Paris RTS Display Show

Finally, I was here to carry out the major mission for my trip....which is to attend an exhibition that my Paris Distributor had participated in this year. It's called Paris RTS Display Show. (How I wish it was a fashion show)

This is Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, venue for the RTS Display Show (30/Mar - 1/Apr)

Looking at the blue sky, it would be a perfect day to go outing. Too bad I had to lock up in this place for the consecutive 2 days, from 9-6.

To me, the facilities in Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is too old, if compared to HK Conventional & Exhibition Centre.

My distributor's booth in Hall 8.

Besides my company's product, the distributor is also selling my competitor's product. Of course our company is in the good place since I was physically there to promote the product.

My company's product, monochrome (black & white) and TFT (color) display.

Disappointed to know 90% of the visitors are interested in the "standard" color display instead of "custom made" black/white display, which is truly our expertise. Well, can't deny color display is a trend now.

Camila, she came from Algeria, speaks very little English. Anyway, she is hot and attractive. I have no business relationship with her though.




Instead, Francois (right) & Benjamin (left) are my direct window in France. Appearance wise, they are very presentable and detail. No wonder France is famous for fashion !!

Meet these girls and their boss from Taiwan. Their booth was just opposite ours.

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The 1st day, I was rather busy to go socialize with them. The 2nd way, I was rather free, so I walked over to say hello and we end up chatting none stop, in Mandarin. It's good to speak in my language again, after 2 weeks speaking just English.
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Lucky them, could go shopping and return with 2 luggages, full of LV bags. How I wish I could go to buy one LV handbag for myself too. I heard the price is 15-20% cheaper than from HK. Sigh...
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Finally, my work was ended here, at the Expo, at 6pm.

At night time, the boss took the 3 of us for dinner. He said he would take me to somewhere which would surprise me..
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Indeed, I was very surprised when he brought me to this restaurant which is located in the center of The Louvre Museum. I thought I would have never seen the Louvre Museum before leaving Paris. For that, I felt regret. Never to my expectation, I could see this place for real before leaving. It's like my wish had come true, at this last minute.




Located within the Louvre courtyard, Cafe Marly is one of the most beautiful restaurants in Paris. Sitting at a table from here, I have a direct view of the Pyramide du Louvre and the Louvre courtyard, which is a real privilege.
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For a brief seconds, I felt like I was in a dream, everything look so surreal, especially the stunning view outside the window.
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It was a lovely night, the foods was lovely, the view is lovely, the ambiance is lovely, the people I had enjoyed dinner with are lovely. Just that the bill is not very lovely to the boss, hahaha...
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After the dinner, I sincerely thank the boss for the wonderful dinner that he had treated me. To me, it's not the money that matter, but the heart. It's his heart to want to give me a memorable experience in Paris that moved me.
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Thank you, Philippe, you have completed my trip perfectly.





Glass pyramid (built in 1989) in the center of Napoleon courtyard.





Ahh...absolutely gorgeous...

From the Napoleon Courtyard, I could see the Eiffel Tower too. Double surprise.

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They sent me back to my hotel and we bid farewell at around 11.30 pm. I just left so light, from head to toe. That is the end of my journey in Europe, and I couldn't wait to fly home to see my husband and kids. Nothing beats that...

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Several days after I returned HK, the girls sent me this photo from Taiwan. They were back too...safe and sound.

Notre Dame de Paris

I arrived at Paris CDG Airport at around 5 pm.
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I felt grateful to see my customer who was waiting there to pick me up. Actually I didn't expect anyone to come, but this customer insisted. I guess they wanted to return me a favor, since I gave them very good treatment when they visited us in GuangZhou 2 months ago. Precisely, I arranged accommodation, free transportation and free meals for them.
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The young man who came to pick me is a new person to the company, I have never met him before. Nevertheless, he is a very chatty one, told me a lot about himself, especially his experiences when he studied in Germany. Good, I was tired to think of anything, so it's good to have him do the speaking in the car.

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About one hour later, finally he found my hotel, and we parted good bye here.

Although small, the hotel room is comfortable enough to stay for 4 consecutive nights here.

The drawing in my room. I like it, because it was drawn by Vincent (Vincent Van Cough). Looking at it had reminded me of my Vincent who is also pretty good in drawing. Vincent & William, mommy miss you.



