Holy Cow Tractor Pulling Team

Monday, January 26, 2004

Bandit Update
We just got the results of Bandit's latest blood work, and we is all better. So, he is not completely off steroids and hopefully his hair will grow in soon from where he was shaved for his ultrasound.

Monday, January 19, 2004

Paris, France
I flew to Paris on the 11th and returned on the 18th. I went, representing my company, with 2 system engineers from our client's company, to their parent company on the outskirts of Paris. The purpose of the trip was to learn about an automotive lighting project we are working on jointly. The technology is new here is the US, but is more mature in Europe, so we went to learn from the successes and failures of the European car makers.

We left Sunday afternoon, flew all night and arrived about 6:00 AM in Paris. None of us got much, if any, sleep on the plane, so we were quite tired when we arrived. Our first adventure was the cab ride to our hotel. That was probably the single most terrifying event of my life, and it lasted over an hour. It was 7 when we left the airport, it was raining, and we were in a car about the size of a Saturn Wagon, which actually is a big car for Paris. We are screaming along at 100-120 Km/hr, on a three lane highway much like a typical American interstate. Lane markings are merely suggestions. The driver only two positions for the gas and brake pedals, off and pressed to the floor. Our heads were just snapped from from to back as he weaved in and out of traffic. Finally, we reached our exit and I was happy, thinking once we got into the city, the traffic situation would improve. Here is what we encountered next. Three roads all intersected each other under the interstate, along the the entrance and exit ramps. So, they put in a traffic circle. That gives you 10 roads all coming into this circle, the 6 from the 3 roads, and the 4 ramps from the interstate. Now, I have driven traffic circles here in the US and they work pretty well. The two I encounter most often are Angola, IN and Greenville, OH, both on the way to tractor pulls and both in the big truck. I never did figure out this thing. First of all, it was cobblestone, as most of the traffic circles seem to be. Next it was 4 lanes wide, but no lane markings. There were random traffic lights scattered around and when they turned red, some cars stopped and others didn't. I never did figure out which traffic lights you needed to look at. More or less cars traveled counter-clockwise, but some also cut across the circle. It was just nuts. I am glad I never had to drive while I was there.

Obviously, We were there to work, and that made up a significant portion of our time, but we did get to get out a be a tourist a little. On Tuesday, a new engineer named Laurent took us to the tourist part of Paris. We strolled long Champs-Elysees and walked around the Arch de Triumph and took in a traditional French dinner. Let me say a couple things about eating. First it is very expensive. Second, to the French, eating is more than just nourishment for you body, it is an event. Most meals consisted of three or more courses and a typical dinner at the local mom and pop type diner lasted 2 to 2 1/2 hours. A note about French cuisine. Their desserts are fantastic, but the entree (appetizer) and plat (entree) were similar to what you would eat here. In addition to the meats we eat here, throw in rabbit, veal, and lamb. It was prepared a little different and maybe some new combinations, like spaghetti with salmon in sauce, but it wasn't really that different from the US. I was expecting more of a change like in Mexico or Japan or something like that.

On Friday, some other employees took us out. One was a stylist, which is the artist that draws the sketches of new cars, and the other a mechanical engineer. They drove us around and we saw most of the sites. We walked around the Bastile, then parked near Notre Dame and ate dinner there. Finally, we ended up at the Eiffel tower. Starting in 2000, at the top of the hour, they turn off the lights on the tower and turn on thousands of strobe lights that cover the tower for 10 minutes. We were standing under the tower at 1 AM when the last show of the day started. What an incredible site.

Saturday, the three of us went back downtown and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. One thing that struck me is that, even if you have never been to Paris, you know what the Eiffel Tower looks like. When you see it in person, it still just looks like that. I guess I was a little disappointed, thinking somehow seeing it in person would be cooler. However, when you get up close, it is really really huge. You can't capture that on film. The view from the top is also really neat. We chose to take the stairs to the second level and the elevator to the top from there. The line for the elevator looked to be about a hour wait and the stairs were just a few minutes. The second elevator only took about 15 minutes in line. One cool thing that did happen is while I was up on top. I was just looking around and this guy a few people in front of me dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes!

After that, we did some shopping. We were there for the final week of soldes, or sales. Twice a year all of the stores have big sales with most things being marked 30-70% off. The stores were packed and really not my cup of tea, especially with the language barrier (none of us speak French).

We grabbed a bite to eat and then just wandered around. We probably walked 3 or 4 miles and just walked towards things that were lit up or looked cool. We walked through the Louvre, along the Seine, we saw the Opera house, the Georges Pompideau, and lots of little streets with neighborhood bars and so forth. I will say, Paris is a pretty cool city just to walk around and observe. Unfortunately, most the the museums were closed when we were out and about and most of our pictures are at night, but it was still cool.

General opinions of France and the French. I was told when I left that the French hate Americans and they will treat us badly. I did see a fair amount of anti-American sentiment, but aimed at our country or at Bush, and not directed directly at me. But, there is a fair amount of anti-French sentiment here, so I guess I can't say that was unexpected. I can't say that I really felt anything directed towards me personally. I always felt safe. On occasion, we did receive, probably, some insults, or something, but I think that was mostly due to being Ugly Americans. After all, I don't speak their language or understand their customs, so I would occasionally be somewhere I shouldn't or couldn't ask or answer a question, because I can't understand the language, but that is my fault. I admit, I am rude to foreigners that don't speak English in this country, and I guess I can't expect any different from them.

Traffic. Totally Nuts. But, I will say this. They drive very small cars and drive very aggressively, but they are also courteous. They seem to obey traffic lights. When the light turns yellow, the cars stop. I never saw anyone run a red light. They also drive very close together and if some doesn't see someone else, and receives a toot of the horn, it is taken as a polite warning that avoided an accident and not a catilyst for road rage as here in the states.

The flight back was also uneventful. I will say to two Air France flights I had were very nice. The Delta flight from Cincinnati back to Indianapolis was nothing to write home about.

Blog Archives

June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
November 2005
December 2005
February 2006
April 2006
May 2006
July 2006
August 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008