Welcome to Paris - Day 1

Paris landing:
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I am currently in Paris, France on a business trip. This is the first time I am visiting a country other than US and India. I landed in Paris on a Sunday afternoon. I was all ready for a rigorous scrutiny at the immigration counter. But to my surprise, the officer looked at my visa and gave the passport back to me. No stamping, no questions. That was something unexpected. Then I collected my baggage and proceeded to the "so called" customs where there was no officer in sight. I step out of the airport and I smell nicotine all over the place and every other person was smoking a cigarette. Having been in the US for a while where smoking is banned at public places, I found it very discomforting to see cigarette butts strewn all over the place. I was glad to see a person helping out people who were in need of a taxi. I jumped into one and was glad to get out of that smoky place.
Taxi ride:
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The taxi ride was not as I had expected either. The driver had his window rolled down and speeding at 120 kmph. He would not switch on the A/C. The radio was blaring a french music channel. When I say "blaring" I really mean it. I could not hear myself talk in that rolled down window and blaring radio combination. The taxi ride was through some myriad of freeways and streets through the heart of Paris over the rivers and by the riverwalks. After about 30 mins I was dropped off at the hotel. Inspite of all this, the taxi ride was not bad at all. I actually enjoyed the ride after the long cramped 10 hour flight from "George Bush Intercontinental" to "Charles de Gaulle".
Patience tested at the hotel:
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I register myself at the Courtyard Marriot hotel and I am told that my room is not ready yet and is being cleaned. They dont know how long it would take to give me a room key. So I am asked to wait. Luckily they have a computer with an internet connection. So after a 13 hour long flight from San Francisco, I am sitting at the Marriot lobby catching up on my emails and trying desperately to get Yahoo messenger to work so that I can chat with my near and dear ones back home. My luck stays ahead of me and I realized that my computer knowledge could not get that messenger to work on that computer. Once I am done checking my emails and catching up on the latest news on cnn and washingtonpost, I look at the reception hoping that someone would acknowledge me. But alas, there is a long line of people checking in. I walk up and down the lobby for about 10 times and come back and settle down in front of the same computer. 30 more minutes of browsing all the sites that I could think of. Then I become desperate and decided to confront the receptionist. She then makes a call and finally hands me a key after nearly an hour and 20 mins of waiting in the lobby. I did not expect this from Marriot.
Settling down:
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I enter my room, settle down, take that long awaited shower and hungrily eat the poori and pickle that my dear wife had packed for me that morning. It was heavenly. Never had that poori and pickle tasted that good. Once I was "fed" up, I decided to go explore nearby areas and the nearest Paris Metro station that I could use to get to work on Monday. I get a local map from the reception and head out. Nice Paris evening. Many weekenders on the street. I walk down for about a kilometer to get to the nearest metro station. I head back since I was feeling tired from jetlag and the long flight. I decided to explore the neighbourhood the next day.