06/16/12: Arrival in Paris

The trip was part business, part vacation. I had a one-day work-related event on Monday, where I got to blab about software development and delivery with clients, plus a client meeting the following day. It was a great opportunity to tarry few more days afterwards, so off we went.

On the way from Charles De Gaulle airport, our cab passed the most memorably-named hotel in France, Mr. Bed City. If you're going to pander to the English-speaking traveler, you might as well go all the way.

While we could have stayed at the convention hotel, we opted instead to stay at different lodgings nearby. The Villa Montparnasse was cheaper, and a lot less corporate, so it was an easy pick.

The hotel has an African theme. Or, to be more accurate, African touches. A display case has African figurines. The back of the elevator is glass, and the wall behind it is painted to look like a tree stretching from floor to floor, on which monkeys are playing.

Not related to Africa at all, the hotel had the coolest room keys ever.

Both Kathleen and I were not familiar with the neighborhood, in the 14th arrondissement, near the Denfert-Rochereau Metro station. It's a lot less touristy than other parts of Paris where we've stayed, even when we've rented an apartment. (That's how we visited Paris in the past: stay a couple of weeks, rent an apartment instead of a hotel room, and live like Parisians as much as possible for the time available. If you want to learn about Paris, I can't recommend this approach enough.)

Our room overlooked the Montparnasse Cemetery. More on that very interesting landmark later. For views outside of our window, click here, here, and here.

There wasn't much to do on our first day, other than get settled in, eat, and try to adjust to the time zone difference.