Office Space

Due to popular demand *cough*, I'm going to describe my work. It's pretty easy work as far as programming goes, and I'd been doing the same stuff at a few of my previous jobs. The exact technical details are: HTML, VBScript, ASP, JavaScript, SQL and possible stints with CSS, XML/XSL, WAP/WML and other goodies. Now you know. :)

I work in a one-room office with two people: my boss Dale and my counterpart Waldemar.

Waldemar in the office

The office is in a much larger office that was divided into three individual ones. The other two are occupied by architects and designers.

The inner office common area

The building that we are in is called La Thélème on Route des Dolines in Sophia. Route des Dolines is a very twisty road with many blind turns, which is common for the area.

The building from across the street
Side view from the parking lot

The building is kind of distinct (heck, all buildings in France are distinct ... it's probably some sort of federal law). The building is quite long and it has a ramp going to the second floor that spans the depth of the parking lot and starts almost at the road.

The inside looks like a futuristic-style Quake level. Seriously, you could have great NERF fights in here. Anyh00, here are more pictures:

outside our office's office door
on the second floor, looking the same way
(faux?) marble staircase leading up to the ramp

There's also a cafeteria in the building (opposite the stairs/ramp on the second floor). I'll get some pictures of it soon. They make the usual lunch stuff, but their sandwiches are excellent. You haven't lived until you've had a salmon and cucumber sandwich, I tell you! ... heh

Alright .... talking about work is putting me to sleep. :)

Until next time, boys and girls.

Had another beer last night called AdelScott [6,6%], which is a Bière au Malt à Whisky. I know what you're saying to yourself, but it's pretty good. It could definitely put you on the floor in a hurry.

Franc's grandparents live in Normandy, an area which is famous for a liquor called Calvados. It is made from distilled apple juice mostly and is about 140 proof. He's going to get some for us and a bottle of apple cider. He also mentioned visiting a brother in Bordeaux on the southwest coast of France. *saves money* ....

Sunday

Franc drove us to Juan-les-Pins beach and, instead of lying on the beach, I walked to Antibes because I got a bit of a sunburn in Nice the day before. To pass the time at night during the week, I was going to get some books at the English book store in Antibes. Now I just had to find it.

Waldemar told me it was near the bus station (he had been there with an aquaintance), just a bit farther South and on the left. So I aimed for the bus station coming from Juan-les-Pins and landed there about an hour later (yep, quite the walk). I walked further south down Rue de la République (reminder: looking south) to the square and headed left, expecting to find the bookstore. I found nothing. I walked up around another street covering most of the area 'left' of the square. Nothing. *hmph* ...

So by this time I was hot so I sat down on a small merry-go-round in the square to drink some water and someone yelled 'Yay Canada!'. I looked up and two young women passed by and I smiled. I couldn't tell if they were Canadian or not. I got up and started walking further south when I realised I had no money to buy books (duh) and found a bank machine. As I was leaving the machine the girls passed by and said "hey", to which I replied: "Do you speak English?". Heh ... yeah, great way to start a conversation. Anyway, they were from Regina. One had been in France for 5 months working at odd jobs and the other had been in France for just 3 weeks. They were leaving in 4 days from Paris.

Just before we parted ways, I asked them where the bookstore was. "Oh, over there" they said and pointed South ... "We were just there". I cursed Waldemar under my breath (heh), said goodbye and made my way South towards the sea.

I walked all the way to the Marina, up and down the sidestreets and still couldn't find it. I was walking back North (to either re-check streets or give up, I'm not sure) and a guy came up behind me saying "I couldn't help but notice your flag" (which is on my backpack) "where in Canada are you from?". We talked a bit. He was from Vancouver and staying at the hostel now that he had found it. Before that he was staying in a hotel (which is probably really expensive in Antibes). I asked him where the bookstore was. It was back the way I came and then left towards the Marina. I sighed.

