We’re Not in Paris Anymore

When I was in Paris last month I stayed in a hotel walking distance to the Eiffel tower. While that was great because it allowed me to explore the city on my one day/night off, my commute to work was about an hour each way. Considering I am only staying two days this trip I decided to stay in a hotel closer to work. The office is in a town called Lisses, and I am staying about 10minutes away at the Best Western Etiolles which is located on a golf course. I’m definitely not in the city of Paris anymore! The hotel is actually a collection of bungalows and the rooms are very spacious and super quiet! In my hotel in Paris the people in the room above me were having a dance party at 2am, but here it's so quiet I could hear a pin drop. There is a lake and golf course view out my bay window, but sadly no room service. As I discovered during my last solo visit, I’m not a fan of eating alone in a restaurant so I’d prefer room service when possible.

The staff that I’ve met do not speak any English, which made my visit to the front desk to tell them my toilet was running, so much so that I couldn’t even flush it, pretty entertaining to anyone watching. The two of us are using hand motions and even walked into the ladies bathroom in the lobby thinking if I could point to an actual toilet she would understand what I was saying. This didn’t really work so she finally agreed to come with me to my room. After 10minutes of fiddling with gadgets, she also gave up and put the lid back on. A few minutes went by while we just stood there looking at each other and back at the toilet, and suddenly we realized the bowl was filling up! Crisis averted, I smile and say “merci!!” (one of 5 words I know in French. Okay, 3 words I know in French), and I’m back to finishing up more work while listening to French Family guy in the background.

Oh, this was my coffee up I used in the office. You can’t really tell from the picture but its about the height of a 3 shot shotglass and a little wider. And it packs as much caffeine as 3 coffees back home! The candy next to it was a Christmas Santa made of marshmallows on a stick that someone was handing out at the office. Not sure why.



Tomorrow it’s off to Barcelona; can't wait for paella and tapas!! And a language I know more of three words of!