Tour de Toulouse

So after almost 12 days and one mega flop show, I finally decided to go around Toulouse. I picked up some maps and tourist brochures from the Hotel and was on my way. It was a beautiful day with clear blue sky. (I know I sound like a typical English man :P)

I took a bus to Basso Combo at 10:30 and then a metro to Capitole. Since it was the first time I was traveling by a Metro to Capitole. Surprisingly the metro was completely deserted and there were not more than 5-10 people in the metro. Shit! Is it a holiday in Toulouse!!! After we crossed a couple of stations, the metro was pretty packed and I breathed a sigh of relief! I finally reached Capitole at 11:00 AM and soon got out of the metro station. Finally, I was in the heart of Toulouse and I could see lots and lots of people. It is the first time I have seen so many people in Toulouse. So I finally acknowledged SD’s remarks, that Toulouse is the fifth biggest city in France. He also mentioned that Toulouse is a very traditional city and has a rich culture and history.

I unfolded" the city map and searched for the first and the only destination I highlighted on

the map - ‘Toulouse Tourism Office’. I decided to take a walking guide tour from the Tourism Office. As I was walking to the Tourism Office, I noticed that a band was performing on the street. Their music was so good that I stood there for more than 20 minutes admiring their talent.

Once I reached the ‘Tourism Office’, the lady told me that the English guided tour was not available this month. She asked me if I wanted to go along with the French group. With my knowledge of French, it was not a hard decision to make. I picked up a Toulouse Tourist card, using which I will get free entry into all the museums and parks, for 25 Euro and I was on my way to explore Toulouse.

The Building next to the Tourism Office was the ‘Capitolium’ or the ‘Palace du Capitole’ and is the heart of the city. The square outside, is surrounded by red-bricked buildings and the ground marked with the Toulouse cross. The Capitolium serves as a Town hall and the Capitole Theater now. Built in the 19th century, this epitomizes the French architecture of the early 19th century. The interiors of this building are as magnificent as its exteriors with beautiful paintings and well crafted artifacts. (works of Jean-Paul Laurens and Henry Martin) Just across the square, there are various street cafes under beautiful stone canopies.

Before getting started on the walking tour, I decided to stack up my body with carbohydrates and protein as I missed my breakfast. So I stuffed myself with a Burger and a desert crepe filled with strawberries and cream from Mc Donald’s. When I was done with the desert, I walked towards the unfolded the map and marked all the churches, cathedrals, basilicas and museums I had to visit.

I then visited Basillique Saint Sernin, Church of Les Jacobins and Cathedral Saint Etienne. All of them were stunning and beautiful. The huge structures, the status, the paintings, stained

glasses, and the high raised arched ceilings give them an aura of their own. These structure built in the 14, 15 century truly take you back in time. Since all the museums were closed

today, I need to visit them on some other day. But I did manage to get a peek into the ‘Musee de Augustins’, through its glass windows.

All through my walking tour, I was turning a blind eye on the all the stores – clothes, electronics, jewelry, watches, bakeries, etc. As my will power was quite strong, and my bank balance quite small I managed to stay away from shopping and only did a bit of window shopping. :)

Current Mood: Good

Current Music: Uptown Girl!

French Food & Desserts

A lot of people in India warned me about the food in France and how we just can't eat it. However, frequent world travelers might give you a completely contradictory reply. After a week in France, I have a mixed opinion on French Food. I have tasted all kinds of food (Good, Not so good, bad, and very bad) within fortnight. For the initial few days, I hated the French food. Yes, 'hated' and not 'hate'. Of late I am enjoying the French food though. May be I just needed time to get used to the French food. I just had posion (fish) for dinner today and it was delicious. (So now you know why I am writing this blog).

I don't have any mixed opinion on the Desserts though. The best part about Food in France is the Deserts. They are absolutely AWESOME!!! From Pastries to Creme Caramels, Cream puff to bons bons, Tarts to Crepe Suzette....Just about every desert is delicious (I know it making your mouth water) I actually skipped my dinner yesterday and had a couple of desserts [:P] and today I just had a crape dipped in yummy hot chocolate with a lot of nuts and almonds. (Now stop envying me)

Current Mood: Rocking!!
Current Music: Stayin Alive

Mc Donald's - I'm loving it

Today, I found a Mc Donald's near Basso Combo. I decided to miss my connecting bus to the Hotel and went to Mc Donald's and had a McChicken and Fries. It was awesome! After finishing the Burger and Frites, I asked the girl at the counter to give me one McChicken, so that I can have it in the Hotel.

The girl at the counter was damn cute!!!! and she was also good in english. So till the McChicken was packed, I had a conversation with the counter girl. She was Finnish (hence good english) and is in Toulouse for her studies. I think I am getting better in striking up conversations with Strangers[:P]...Good for me[;)]

I think I have a crush on that girl....heheheheh[:P]

Current Mood: I'm Loving it

Current Music: Do you wanna dance

I k(no)w English!!!!