So I walked back up the hill to the road there and to the left a bit. The English bookstore was tucked neatly into a corner near a restaurant. I had passed right by it. It was very close to the smoke shop that Waldemar had bought cigarettes from countless times. If he had told me it was near that place, I would have known where it was right away. I cursed him again. (heh)

I got some books and walked the long walk back to Juan to catch my ride.

Saturday

"Nice is NICE"

... and indeed it is. With nothing to do on Saturday, we decided to go to Nice instead of back to Cannes. We took the bus to Antibes as usual and then the train to Nice (which only took about 25 minutes). The train station has four platforms, all covered by a high canopy-type thing:

Nice train station

From the station, which is in the middle of the city, we walked south to the beach ...

building in Nice

... and then walked down the very long pedestrian walkway (which is about 20 metres wide in some spots) next to the Promenades des Anglias.

The famous Negresco hotel

Outside the Negresco, we saw three Ferraris in the same spot. Here is one of them ...

sweeeeet

The other two are behind the white van and the first Ferrari. We saw seven different Ferraris in that day alone in Nice. All of them were red.

As we were walking down the walkway next to the beach, a rollerblader noticed my Auburn hat and, like the waitress in Biot, she too was from Alabama. She was much younger than the waitress (probably about 17) ..... she didn't have a southern accent either. *shrug*

unidentified building
on the walkway next to the Promenade des Anglias looking West
on the walkway next to the Promenade des Anglias looking East

After going back east near the Negresco, we stopped for something to drink/eat at a place a half a block into the city. The city buildings are so tall they give you cool shade even at noon. The place was very cheap, compared to prices we've seen in Cannes and Antibes so we'll probably eat there for lunch when we go to Nice again. Across the street was an INTERMARCHE, a supermarket-type chain - another bonus.

We went down to the beach, and a few minutes later a young lady from Calgary came up and asked if the beaches with the umbrellas are private. I wasn't sure, but I said they were (a good guess, since the public beaches are clearly marked "plages publique" and Franc told us that private beaches were common). She was travelling around southern Europe and was just in Italy, on her way west.

The beach in Nice is like the one near Biot (reminder), with large smooth rocks on top and smaller ones at the bottom. Except in Nice there were more jagged, broken rocks and things to impale yourself on like rusted bottle-caps (probably left by people partying on the beach at night). So you really have to watch your feet. The water was refreshing, but colder than I'm used to. It's like swimming in a cottage lake in May - you can do it, but you'll freeze your butt off. The only difference, of course, is that when you step out of the water, the hot sun hits you and really warms you up. Skin dries from completely soaking wet in less than 2 minutes or so.

After the beach, we headed back into the city to the INTERMARCHE and bought some required goods (shaving cream!) and then took a slow, hot walk back to the train station. Just like on the way to Nice, we saw a lot of people wearing Ferrari hats and talking about the race in Monte Carlo in English (UK) and German. It was nice to hear something other than French for a change. ;)

We had an hour to kill before we caught the bus in Antibes, so we walked to the closest pub and had a Stella Artois [Belgian home page], which Waldemar had never had before. Someone in Ottawa drinks it all of the time, so I've tried it - and I also had a half-pint Stella on the plane over. It's a very smooth, light, mainstream beer - kind of like Molson Canadian or Labatt Blue, only better. :)

Thursday

HOLIDAY! Yes, Ascension Day in France was yesterday so we took full advantage of it and went to church ...

... ok, so we went to the beach in Antibes. We got there around 11 and hung out at the northern marina beach for a bit, ate lunch and then walked to the southern beach near the Cap. From there we went across the Cap to Juan-les-Pins, which is where we played football this past weekend. It's the best beach in the area because the sand is fine (and so are the women - heh) ... there also seems to be more tourists there, and less kids running around ....

... we sat in the sun for the afternoon and left around 5pm, almost missing the 6:45 bus because we didn't realise how far the walk was all the way back to the train station. I need a scooter. :)

I have the best tan I've ever had in my life.

