Paris 8e II

Right, so Ken and I decided to try to find something to eat.  I had called Andrew again to ask him where we went to eat the last time I was there (Paris).  We ended up just finding something close to our hotel.  It was kind of a cheesy café, but the food was decent.  I got a salad, half a baked herbed chicken, and a desert which I cannot remember, so it must not have been very good.  We went for a walk around afterwards and found an Irish pub called Brady’s.  We stopped in for a pint of Guinness, which was very creamy and yummy.  We retired and met for breakfast the next morning in the hotel restaurant.  We decided to go see La Chapelle and the Pantheon.  All public things were for free for all of Sunday for some reason, bonus.  Even the public toilets were free.  Ken and I walked back to the hotel from St. Michael, passing by the Louvre and lots of wonderful shopping.  I didn’t feel right to drag Ken into a store to do some shopping.

We rested for a little while back at the hotel and then met to go out for dinner.  We took the metro to Place Monge and walked up the street to the restaurant alley.  We decided on Le Pot de Terre.  They had a roasted rack of lamb on the plats du jour. The place was decorated like a medieval tavern probably would have looked.  The wait staff was very nice and also very casual.  We got there at about eight, and by nine the place was filled.  I started off with a creamed mussels casserole, the succulent lamb, and then fried ice cream with chocolate sauce.  And I had an espresso of course.  I wanted to try something different so I had a half bottle of Cotes du Rhone, rouge.  It was very strong and full bodied.  It went well with the lamb.  We tried to get a pint at the Irish pub but it was closed.  I was dreading what we were to do the next day.

We met for breakfast at seven.  We were on the road to Poissy where our French office is located by seven thirty.  I missed the correct turn again on the way out of the city in the direction of La Defense.  It was ok though because we could drive due north and get there easily.  We got the part fixed and balanced with the help of some nice people from our French office.  I spoke with Sebastien no. 3 again for a couple of minutes and then we took off for Lardy.  I was getting pretty good at navigating by then, but my PDA overall was an invaluable tool while in France.  We made it to Lardy by about five o’clock to install the new flange.  Andy was there waiting for us.  I got the hot plate set up immediately and then got everything else ready.  One by one, the Clemmesy and Renault guys all showed up to look at our crude but highly effective equipment.  They were making jokes like asking if I was really going to cook them soup or something.

They all acted like they had never experienced a piece of steel being heated to expand it so it can be shrunk onto a larger piece of steel.  The moment of truth came in about an hour of heating.  It slid on nicely for something heated to 625 degrees F.  In an instant it had cooled enough to shrink onto the shaft.  The French guys were amazed at how quickly it happened.  If you are not quick enough, it will cool before it goes on all the way, which is a bad, bad thing.  I was lucky though, it went perfect.  We checked the run outs and they were within tolerance.  The customer and his entourage were pleased and all promptly left.  We packed up and left.  We went to dinner at a really tacky Thai restaurant.  Afterwards Ken and I drove back to Paris to our hotel.  We walked to Brady’s to get a couple of celebratory pints of Guinness.

I went down to breakfast and met up with Ken after I finished eating.  We chatted for a little while in the lobby while he waited for his shuttle to the airport.  After he left I checked out and loaded my bags into the car.  That done, I went back across the street to Monoprix to buy some wine and cheese.  I went crazy and bought a bottle of Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone rouge, Cotes du Rhone Rose, two Bordeaux’s, a Medoc, and a Chardonnay.  I also bought some nice Cheddar cheese.  I bought some fashion mags and a couple of two euro scarf/shalls from the sidewalk vendors.  I then left for home.  The BMW I was driving was like floating on a cloud.  That is such a nice car.  I made it home last night at about 8p.  I didn’t want to leave.  I want to learn French and move to Paris.  I have decided that the French lifestyle suits me better than the Germans.