Still alive and kickin'

Yup I'm still here. Amazing how once I get a job I seem to find little time each day to myself! I have been in Paris for about 3.5 weeks - but it really seems like I just came yesterday. The time has absolutely flown by and this Monday my mom arrives! She has never been to Paris and has dreamed about it her whole life and at last her dream come true. Our location in Paris is pretty good - we are situated about a 10-15 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower in the 15eme arrondisement (15th ward). It is quiet and known for housing the elderly population in Paris. Just a two minute west of our residence is the Seine - if you follow this north you can hit most of the popular attractions in Pairs such as the Eiffel tower, Louvre, Palais Royale and Notre Dame. Shopping here... well... what can I say but that it is phenominal :) From boutiques and markets to the Galerie Lafayette which houses the "big brand labels" to the Champs D'elysees where Louis Vuitton and Channel rule all you need is an endless budget and Paris is yours to be had.
Now I never thought I would say this but there is definitely one big thing I miss about touring in the good old USA.... the shuttle bus! Here in europe they are mucho dinero $$ so main form of getting to and from work is the metro. Normally fine, but here in Paris our commute is especially long ranging from 40 - 60 plus minutes. Not only that we transfer to 3 metro tains and the last one we take (RER D) is the worst in Paris - ie. NOT SAFE AT ALL! Needless to say we travel in groups and don't really venture on there after dark. There is a shuttle @ night for the lovely "artists" but the shuttle isn't all too convenient for the Box Office schedule so we take either take the metro or after dark a taxi. Notes about the metro- it is great to get around the city in Zone 1 (downtown section) with about 15 different lines! Sure kicks Toronto's TTC in the butt! The smells have taken some getting use to and thank goodness that my allergies often leave me with no sense of smell. Most days I get serenated by a smelly man with an acordian... they are oh so popular in the metro. Avoid eye contact and they won't come bugging you for $$.
I have managed to see some of Paris on my days off - I have visited the Louvre and saw the "well known art" and more. The Mona Lisa was definitely on the list - after seeing replicas of her it was great to see the real deal. I think her eyes are the only difference I saw... other than that the painting is quite simple, plain and tiny in comparison the the huge canvasses that reach heights of 40 feet. Probably the most intersting for me was the Egyptian section. I spent quite some time in there and managed to see various tombs and also a mummified person. Quite fascinating indeed! I saw about a third of the museum and will go back a couple more times to see the rest. I also hit the big mall in town, Galerie Lafayette, and picked up a couple tops. The shoe section was the best I have ever seen and I was in heaven. In the back of my head I heard my mom's voice saying i do not need another pair... but oohhhh they are all so pretty. I managed to escape without any shoes - this time - but don't you worry I haven't changed and I'm sure I'll be back! The best way to see Paris is by foot and for two days off I have wandered around different neighbourhoods and lunched at many cafes. Good thing there is tons of walking in Paris because the bread here is sooo tasty and everywhere. I managed to go two weeks without bread back home in Toronto before I came on tour, but when I arrived in Paris I couldn't resist the warm baguette. Once back in North America I'll have to go off bread for a while.
Work wise I have settled in fine and the new team on the whole is great. The Box Office in this city is chaotic as our new ticketing system is very technical and can't perform the many functions we need it to. Our nightly sales report which should take about 5 minutes takes 2 people together just about an hour! Our half-assed training, without a manual might I add and completely in French... parisien French which is totally different than the Quebeqois jargon that I have come accustomed to on tour and it also left the two others with me who are from Quebec slightly confused! Thus it was not helpful and it left us baffled for the first couple of weeks. It has gotten slightly better as we now explore the system and find out new things everyday and probably when we are ready to leave Paris in July we'll be experts! The local staff are great and are a great resource of how to get off the beaten track in Paris.
Pictures are to come so stand by for a few more days... I conveniently left my battery charger at home so one is on its way. I hope everyone is doing well - and again apologies if I have been horrible with comminication... I think the work hours will start to go back to normal shortly and I will not be dreaming about work any longer! Loving all the updates that I get from you all so keep 'em coming.

Do you know what today is?

Happy Birthday Mike!

Love you!

4 cities, 3 flights, 2 continents, 19 hours of flying and 0 hours of sleep...

Yes you have read it... after a crazy 19 hours of flying and standing-by I finally arrived in Barcelona last Saturday afternoon after leaving Toronto Friday at noon. The flight path... Toronto to Montreal... meet a random guy at arrivals in Montreal to pick up passport.... through customs and wait 4 hours and fly to Frankfurt.... arrive in Germany and head to McD's for a breakfast wakeup.... stare at the strange "Indian Menu" on McD's menu board... go through german customs... weeee i get a stamp.... wait another 4 hours for flight.... decide to fight off sleep and shop some duty free!!!.... board last flight en route to my final destination of Barcelona! Barcelona has a beautiful airport... full of shops, dining, people, light, glass and art! After a 30 minute cab ride to my hotel centrally located on Las Ramblas I open my bags and take out what I will need to get me through 5 days until we arrive in Paris. It's now time to repack my bags, taxi to site, get luggage on the luggage truck en route to Paris and meet my team! I'm sure I looked like an absolute disaster but I met many people, most whose names and faces escape me. They all seem lovely... except there are a few things missing.... my gals! Where my gals at? At this moment it has all hit me - the good and the bad. The familiarity of being back on tour, seeing the big top and exploring new places is great. The bad... really missing those faces on tour that I love so much and had such great frienships with. Starting over is hard and only once I get comfortable here I'm off to be the new kid on the block on my next tour in North America. ah well... near or far the gals will always be together! After a couple hours on site I decided I was too shattered to see the second show which began at 10pm so in a cab I hopped and back to my hotel room I went. Finally a good sleep in a bed! Not too much sleep for me due to the fact that Sunday was tear down day. A 10 am start... I got to see the show which I love and thought was amazing and then packing up and moving on. I am working the Box Office on this tour but tear down remains the same with us helping the House do the chairs. Let me put this simply.... every chair is single... is loaded in a trailor... this process is slow and tedious and takes about 4 hours longer than the usual 3 chairs. 17 hours later at 3 am I was on my knees and made it home with no juice left. I could have slept anywhere that night - my body was beyond exhaustion and my mind fried. What a sleep I had and I didn't wake until 3pm the next day.

Now remaining is 1.5 days in Barcelona and I want to see as much as possible. Please stay tuned for my next chapter on sight seeing in Barcelona and travelling to Paris. This is a long read so I'll break it up a little. It also gives me time to write it all as we are now in set up. Take care all and don't be afraid to drop me a line when you have a moment or two!