban). After finishing, they put the butt into the trash can which eventually caught fire. We walked through part of the damage and it was pretty bad. They were gutting both floors that were affected and you could still smell smoke.
Sue and Cyril on the patio.
The Seine and ships docked along the bank.
After meeting with Cyril, he took us to the roof and showed us the view of the Seine and surrounding area. Boats were parked in the river and could stay for up to a month before they had to leave to prove they were still float-worthy.
Then into a cab. Both Sue and I had "emergency" work problems hit as we got into the cab so we were furiously typing on our blackberrys. They weren't major issues but according to others, the globe was about to stop spinning suddenly, making everyone spill their tea. We rushed to the hotel room, each dealt with our issue, changed, and grabbed a taxi to meet another colleage, Charles, for dinner.
Charles was very kind to wait for us as it was 9pm by the time we arrived. We had an amazing meal that was called a large salad, but lettuce was a simple afterthought. Roasted potatoes, proscuitto, three kinds of cheese, an over-easy egg, etc. We were stuffed. Sadly we probably weren't the best of company because of the day's meetings. But it was good to spend time with Charles as we worked closely for several years and had not met before.
On the way to the taxi stand, Charles picked up a bike. Paris has instituted a new bike program where they have created bike stands all over the city. You rent one with a credit card for 1euro/hour and when you're finished, you just put it back in any available stall at any other bike location. They are very sturdy bikes and peddling makes the lights come on. There's even a little rrrring-rrrring bell for added pleasure. I rode Charles' bike for a few blocks and determined that was enough exercise for two weeks.
Back to the hotel. Maggie was nowhere to be found and it was 1:15am. Finally around 1:30 the poor girl pops into the hotel room almost in tears. Seems the subway stopped for the night in the left bank after her boat tour, and she had no euros for a taxi. Luckily she found a $20US bill in her pocket and persuaded a bartender to exchange the money for euros. Her eye still twitches when I bring it up.
This morning we were up and going. Everything went amazingly smooth to the airport except we got the one driver that doesn't take credit cards. The airports in Europe do an amazing job with confusing signage and few available services such as ATMs. I had to cross four halls and two floors to find an ATM.
We boarded our flight to Dubrovnik and had a good journey. I am now sitting in our apartment while she is laying on one of the beds. I will update more on Croatia later. Suffice it to say, I'm already in love with the place.
The road in front of our apartment.
