My Business Trip to Europe

     My last business trip to Europe was in October 2018, actually few months before my stroke in February 2019 which rendered me incapable of working. It definitely was unforgettable because I had the chance to visit Paris alone, my first solo trip, prior to our business meeting in Belgium.

     After arriving at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, I bravely took the train conveniently all the way to Paris. I was apprehensive travelling alone but I braved the challenge.

At Schipol Airport, took inter-country train to Paris

     I became a tourist in Paris, although I stayed in a small and relatively cheap lodging instead of the pricey hotels. Paris is not cheap, I found out, really a place for the wealthy to visit.

With the iconic Eiffel Tower

     It was really an experience to travel on my own, and when I arrived at the train platform in Paris, there was snatching incident right in front of me, a teenager pit-pocketing on an unsuspecting Korean young tourist. Police were fast, they were able to apprehend the young black girl. To my mind, I thought snatching occurs only in third world countries, only then I realized even in modern and advanced countries, there are petty cases like this.

At the Arc de Triomphe

     I roamed Paris, went to places which I read in many novels. I went to the Louvre which was so crowded, it was impossible to get a decent selfie. In my walk around the city, I passed by Rue La Fayette. I paused, I remembered I've read this street in many novels I've read in the past. I was ecstatic to be in such a place.

Rue La Fayette 

     I was in Paris for a day or two, I can't remember exactly. I went there prior to my business meeting in Belgium, the technical headquarter of the last company I worked with. We had a global sales meeting in Antwerp for two days, then we had technical training in Louvain-la-Neuve, where our R&D center was located.

Walk around the lake after our meeting for a break