Paris

While majority of the people are still enjoying the extended Christmas/New Year holiday, I already back to full force on Wednesday 3^rd Jan.  

It was thrilled to be in Paris again, especially in the city itself and not at the greater region.  Work wise was stressful especially hard to manage the meetings when most of the side conversations were taken place in French.  It is almost impossible to find any English word at the coffee machine, at the canteen or anywhere outside airport.

My French colleague has been very hospitable; she really hosted me and gave me the true insights of the real Parisian lifestyle. Anouk invited me to her apartment for a glass of wine and foie gras experience.  Then we embarked for the real Parisian dining experience, this is an experience that a tourist would never sample.  We went to this restaurant and had our fine cuisine (as ever in any Parisian restaurant).  We ended our dinner with the French cheese palette and I tasted the stinkiest cheese, but when it combines with sweet fig paste, the taste became heavenly.  It is so complicated and yet so enjoyable.

After the dinner, we went to a club which one can only get in through special invitation. The event is only meant for working professional in Paris.  It started at 7pm and will end by 2am so that every one can get some rest and back to work the next day.  My favorite French sentence of the night was 'parlez vous anglais?' or rather ‘do you speak English?’.  Thankfully most people I met do speak reasonable English which is kind of logical as this is a melting pot for working professional.

The whole event took place at the side streets of Avenue des Champs Élysées, in fact very close Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile as pictured.