Since it was a Sunday, most of the restaurants were closed. Luckily, I found a small restaurant nearby that sell salad, pizza & burger. Without much thinking, I brought this Tuna Salad and a fish burger back to the hotel room for dinner. The tuna salad is very very fresh and delicious, baquette was good too. After I had finished these 2, I was too full to eat the burger anymore.
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I had a good sleep that night. Feeling really tired after all those travelling...
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The next morning, I woke up at 8 am. Then I went to the restaurant at downstair for breakfast. As usual, breakfast was consists of bread, yogurt and cereal. The baquette and croissants are good. Basically, every morning, I ate baguette, croissants & orange juice for breakfast.
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My customer came to pick me from the hotel at 9 am. The 1st appointment for the day was to meet his end customer. It was a long meeting and I thought it's a successful one, but turned out not the way I thought it was at all. During the lunch time, that end customer confessed that they had decided to choose our competitor as their 2nd supplier because he think our competitor is more suitable to manufacture their products than my company does. It did shock us to hear that. And frankly speaking, I felt quite upset about it.
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Later, my customer drove me to his office, and I met his boss. The boss was obviously disappointed to hear the news that his staff brought him. But he recovered very fast. At around 4 pm, the boss said he wanted to go out and he could drive me back to my hotel.
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I arrived at the hotel at around 4.30 pm. Feeling lonely, I decided to take the subway to Notre Dame which is only 20 minutes from my hotel.





Just when I came out from the subway station, I saw this familiar place again, after my 1st visitation to Paris about 13 years ago, with husband.

Everywhere is a good place to sit down and watch the world goes by.

Notre Dame de Paris from the Seine, still look as gorgeous as before.

A beggar with his 2 dogs.

Looking back to where I came from...

River cruise sails along the Seine River.

Notre Dame de Paris, also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral. In English, it means Our Lady of Paris. It is more than 700 hundred years old now.

In the courtyard of Notre Dame is this statue of Charles the Great, aka Charlemagne. The inscription reads "Charlemagne et ses Levdes".

Notre Dame de Paris: Western Façade

Closer look at the famous west front of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Notre Dame is the most popular monument in Paris and in all of France, beating even the Eiffel Tower with 13 million visitors each year. But the famous cathedral is also an active Catholic church, a place of pilgrimage, and the focal point for Catholicism in France - religious events of national significance still take place here.
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The admission is free of charge, very generous.

The west front's central portal, depicting the Last Judgment.

Apostles of the central portal (19th-century replacements).

The wooden doors have original 13th-century ironwork.

Interior of Notre Dame...

The North Rose Window (c.1250), with a theme of the New Testament.

The Crown of Light or Great Chandelier of the transept crossing. It was removed for restoration, during recent rufurbishment works in the choir.

Saint Denis




Saint Denis's wife and son?

I sat here for quite some time, listening to the soft chanting sound did give me some peace of mind.

Interior of Notre Dame, looking east to the choir

South exterior and transept.

One of the many tulips in the flower garden behind Notre Dame.

East view of the Notre Dame, from a bridge over the Seine.

A not very friendly street artist.

View from the south

View from the south

I remember there is a busy street somewhere with many small seafood restaurants along. So, I was trying to find it....

Ok, I've found that street. I felt that the pace is not as busy as before, perhaps it was not the peak hour for dinner? or the number of trousists had declined due to bad economy?

The menu looks attractive, not very expensive too. But I don't feel like having a big meal that night...

If husband were there with me, then I would want to dine here.

Seafood display outside the restaurant...

Bumped into Rue Saint Severin which is immersed in the streets.

Ok, it's nearly 7 pm by then. I got to go now...

It's really nice to get to visit this place again after all these years.

20 minutes later, I went back to the hotel's area. The place was quiet when night time approach.

Before walking back to my hotel, I stopped over this small shop to take away tuna salad & barguette again. The foods is really too delicious to try for the 2nd time. This time, the owner recognized me and he greeted me with his super warm smile.

Just bent a corner, and returned to my "home sweet home" for 4 night, Classics Hotel.
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I felt dead tired that night...but I reported the happenings to my boss before going to bed anyway.

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