That's right sports fans, your boy has been living it up this week in Paris.... and what a city it is!
As I've probably mentioned before, every week from Monday to Friday Rachel works for a 5 Star Hotel chain called, The Set Collection. The nature of her work sometimes means that she has to travel between hotels, sometimes to Amsterdam and sometimes to Paris, but as a rule, during the week she is based out of the Hotel Cafe Royal which boasts rooms that are in excess of £10,000 per night!
Occasionally, I get the chance to tag along when she has to go to work in one of the other 5 star hotels in the chain, and this week I've been lucky enough to take a trip over to Paris with her to stay for 5 days in the stunning Hotel Lutetia.
Now, before I go any further, I do just want to formally thank Rachel's superiors for allowing me to attend. Let's be honest, I've no business being here, and having some photographer staying at the hotel rubbing shoulders with the caliber of guests they have in attendance certainly isn't of any benefit to them, but nevertheless, I've had a fantastic time, and I can't begin to thank them enough for their hospitality for this week. It's been amazing, and I've been well and truly spoilt.
It may come as some surprise, but up until this week, I've never actually stepped foot in France, despite it only being a short trip over the channel, it's been somewhere I've always wanted to visit, but I've never really got around to it if that makes sense?
Despite my learning french at school, I'll be honest, I can't speak or remember a single word of the language. Every time I try to attempt it, I manage to end up sounding more like Derek Trotter than anything, and I well and truly butcher, what is by all accounts a stunning language.
So let me set the scene, I'm in the middle of Paris, in a 5-star hotel, and I'm on my own as Rachel obviously has to work during office hours. I have no idea where I am in relation to any kind of tourist attraction and all the signposts are in french. It's a recipe for disaster really!
But against the odds, I've ventured out a little bit and done a little exploring. I did go to the Eiffel Tower in the evening, with Rachel and we even attempted the metro, (and only managed to get lost once). A Parisian bar must have seen us coming a mile away, as somehow we managed to end up paying 38 Euros for, wait for it..... 2 Cokes, but I'm putting that down to my own inexperience, as when I did try to ask them to explain the bill, predicably the waiter had suddenly forgotten what little English he knew in the first place and couldn't understand a word I was saying.
In all honesty, more than anything, I wanted to take the opportunity this week to unwind a little after what's been a very very busy year so far. A good proportion of my time has been spent sleeping and just relaxing, and it's been nice to wake up in the morning without any set agenda.
I've eaten loads of incredible food, drunk a substantial amount of beer, and whilst I did have full intention of taking lots of pictures, I did only snap a handful, but they happen to be some of the best I've ever taken....
Paix, amour et photos.
(Peace, love and Photos)
Jono x