October 2, 2014
Sacré-Cœur – mon Dieu!
Next stop – France.
Here we were celebrating the 10th b-day of the KL France office. The goings-on deserve a post of their own really. For now though, it’s down the Champs-Élysées and onwards for some speedy surveying of the familiar spectacular Parisian places of interest I never tire of checking out…
My top-three fave places in Paris are Notre Dame, the National Museum of Modern Art in the Pompidou Center, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. My top-four would see the addition of Sacré-Cœur – from where the views of the capital at dusk in good weather are just fantastique… Sacré-Cœur – oh, mon Dieu!
/// Incidentally, it’s thanks to Georges Pompidou that contemporary France is both so technologically advanced and progressive in general. Read all about it here. Quite a guy!
So anyway, here we were, with a day to spare in the French capital. It meant only one thing: Time for my preferred Parisian promenade…
I know the route like the back of my hand: The Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs-Élysées, past the Louvre (just past; we didn’t have the week needed for going inside), to Notre Dame (and preferably going up it), on to the metro and to the Trocadéro station to get to see the Eiffel Tower from the best vantage point, then of course up the tower – preferably at first on the steps, then to the very top in the lift. C’est la route!
The view from the top of the the Arc de Triomphe is simply formidable!
In the Renault showroom on the Champs-Élysées. A Caterham painted green. What are they hinting at?
I always used to wonder what folks were doing up on these marble blocks in the square of the Louvre – with a hand up to one side like this. Some kinda miming thing?
Notre Dame de Paris! Built 800 years ago! Eight centuries! Angelically alluring architecture and a true testament to the technology of the ancients. The line to the top takes about 45 minutes. There’s a fast-track line, but at the top you get slowed down all the same as there are so many folks there – so there’s no point bothering with that. A better bet is to come here in low season, say, in February.
The gargoyles are gloriously graceful. You can stare at and take pics of them for hours. Silently watching over the city for 800 years no matter the weather… If you look closely sometimes they appear to be evil – kinda little devils:
Hmmm… A cat bride among the pigeons… they’re actually on the train of her dress. Did they put breadcrumbs on it to attract them? Were the inevitable unglamorous consequences also a part of that plan?
The Museum of Modern Art in Pompidou – this season it just seems so lame. Grey and flat, boring and expressionless. Where have all the artists gone? London, maybe?
There’s such a drought of creativity they’re even asking visitors to help out (for free)!
The coolest exhibit for me – this table and chairs:
And finally, yes, the tower!
This time though, much like the museum, the tower also seemed flat – at least, as flat as a tower can get. Just… dull and boring. EH? Clearly the Pompidou-gloom aftershock was still was still taking its toll…
Ok mes amis! That’s about it… Time to get to the fête…. Ten years old. Très bien!
Attendez! Quickly, in closing – just a bit about us in France…
We got our first business partners in France in 1996. The business gradually grew, and then in 2004 we decided to open our own office here – our third overseas office after the UK and Germany. The company was registered, the functions of the office were worked out with the director, and we were off. Off and up and up and up…: Today, what have we got? Based on IDC data in 2013 in France we were second (hot on the heels of Symantec), way in front of Intel (McAfee), and way way way ahead of TrendMicro.
Team – you’re fantastique!
That really is it. Au revoir!
