Paris Day 1
We arrived by train in Paris just after 10am, then had quite a bit of difficulty locating the tourism bureau in the train station. We needed to go there to buy 5 day unlimited metro passes (they can be purchased in the vending machines too, but they'll apparently only give you the ticket, not the case with your name on it that you are legally obliged to carry with it). We found it, got our tickets, and arrived with no trouble at our hotel at 11am. Check-in was 2pm and they would not let us check-in any earlier than that, so we left our suitcase with them and then headed off for some much needed coffee (only four hours of sleep the previous night!). We worked for a half hour, then found a brasserie to have lunch.
Our next stop was the Institut Henri Poincaré at 2pm, where I was meeting Wolfgang to discuss a couple problems. We had a very, very productive meeting for four hours. Christian left half-way through to walk up to the Sorbonne where he met with one of his collaborators here for two hours. Then he rejoined me and Wolfgang and the three of us swung back to the hotel and checked in finally. Then dinner, with much needed alcohol and food. We found an Italian restaurant where we had home-made salmon ravioli with a strong shrimp sauce, schiafonni (jumbo ravioli filled with spinach and cheese), terrine of scallops, and a good wine. We bid Wolfgang adieu and headed back to the hotel to relax.
The hotel (Hotel Allegro) is nice and in its biggest surprise, has free wifi in the rooms. We were totally prepared to pay 10 euros a day for access. It's also one of the largest hotel rooms either of us have ever stayed in in France. However, it hasn't exactly been a problem-free stay (how could it? This is a Parisian hotel!) When we plugged in the TV last night, we shorted the fuse for the entire floor. The sink in the bathroom drains extremely slowly. And this morning we had a lot of trouble getting the shower to work. Oh well, it's manageable.
Our next stop was the Institut Henri Poincaré at 2pm, where I was meeting Wolfgang to discuss a couple problems. We had a very, very productive meeting for four hours. Christian left half-way through to walk up to the Sorbonne where he met with one of his collaborators here for two hours. Then he rejoined me and Wolfgang and the three of us swung back to the hotel and checked in finally. Then dinner, with much needed alcohol and food. We found an Italian restaurant where we had home-made salmon ravioli with a strong shrimp sauce, schiafonni (jumbo ravioli filled with spinach and cheese), terrine of scallops, and a good wine. We bid Wolfgang adieu and headed back to the hotel to relax.
The hotel (Hotel Allegro) is nice and in its biggest surprise, has free wifi in the rooms. We were totally prepared to pay 10 euros a day for access. It's also one of the largest hotel rooms either of us have ever stayed in in France. However, it hasn't exactly been a problem-free stay (how could it? This is a Parisian hotel!) When we plugged in the TV last night, we shorted the fuse for the entire floor. The sink in the bathroom drains extremely slowly. And this morning we had a lot of trouble getting the shower to work. Oh well, it's manageable.