So work brought me to Paris & Berlin. . .: A city with a different vibe

I flew back to Paris over the weekend of the horrific events that took place Nov. 13th. Thank you to everyone that sent messages checking in and sending their thoughts. I was lucky enough to not be in the city and everyone I know is ok. I've heard from many of you since asking what's it like now in Paris. While the city definitely has a different vibe to it, people are trying to live life as normally as one can under such circumstances. It also helps if you don't constantly watch the news like it seems many of you are.

I have to admit that since I've only been back a week, I haven't ventured far from where I live though I have been out every evening after work :). I also took the chance to check out the Eiffel Tower all lit up in the French flag colours - it looked amazing!

The normal view from my office

My workplace is under much higher security than normal but then we regularly look out the window and see the military hanging out because some head of state is visiting . . . so not totally out of the norm for us. On Nov 30th our week of meetings start and registration numbers are down, no doubt due to the situation. It also marks the beginning of the COP21 so the city will be an interesting place but hopefully a peaceful one.

To lighten up the post a little, and offer a little homage to the city I love, I thought I would add some pics that never make the blog because they are just random evenings out with friends.

The exclusive wine and cheese

The social association at work organizes two wine cheeses a year at work. The last one sold out in 9 minutes so most of us didn't get tickets. As such, we organized our own exclusive wine and cheese. We headed to O Chateau in the first.

A flight of Bordeaux's with my colleague trying to not be in the picture :)

The List

We have a list of restaurants and pubs we want to try out in the city mostly to try eat food that isn't just French. We've been for dumplings, schezuan, sushi, mexican and chinese hotpot so far. This week is going to be thai. The cambodian restaurant that was attacked was on our list, we've decided to leave it as a reminder. . .

Here are some of the places we've been:

My first office mate enjoying the stench of garbage in the 2nd as we enjoy a pint at a place across the street from one our list because the other pub was full :(