I Survived the Metro

Last night, the Metro trip planner app told me: "Take Metro 8 towards Point du Lac..." Finding the 8 was easy but there was NO mention of "Point du Lac" anywhere. I asked a station attendant but his English wasn't very good.

Fortunately, a nice woman in line told me where to go. The 8 can be taken toward either "Balard" or "Créteil", so I followed the signs to the latter. It was quite a journey:

• Down a flight stairs
• Around a corner and down another flight of stairs
• Then I had a very long walk trough a claustrophobic subway tunnel
• This was followed by two more descending flights of stairs
• Then I turned a corner and went up an escalator
• Finally I went down a small flight of stairs to the station

The Metro train was crowded but when the doors opened I could plainly see the station names, so it was easy to know where to get off. (Melanie has been telling me where to get off for years, but she stayed at the hotel today.)

There's a horizontal version of this sign on every Metro train

Seven stops later I disembarked at the "Opera" station and followed the "Sortie" (exit) signs to daylight. After a few minutes in the somewhat oppressive corridors I ascended a flight of stairs to this view: 

The famous Opéra Garnier is only a few blocks from my new office

What a glorious way to start my day!

I had given myself some extra time in case of trouble (Melanie even made me put 50 euros in my shoe in case I got robbed and needed to hail a taxi), so instead of going straight to Pretty Simple I wandered around the neighborhood a bit. Like a modern day Ferdinand Magellan I discovered a really interesting indoor mall at the end of the street where we hope to live. I planted a virtual flag.

Shortly before 10:00 I headed back to the office and was greeted by a security guard. "I'm the new guy", I said, and he let me right in.

The receptionist looked up when I entered the lobby and after I announced my name her face kind of lit up. "Oh yes, we've all read your blog!!!"

Uh-oh.

I only posted my blog yesterday, so this was sort of startling news. I frantically searched my memory trying to recall if I had said anything that would embarrass me in front of my new employers. Probably... but too late now. Similar comments were uttered several times throughout the day, "Hey look, it's the blog guy." I wasn't expecting to make THIS impression on my new co-workers, but as the French declare: "C'est la vie"...

The Metro is extremely crowded (and stuffy) during rush hour, but I had no real problem finding my way around today.

C'est bon!