Métro, Boulot, Dodo

Yann and I took what I call our 'mini-moon' just after the wedding at the beginning of September. It was basically an extended weekend in the South of France - Marseille and Cassis. A region known as Provence.

For four days, we sat by the pool and soaked in the sunshine, ate fabulous seafood at sidewalk cafés and took long runs on dusty trails down to ocean inlets known as the 'Calanques'. It felt like the first time in a LONG time when we could both just sit back, relax and enjoy.






















My how far away that minimoon seems!

I have now since started working in Paris. I remember back in 8th grade my french professor taught us the phrase: "Métro, Boulot, Dodo'. These were french 'argot' - slang words to make us feel a little more hip. The phrase meant: subway, work, sleep. We learned that this was the life of the Parisian. Their daily grind.

At the time, I imagined little gray people, looking sad and wiped out, packed in like sardines inside a subway car and down on life. And I must say, I wasn't too far from the truth :)

But I am happy to be back at work and, while I get used to the "métro, boulot, dodo" daily grind, here are a few brief observations about working in France:

1) Everyone says 'bonjour' and 'bonne journée!' to everyone on the elevator - EVERYONE! I left work tonight with 7 people telling me 'have a good night!'. Fabulous, if not sometimes awkward.

2) Work starts late and ends late. When I arrive in the office at 8:45AM, I am the first to arrive. But when I leave at 7:30PM, I am the first to leave.

3) Lunch is mandatory. It could be 30 minutes long, or 1 hour 1/2 long, so long as it happens. There are no exceptions (that I've seen anyways...). Another win (because I love to eat...and not at my desk).

4) "Want to grab coffee?" here means: "Let's take a walk down to the kitchen so we can push a button and get a shot of Nespresso!" While this initially was a let-down, I have been making a calculation of how much $$ I will be saving by not taking my daily Starbucks break as I used to back at home.

5) No positive feedback from anyone is normal. The ultimate goal in working in France is to have no feedback whatsoever - this means 'Great Job!'

Those are my initial take-aways from living and now working in France. I will keep you posted on what transpires and how I may be spicing up my daily routine so as not to turn into one of the hundres of gray, sad Parisians I see in the métro every morning.