On our second full day in Paris, we started by heading out west of town to the modern-day financial district, la Defense. There, we toured the 5-start Sofitel Paris hotel in the district, which caters to financial customers during the week and tourists during the weekend. Our guide's name was difficult to catch, but I believe he said Dior. He was the Director of Sales for the Sofitel, having previously worked at their branches in London and Los Angeles. Dior gave us a very nice, personalized tour of the facility, starting with background information on the hotel and its related brands while we talked in the library. Then he showed us two guest rooms: one luxury, one mini-suite. Finally, we were shown the conference room facilities, where we got to sit down for some refreshments and go through a very detailed Q&A session. In addition, we met the general manager of the hotel, who was starting his first day on location, newly arrived from the branch in New York City.
The visit was very interesting, and I would rank it up there with the winery tour, just below that of the Claas factory visit. We learned a lot about this large worldwide hotel chain that is popular throughout Europe, North Africa, and China, with a small presence in the U.S. Sofitel is their luxury brand, built for business travelers, and the three pillars they stand on are interior design, food, and French culture (the brand is based in France). Interestingly, he told us that the only language requirement for any of their hotels worldwide is English. Even here in France, employees must know English and are not required to speak French. This is a concept that keeps coming up in our visits- I know how often English is spoken around the world, but this trip has really given me perspective into how far along English has gotten towards becoming a true universal language. In addition, our instructor asked the director if he would be willing to stereotype his clientele to give us an idea for how different cultures interact within the industry. He said that U.S. business travelers are more or less ideal clients. American tourists on the weekends ask a lot of questions but don't provide many headaches. Visitors from the middle east, however, are used to having unlimited amounts of service in hotels (you snap your fingers and 6 people come running was the example), and have difficulty adjusting to the European model (This hotel only staffs 100 people), so they frequently express frustration with the level of service even in a 5 star establishment. Finally, he admitted their biggest headaches come from Chinese clients, who do not know European culture or customs at all, and are very loud and demanding.
After the hotel visit, we walked through the la Defense district and saw all the modern financial buildings and businesspeople going about their day. I really enjoyed seeing this scene, because it showed me what a modern, vibrant metropolitan city Paris still is today, outside of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, the berets, moustaches, cigarettes and baguettes. In fact, I have enjoyed seeing that aspect in every city we have gone to. Amsterdam is Amsterdam and is unique unto itself, but outside of the canal district you can see the 21st century going about its business. The same went for Bremen, for Hamburg, Cologne, Brussels, and now Paris. All of these big cities that depend on tourism, but are also modern places where people live, work, and experience life on their own accord. They all provided the counterpunch to the disappointment that I experienced in Bruges.
We came back to the hotel to change out of our business clothes and grab lunch. I talked such a big game about Pret a Manger that Katie, Shelby, Brooke, and Mark were all willing to walk the mile from the hotel with me to grab sandwiches and soup for lunch there. They all told me how good it was- converts officially recruited!
After lunch we headed back into town and saw the Louvre! It was an experience just getting into the building. We came in from the street through the basement. It felt like we were rushing through a shopping mall until we turned a corner and suddenly came upon I.M. Pei's famous inverted pyramid. We got our tickets and all went in as a group. The idea was to get everyone in to see the Mona Lisa, and then we could split up from there. We started pushing through the crowd, and Sasha quickly asked me to take charge of the navigation through the labyrinth of rooms. I got us into the right wing, up two flights of stairs, and down the grand gallery quickly, until pretty soon we were in the room with the mysterious painting of da Vinci. Seeing the painting was wonderful, but I have to admit I was disappointed by the atmosphere. There are at least a hundred people in the room at a time, all pushing and jostling with one another to get as close to the painting as possible, with no regard for anyone else, and of course now everyone wants a selfie with her. I did not try to get too close, just admiring the masterpiece as best I could from around 10 meters back. Escaping from the room did not provide much relief, because the grand gallery outside was just as crowded. I actually wish the Louvre were more like the Van Gogh museum, where photography is forbidden and the demeanor of the crowd is much more subdued and respectful.
I joined up with a few others and we headed for the second floor, with a brief stop to see the Venus de Milo. Once we got all the way upstairs we found a better museum experience: many fewer people because the most famous pieces were not on this floor. We wandered for awhile through the French 18th and 19th century art, then began to move on towards that of the Germans and Dutch. Someone in our group really wanted to find art by Monet, and we were surprised to learn that the Louvre only has three pieces. We then dropped down a floor and saw the preserved apartments of Napoleon III in the north wing. By this time we had been in the museum for two hours, and most of the people in my group had had enough, and they all broke off to head out and go back up to Montmartre: some of them wanted to have a painting of themselves done and had not had time the day before. I stayed in the museum for another hour until I was kicked out at 6 when they closed. I managed to see much of the Greek and Roman antiquities departments, the Law Code of Hammurabi, and the medieval foundations of the Louvre itself. I very much enjoyed my visit.
On my own after leaving the Louvre, I did a little window shopping at the stores across the street, along the Rue de Rivoli, and then headed back to the hotel. Not being hungry, I skipped dinner and talked to Katherine for awhile. Then I joined some of the others down at the outdoor patio behind the hotel for a little wine and music. Once it got dark we hopped on the metro and went back down to the Eiffel Tower. We packed some wine and cigars with us, and sat out on the grass in the park just outside the tower talking and listening to music. We were far from the only people with this idea- it was very busy. Not nearly so busy as the fourth of July, but a similar environment. We stayed for a little over an hour, saw the light show the tower put on at midnight, and headed back at 12:30. We were a little concerned that we missed the last subway ride of the night when we got to the platform for our connecting train and found it all dark with no people, but a train did come by a few minutes later and we made it back safe and sound.
We have now seen most of the "sights" we came to see, and get to spend our last few days here simply enjoying Paris as it comes to us.
I joined up with a few others and we headed for the second floor, with a brief stop to see the Venus de Milo. Once we got all the way upstairs we found a better museum experience: many fewer people because the most famous pieces were not on this floor. We wandered for awhile through the French 18th and 19th century art, then began to move on towards that of the Germans and Dutch. Someone in our group really wanted to find art by Monet, and we were surprised to learn that the Louvre only has three pieces. We then dropped down a floor and saw the preserved apartments of Napoleon III in the north wing. By this time we had been in the museum for two hours, and most of the people in my group had had enough, and they all broke off to head out and go back up to Montmartre: some of them wanted to have a painting of themselves done and had not had time the day before. I stayed in the museum for another hour until I was kicked out at 6 when they closed. I managed to see much of the Greek and Roman antiquities departments, the Law Code of Hammurabi, and the medieval foundations of the Louvre itself. I very much enjoyed my visit.
On my own after leaving the Louvre, I did a little window shopping at the stores across the street, along the Rue de Rivoli, and then headed back to the hotel. Not being hungry, I skipped dinner and talked to Katherine for awhile. Then I joined some of the others down at the outdoor patio behind the hotel for a little wine and music. Once it got dark we hopped on the metro and went back down to the Eiffel Tower. We packed some wine and cigars with us, and sat out on the grass in the park just outside the tower talking and listening to music. We were far from the only people with this idea- it was very busy. Not nearly so busy as the fourth of July, but a similar environment. We stayed for a little over an hour, saw the light show the tower put on at midnight, and headed back at 12:30. We were a little concerned that we missed the last subway ride of the night when we got to the platform for our connecting train and found it all dark with no people, but a train did come by a few minutes later and we made it back safe and sound.
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