After a long day in Office, I headed to the bus stop at around 6:30 PM. (6:30 PM is a long day in Office in France [;)]) As I reached the bus stop, I noticed a beautiful French woman at the bus stop. I just gave her a ‘Hi’ smile and stood in the bus stop. Even though I am very bad at start conversations with strangers, I decided to start one with this beautiful girl . After an introduction, and midway through our conversation she said, “I k(no)w English”. The moment she told me that she knew English, I was all excited. But unfortunately the excitement did not last too long. Soon she clarified with the sign language, which I am going to master in France, that she doesn’t know English. Earlier, She actually said – “I No English”[:P]

Current Mood: Bored!!!!!!

Current Music: Last Thing on my mind – Lee Ann

The Mega Flop show

All my plans went down the drain this weekend. As it was raining heavily on Saturday I couldn’t go to the downtown in Toulouse and then I thought I will go to the downtown on Sunday and slept all Saturday.

On Sunday, the weather was ideal for a tour sunny and pleasant and I woke up by 11; got ready by 11:30 and with all the excitement of exploring a new place and interacting with new people I went to the Bus stop. As always I was carrying the most important thing for traveler in France – French to English and English to French conversion dictionary. I waited in the bus stop for more than 1 hour and then decided to learn a bit of French. I opened the dictionary and started translating everything around. And I started to translate the lines on the bus stop and after translation it meant there was no bus service on Sundays and public holidays. I was literally kicking myself and I made a nice fool out of myself. I went back to the hotel and slept all day again. Even the damn restaurant is closed on weekends so I had to get pizza’s delivered from outside. (Pizza is the closest thing that comes to Roti & Sabji in France.)

So all in all this weekend was a mega flop show.

Current Mood: Still feeling sleepy
Current Music: Roobaru Roshiniiiiiii

I have seen God Today

Man, it was a scary experience. Today when I was coming back from Office in the Bus, I missed my bus stop. In fact I only realized it after we crossed a couple of miles. Then I though it’s a nice chance to see the city and I can return in the same bus. My plan of seeing the city, flopped as this bus went through the outer ring road and there is nothing much to see around. After about 25 minutes the bus entered the Sessyes area, which is another corner of the city. The bus went through the narrow road; it felt like I was going through the lanes of Old city in Hyderabad.

Finally the bus stopped after 10 minutes and everyone got off the bus, then I asked the bus driver that when would the bus go back to Basso Combo? (The place I boarded the bus) The driver was not very comfortable with English and I had to use the universal sign language and my very bad French skills. After having a discussion with the driver for 5 minutes I understood that this bus would not go back to Basso Combo. I was in complete disbelief when I heard it and my heart sank. Then I asked the driver if I can get a taxi near by to go back to Rou boudeville and the driver replied back saying “No Taxi”. Now I know I was in trouble.

Then after a minute of silence the bus driver told me that I might get a taxi from a place which was 5 miles away. He asked me to sit down and started the bus and drove to the taxi stand. And guess my luck! There were no taxis in the taxi stand. So the driver turned back looked at me and started driving again. (I think he was cursing his luck) He took me all the way back to the Hotel. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart and for me he was the God today.

Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: Happy Days [Telugu]

First day in Capgemini Sud, Toulouse

Today is the first day in office here in Toulouse and it makes me feel nostalgic about my first day in Kanbay. Not knowing what to wear, the best bet was to wear a formal dress and carry a blazer, which I did. I enquired about the bus stop at the Hotel reception (Thank god, the receptionist knows English) and then walked to the bus stop. Thanks to Sylvain, who provided me all the information before hand, I boarded a bus on Line 58 first and then boarded one on Line 21. So I reached Capgemini office without much trouble.

Sylvain came down to the reception and took me to the KM2 workspace. The office was very different. Unlike the offices in India, every floor had many small rooms. Each room is occupied by 10 -12 people of one/multiple project. As KM2 team had only 2 people, they shared a room along with a people from the airbus team. Soon, I got introduced to all the people (I don’t remember names except for Sylvain and Simon) and then after resolving my Laptop issues, we got going with the Migration discussions.

In Lunch, I decided to have a Sandwich. These are very different, they are more like roles and the worst part is that they are cold and undercooked meat. (For the first time in my life I wanted to eat veg, but they just don’t make anything veg) No one in cafeteria knows English and I had a tough time getting what I want. After Lunch we got back to Migration discussions.

The French do not work for more than 35 hours a week, so everyone started to leave the office by 5PM and its 6:10 now and the office looks completely deserted. It’s time for me to get back to the Hotel before it gets dark, so that I can get down at the right stop of which I have very vivid images in my mind.

Current Mood: Good
Current Music: No music in Office

The Porsche ride to the Hotel

After all the struggle with the baggage and the Immigration department I finally came out of the airport. The airport had even fewer people outside than inside. Then I walked towards a taxi stand and the first car in the taxi stand was a Porsche. My mind refused to accept a Porsche as a Taxi. But then I hesitantly walked towards the Porsche and showed him the Hotel Address and he told me something in French, which I did not understand and I replied back saying that I don’t know French. So he asked me to get into the Car and we were on our way to the Hotel.