Contact Information:

Tél: +33 (0) 493.652.804 (boss' phone)
Fax: +33 (0) 492.389.287

Cartesian Consultants
Le Thélème
1503 Route des Dolines
06560 Sophia Antipolis
France

I'll be getting a cell phone for work soon, I think.

Sunday

After going to bed at 4am, Franc thought it would be a good idea to go to the beach in Juan-les-Pins at 9am. Needless to say, we were tired. But we still managed to play football all day in the sand with a volleyball (easier on the feet).

plage de Juan-les-Pins in the cloudy afternoon
the guys playing soccer (and my finger)
palm trees on the other side of the beach

It's a good thing it was cloudy most of the afternoon, because I was getting reddish by about 12. Seriously. And it got really cold and windy too ... we could see rain off the coast all afternoon but we didn't get hit with any and Franc didn't seem concerned. All in all, a good day. Slept 11 hours when I got home. :)

Friday

We continued our tradition of having beers on Friday by going to the brasserie in central Sophia. This time we had Affligem [7,5%] beers (25cl or 250ml) and BOY do they pack a punch. We had two each with Dale and another one after he left (in about the span of an hour) and we were stumbling down the hill at the CIV to go to dinner. :)

Oh yes, and Dale offered to give us free French lessons from his wife, who is a professor of languages. After that we have to pay half the usual price. Not bad, I say.

Saturday

"How can I be expected to go to school on a day like this?"

out my window saturday morning
out my window saturday morning

Franc said he'd meet us at about 5PM, so while we waited we went to Antibes again. The forcast said partly cloudy .... we saw three all day.

here is one of them

For lunch we had paninis, which are long flat sandwiches that are grilled like, well, grilled cheese sandwiches. The ones we got had tomato in them that melted with the cheese and made a sort of sauce. It be good stuff. Heineken [5,0%] and Kronenburg (a french Bud-like beer) [4,5%] were also consumed.

buildings next to the beach
Waldemar and the lighthouse in the distance (center)

before leaving on the other side of the parking lot:

Nice from Antibes
a building and (yes) more wall
Waldemar with the marina and Fort Carré in the background

then we took the bus back to Sophia and met up with Franc and went to Biot. The long stretch of road between Biot and Villeneuve-Loubet is bordered completely by a rock beach, which is the kind of beach people told me to expect here.

the rock beach and Marina Baie des Anges in the background
the rocks (most are the width of a golf ball)

... it's hard to step on the rocks even though they are completely smooth. The top layer of the beach is big rocks, but if you dig down an inch or so you'll find much smaller stones (about the size of Smarties), which are better to lie down on. The water was cooooold .... Franc seemed to think it was warm. But what does he know, he's from Paris. heh

After the beach, Franc took us north of Sophia to Grasse, a beautiful small town on the side of a very steep hill, where he lives. Grasse is world famous for its roses and perfume. Down the main street there were perfume shops everywhere. I left my camera back in my room unfortunately.

After a late meal at Franc's place, we drove to Cannes and then through Antibes, Biot, Villeneuve-Loubet, Cagnes-Sur-Mer and then Nice down the Promenade des Anglais, arriving at about 2am. Unfortunately most of the bars/pubs were closed because the crowds aren't around yet but we walked around and saw some beautiful places (a few days will have to be devoted to Nice, I'm sure). We stopped at a corner store-type place (but it was a guy behind a sheet of (probably) bullet-proof glass with a tray and bucket to pass money/goods) and bought three 1664 (Seize cent soixante quatre) beer [5,9%] which we drank on the sidewalk (which is legal). 1664 is brewed by the same company as Kronenburg.

On the way home we cruised down the promenade again in Franc's girlfriend's POS Fiat (better than my non-existent POS though) taking notice of the many Eastern European hookers attracting attention from many many cars. I got back to my room at 4am.

