A Very Welcome Sight

I arrived in Paris today for a work meeting that lasts until the end of the week. This is actually turning into something of a habit as I was in Paris from Tuesday to Friday last week for a meeting related to another project I'm working on. If this week is anything like last week then there won't be much to blog about as I won't get to do any sight seeing of any kind. Having said that I did think the sight that greeted me when I got to my hotel room today was worth blogging about.

When traveling in mainland Europe I'm always annoyed by the fact that hotels never seem to provide coffee making facilities in the rooms. This is common in the UK, but I've almost never seen it anywhere else. So imagine my surprise, and delight, when I found a kettle and coffee in my room. Mind you I guess this means the rest of the week will be downhill from here!

Contes d'un buveur français de café

Thanks to Rob for spotting this -- pure genius! Hopefully I got the French title right (it should mean Tales from a French Coffee Drinker) but blame Babel Fish if I didn't as my French only extends as far as hello and thank you.

Cathédrale Saint Andre

Here is the last photo from my short trip to Bordeaux. I did take some others but nothing really worth posting here. Anyway this is the Cathédral Saint Andre taken from in front of the town hall and right next to a café which served excellent ice creams!

Continental Breakfast

Now I like cooked breakfasts, but being in France I was resigned to the idea of having only a continental breakfast. To make matters worse the hotel in which I am staying doesn't do any food at all.

To get to the meeting we have to catch a tram from one of the main squares, at which there is a very nice patisserie. So breakfast was orange juice, black coffee, pain au chocolat and pain au rasin -- all for just €3.50.

Bordeaux

I'm in Bordeaux (no I'm not swimming in wine before any of you start thinking I'm weirder than I actually am). Yet again I'm away from home in a nice city simply to work. Fortunately we arrived quite early this afternoon so I managed to wonder around a little bit. Among other things I saw the Place de la Bourse and the Mirror D'Eau right on the bank of the river Garonne.