So here I was, all alone in a unknown city, in an unknown country and going around in a Porsche. I was feeling like the King of Toulouse. [J]

The driver then showed me the Capgemini Office en route to the Hotel, gave me some additional information about Toulouse, Hotels near Capgemini Office etc. But I just wasn’t interested in any of them. I just was enjoying the Porsche ride.

Current Mood: Ecstatic
Current Music: The World of our own

Things to come ahead

Toulouse airport looks like an MMTS station in Hyderabad. I am not denigrating it in anyway; the MMTS stations in Hyderabad are just as beautiful. But I just compared it because of the size of the terminal and the number of people in the airport. The airport had less than 200 people a complete contract to the New Delhi airport, where they were 3000 people just in the Immigration queue.

After collecting my baggage, I went to go to the Immigration department, just to find out if I need my visa to be stamped again in Toulouse or not? I finally found the Immigration department and after knocking the door several times, a lady police officer opened the door. And this was our conversation:

Me: Hi, I am coming from India, Is this the Immigration department? [I was not sure as it was written in French]
Lady Officer: @#%$#$^%&^*&%$$%^%%$#@#$% [Something in French]
Me: I do not speak French
Lady Officer: #@$^%&%^@&^#&%#&@^*[Something again in French]
WTF…..After 36 hours of journey, I have to deal with this shit now…I decided to speak as little English as possible and try to communicate in the universal sign language..
Me: [I showed her my passport, and then my visa and signaled “stamp”] Stamp on the Visa?


Lady Officer: She took my passport and waked into the room. [I followed her with all the baggage….She went into another room and enquired]
Me: [Was just hoping that she is asking the right thing]
Lady officer: [after a couple of minutes] No Stamping
Me: [Mixed with Sign language]No Stamping required?
Lady Officer: Yes

After this accomplishment, I patted myself on my back and told myself, “Well done mate!! Sign language ki jai” But I know that this was just a beginning and it’s only going to get worse with the Taxi guys, Hotel people, bus drivers, etc.

Current Mood: Happy [of my achievement]
Current Music: Do it for me now

Toulouse, Here I come

It’s a one and half hour flight from Amsterdam to Toulouse. I had to hand over my hand baggage to the steward in the plane as it did not go into the cabinet inside the airplane. So I took my Laptop, just to do some time pass and handed over my baggage to him. So here I am blogging, onboard the plane KL 1303.

An aerial view of Europe is absolutely breathtaking. The first 15 minutes of the flight will just leave you spell-bound with its awesome natural beauty. The amazingly green landscapes, the beautiful structures, the serene skies and the bright blue water bodies (sea & innumerous lakes) provide an absolutely magnificent and the most panoramic view. With very little pollution on the air, you can actually see the plane entering the French/Belgium land. The view from above the clouds is even more fascinating.

Today, I wish, I had wings.

Current Music: The World I know
Current Mood: Fascinated

From Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

Finally I’m in Amsterdam, and now I am sure that I’m actually going onsite (Just because so many people in IT companies are shown the carrot [onsite], but it’s not given to all of them). So I am going on my first onsite assignment. I needed this badly as I am planning to apply to a few B-Schools next year and work experience abroad always adds to your profile.

I have spent around 3 hours in the Schiphol airport, Amsterdam which is definitely got to be one of the best airports in the world, if not the best. It’s hard to describe it in words; you have got to see it for yourself. It’s bigger than you can ever imagine. It’s a masterpiece. It is amazing just like a giant mall with great facilities. Just to mention a few - It has information center at every corner, phones every where, the horizontal escalators, huge shopping area (with a caption – See, buy and fly), the glorious lounges, casinos, restaurants, a very organized passport control and many more.

I have to make a special mention about two things though

1) This airport has been laid out with at most intelligence and immense foresight. You can move around in this spacious and mammoth airport without a problem because of the information screens everywhere. It gives you information about everything in the airport, how far is the other terminal, where is the nearest the restaurant, nearest lounge, nearest restrooms, WiFi cards and a lot more. But the best thing is it also gives you the time it would take you to reach your destination. From Terminal F to Terminal B it said that it would take 27 minutes.
2) After going around the Schiphol airport for 3 hours, I finally came to terminal B and sunk into a nice comfortable relaxing chair (like a beach chair). I am spending time, watching the airplanes taking off right in front of my window.

Its quarter past six now and I have a connecting flight to Toulouse at 9:30 AM. I am sure these 3 hours are just going to fly by in a jiffy as the last 3 hours have in this spectacular airport. I am so engrossed with this beautiful airport that I actually didn’t realize that it was my Birthday today. Actually I was in Mid-air when the clocked ticked past 12 in the midnight. So, Happy birthday in Mid-air, huh!!! I would have any day preferred a birthday with Family and Friends instead of this though.

Current Mood: Awesome
Current Music: Some Dutch Music...Playing in the airport