Wednesday

Franc picked us up last night after dinner and we went cruising around the area. First we went to that hotel/apartment complex I took pictures of from the plane and the highway called Marina Baie des Anges which is in Villeneuve-Loubet.

from the road
a restaurant of the same name outside (neon is popular here)
the main entrance
the easternmost building and the marina

Franc used to work security there so he knew the place very well. We went to a restaurant next to the marina, sat outside and had a Pelforth beer [6,5%]. The waiter gives you a glass with strawberry syrup in the bottom and you pour the beer into it. The beer was ok by itself, and very sweet (and good) with the syrup. You wouldn't want to drink too many strawberry Pelforths in one night I don't think or risk dying of a sugar overdose.

We went up some stairs to a garden (sorry, pictures didn't turn out because it was too dark) and walked around and then went cruising around again. We'll go back again in the daytime to get better pictures of the garden and Franc says that he can get us up to one of the top apartments where you can see 360 degrees around for miles and miles.

We went further east towards Nice by car and got to a row of probably about 50 restaurants, all in the same mini-mall-like building next to the ocean. All of them had neon signs.

Then we went back west to the other side of Antibes to a place called Pointe Bacon, up a huge hill that has a lighthouse on it. From there you can see the lights from Nice to Cannes. Franc says that on a clear day you can also see the snow-covered Alpes. We'll probably be back there again. At the place on the point were you can see all of the lights there is a table with a map of the area on it:

table map

There is so much to see here that we'll probably need a few more of these days and nights to soak it all in and become less touristy. For now, I'll keep snapping pictures. :)

Sunday

Waldemar was going to Antibes to meet a girl he knows through a friend so I decided to go with him and walk around by myself. Franc was supposed to come along but he took off in the morning (we found out later that he was with an uncle from Spain). Because we had no guide, we *just* missed the 10:35 bus and had to wait 3 hours for the next one. Yeah, bus service in Sophia leaves much to be desired. Since the bus route goes in almost a complete loop we tried to run and catch the bus where it leaves Sophia. We ended up stopping and turning around only a short distance from the last stop in Sophia because we figured we had already missed the bus. While waiting on the balcony at the cafeteria I took some pictures of the area:

the neighboring community of Garbejaire
some businesses in the hills and the VSA (Valbonne Sophia Antipolis) gym in front

.... then we finally got to Antibes.

looking down Rue de la République
coast of Antibes
the northernmost beach near the harbour
coast of Antibes
coast of Antibes
coast of Antibes and the fortifying wall
in the "old town" of Antibes
men playing Pétanque
a walkway in Antibes

We almost missed the bus again because we went to the bus station instead of the train station (SNCF) where the Sophia bus starts its route. I don't know what we would have done if we had missed it. Walked home, I guess. :)

Saturday

Franc, Waldemar and I went to Cannes to soak up the atmosphere, the sun and the beautiful women. Franc was a good guide - he knew all of the tricks and where to go. We took a bus from Sophia to Antibes (about 30 minutes) and then a train from Antibes to Cannes (10 minutes).

Antibes train station
on the way to Cannes
on the way to Cannes

Cannes was absolutely beautiful and very busy. Anyone who likes nice cars should come to Cannes at this time of the year because there are literally tonnes of Mercedes around, with a few BMWs, Jaguars and the odd classic convertable car.

Mercedes convertible

Most of the younger men ride scooters or bikes, but we saw three guys in a low-rider cruising down the main drag (Boulevard de la Croisette). After walking up and down the boulevard once .....

Main Film Festival building, I guess
the "main drag"
the "main drag" and some sweet landscaping

we went to the harbour ...

Cannes harbour
Cannes harbour
Cannes harbour

.... and then to the beach (Plage de Midi). Of course the beaches are topless in France, and there were quite a few topless women around. It took Waldemar a little while to get used to it. We stayed at the beach for probably about 3 hours and got great tans. The sun is incredibly hot here in the middle of the day, even in May. Franc told us that in July and August it's almost unbearable to be outside in the sun so that's probably not a good time to come here. However, Franc says that's when the beaches are the busiest.

