Working in Paris

Azerty keyboard
Photo by Alexandre Duret-Lutz

Yesterday was my first day working in Paris and the company handed me a laptop ... with the operating system in French and an Azerty keyboard. I can deal with a French operating system, but after 30 years of a Qwerty keyboard, Azerty is very frustrating. It seems like a programmer's nightmare: you have to shift to type a number or even many of the most common punctuation symbols. I can see why it would be better for writing a letter in French, but that's about it.

I had dinner at a sushi restaurant last night and waitress heard my accent and seemed almost irritated when I refused to switch to English. I thought maybe it was physically impossible for her to smile until she saw that I left a small pourboire (tip) on the table. I should have left extra for the fruit flies.

I'll work in Paris again today and leaving tonight. No photos yet, but I should be traveling regularly to Paris over the next two to three months.

In other news; the Eiffel Tower is going to be turned into the world's largest planter. Hopefully I'll get to see it again before this happens.