Zurich, Paris, London

Posted on 2009/10/15 08:28:26 (October 2009).

[Wednesday 14th October]
Started out the day with a mad rush to throw all my things in my bag and get to the station. The corporate housing I was in was inexplicably some distance from the station (and the office) which meant a fair tram ride, and my train was at 7AM, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to set my alarm for much earlier than 6AM. Plus of course as always I hadn't bothered to pack the night before.

Anyway, I made it on time, and soon I was on the TGV headed for Paris. For this leg I had only been able to get 2nd class (on the way there the fares had been barely any different) but it was still fairly comfortable, albeit just that there were a lot more people in the carriage. The scenery seemed nicer than on the way there - I think partly because there was very nice and clear morning light, but also because I was on the other side of the train, facing North rather than South, and it seems all the nicer scenery is in that direction.

Arrived in Paris at 11:30, giving me an hour or so before I needed to get on the Eurostar. I had a bit of a wander around the streets between Gare De L'Est and Gare du Nord trying to find something other than the ubiquitous filled baguette for an early lunch. I eventually found a kebab place which also did pizzas. The French do seem to struggle to make decent pizza somewhat, but it wasn't bad I suppose - it filled a hole at least.

On the Eurostar to London I got chatting to an Australian girl, who was in the UK working as a nanny, and was taking the opportunity to travel around Europe while she was here. It occurred to me she'd be a good person to introduce to my Australian friend at work, whose criticism of most women seems to be "she's not Australian enough" (an optimisation problem with a very obvious solution!) but alas when I suggested this it turned out she was already attached. Oh well, were this a movie it would have panned out differently.

I was in London by 3, and being the diligent sole that I am, headed straight to the office to put a few hours work in before heading home for the evening. I'm quite proud of the fact that despite all my travelling over the past couple of weeks, there hasn't been a single weekday when I haven't at least checked in at one of our offices somewhere (be it London, Tokyo or Zurich).

Back at home in the evening Chie made Japanese curry for dinner, which was particularly nice tonight (although perhaps partly because I had barely tasted any home cooking in the last two weeks!). Having got up before 5AM in UK terms, by 9 o' clock I could feel myself falling asleep, and so an early night was very much called for.

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