Adventures in France...so far

I arrived in France on Sunday evening-- about 5:30 pm Toulouse time, which is about 8:30 am Reno time, after leaving at ~5:00 pm (but getting to the airport about 2:30 pm for my delayed flight) on Saturday. When I got on the plane for the long leg from Phoenix to airport, I was relieved to find out that the people I was sitting next to weren't fat, only to find out later that they wouldn't shut the hell up during the red eye flight, so I was quite exhausted when I got here.

Since the sun doesn't set until 9:30 pm, though, I decided to explore the city a little bit. Here are the first few pictures I took since arriving in France. Of course, the classic long narrow street...first photo since arriving. And a picture of the Ponte Neuf.

Monday I didn't have to conference, so I got up early in the morning to go for a run, and then wandered about the city for at least 5 hours. Nothing seemed to be open, and I learned later that Monday was an "optional" holiday. Why call it optional? Who would choose not to have a holiday? So, I saw pretty much the same sights as the night previous. The river, the capitole and a church.
Church tower...went inside, it was quite nice.
The salles les illustrales (something like that, anyway) at the Capitole.

After 5 hours of walking (plus the other running time), I was quite frustrated that I didn't have a bike to get around on. Even more frustrating (but actually rather cool if I had been able to use them) was that fact that these bike rental stations are about every 3-5 blocks, and you (maybe, but not me) can rent a bike for about 1/2 euro an hour.
Tuesday, the conferencing started. Since the city wasn't on holiday anymore, it was hustling and bustling. There was a large farmers market on my way to the conference center, and the massive piles of cherries and peaches were mouthwateringly tempting.
The conference schedule was quite relaxed compare to other conferences I've been to. It went something like this : Start 9 am for 1 hour of keynote sessions. Coffee break from 10-11 am. 11am- 12:30 pm, parallel breakout sessions, 3 speakers each for 20 minutes w/ 10 minutes of questions. No body ever ran over. 12:30-2:30-- lunch. Yes, a two hour lunch which consisted of a first course (generally some unrecognizable pate looking things with crab cake like items...not made out of crab) main course (usually risotto rice with some type of meat-- chicken or calamari, one day) and dessert (and each one was delicious). Of course, wine is served with lunch, so we must have coffee afterward, too, to stay away through the afternoon sessions). 2-3:30-- parallel sessions w/ 3 speakers. 3:30 to 4:30, another 1 hour coffee break. 4:30-6, parallel sessions. In total, thats 4 hours of break times and 5 hours of talks.) Tuesday night the group went to the Salle des illustres in the Capitole for a cocktail...same room I thought was perhaps a museum before. It was quite cool to sip champagne among the paintings and statues. Well, it would've been cool if it hadn't been so hot in the room. People bolted out of there quickly, which was unfortunate.

Wednesday, I had to chair a session and give a talk. Both of which went nicely, I think. Wednesday evening, the group headed to the Chauteux de Merville for a dinner.

The place even had a labyrinthe, complete with mosquites is you got lost wandering around for too long. The dinner was quite nice, but much of the same. First course was a crab-cake like thing made out of vegetables with some type of pate thing on top. Complete with a large cheese cracker that tasted like a cheese nip. The main course was duck with a small dish of purple potatoes. I suppose they could have been something other than potatoes, but the texture was the same so I didn't eat them,regardless. Dessert was....nothing short of spectacular. It was a rasperry whip cream type thing, a giant purple oreo that looked or tasted nothing like an oreo, and a creamy, fluffy chocalte frostingy type thing with a piece of rice delicious chocolate on top. Perhaps you don't get the idea, but its probably for the best because you would really want some if you could.

Of course, the journey description cannot be complete without a picture of the view out my window, and the view into the....ahem, bathroom. I still have yet to use a bidet. Perhaps one day I will fall in love, but a well used one in a hotel room will not be my first bidet-love.


Tomorrow, however, the real adventure begins. I was able to book a trip over to the mountains ( the Pyranees) for a mountain bike trip. Can't wait! I'm glad I get to enjoy the outdoors while I'm here. I guess I'm definitely not made to be a city person, because I would definitely be ready to leave already if I didn't have this lined up for tomorrow.

Got to get some sleep