Franc and Waldemar at the beach
the beach and some "small" hills

After that we went back to the Cannes train/bus station ....

Cannes train station

... and then back home. Since the Antibes train station is small we didn't get tickets for this ride. Small stations rarely have "Control" officers that check for tickets at the gate before you leave, especially on Sundays. There was a guy from Ottawa, Canada yacking away on the train. I didn't say "hi" to him for fear that he might talkandtalkandtalk ....

Life at the CIV where I live is alright. Most of the kids staying there are between 15 and 19, so Waldemar and I feel kinda special - heh. Waldemar met a guy named Franc who also works in Sophia and they might move to an apartment. I'm probably just going to stay at the CIV for now ....

Shaved without shaving cream this morning. Surprisingly, it feels alright.

So I'm here. The plane ride was pretty long and quiet. I sat next to two guys that were from a group of a dozen or so going to Marseille to fight fires. They were from Chicoutimi, Quebec and only two of them spoke any English. Luckily they were the two sitting next to me:

soulDecision lookalikes

Most people slept but I watched a French movie (translated to English) and a documentary about sea life on the pacific coast of Mexico. Exciting stuff. Got some great pictures from the plane though:

from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
from the plane
before landing at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport in Paris
before landing at CDG
a bunch of junked busses looks like a train wreck
inside CDG
inside CDG
a 747 like the one I flew in on

then I left for Nice .... the flight was short. We got up to flying altitude, had a drink and took about 45 minutes to land. We cruised right up the south coast of France from St. Tropez to Nice.

mountains in the distance
the French Riviera
the French Riviera
the French Riviera Update August 12th: Cannes
the French Riviera Update August 12th: Villeneuve Loubet
Marina Baie des Anges [WWW]

When we landed it looked like we were going to land in the sea because the airport is right on the water, but then the airport suddenly appeared underneath us. My baggage didn't arrive there, so I had to arrange to get it delivered the next day (and it did come). The shuttle bus to Sophia Antipolis went through Nice so fast that I didn't get any good pictures except another look at the marina:

Marina Baie des Anges

Notice the blur lines on the road. The posted speed on the highway (Autoroute8) was 130 kph. I'm sure we were close to that but little Peugot's and Renault's were still flying by us.

So I got back to my room and slept from 6:30 until 1pm the next morning, with a short break at 1am to call home (it was 7pm there).

Not much has happened since. I've walked around a bit. Yesterday I had Pescatore (pizza with seafood) with a guy I work with (Waldemar) and three different kinds of beer: Leffe, Amstel, Bruges (with lemon). All of them were pretty good ..... hey, it was beer.

I'm staying up until about 3am so I can sleep in until about 11am. By the time I get into residence and able to crash it will be about 5pm France time and more than 24 hours will have passed. It will be a loooooong day.

I'll report back when I find a computer with Internet access.

- got my plane ticket today and paid for it
- went to the Ministry of Health and signed all of the forms to be out of the country and got a letter for extended insurance
- went to the bank, cleaned up accounts (service charges, etc) and asked about my VISA limit, traveller's cheques and wiring money to/from Nice. Apparently it will be hard to pay VISA bills there, so I'll only use it in an emergency. I'll get an account for work and a debit card and that's probably all I'll need there. The traveller's cheques are for the first month's rent so I don't have to carry cash.

Still living out of my backpack. Steve's couch was much more comfortable than I thought it would be. :)

my bad, I guess .... the travel agent reserved a seat on Sunday the 6th as the departure time and I heard the 7th. The good news is:

a) I won't be leaving on a weekday, so I can get a ride to the train station, and
b) I won't be arriving on the 8th, a French national holiday.

.... so I've booked the flight.