Work Week in Paris

As part of Tyler's curriculum at ACSC, he took a five-day trip to Paris to study the French military and its similarities to the United Kingdom. 

I left on Monday morning via a coach from the school directly to St. Pancras Train Station in London.  The coach ride was fairly awful because of the traffic in the city and took three hours in stop-and-go traffic.  Luckily, the Eurostar train experience was very enjoyable and smooth.  After briefly going through security and x-ray machine for the luggage, we boarded the pleasant high-speed train for a journey just under three hours.  It zipped along at about 100-120 mph and took the tunnel under the English Channel. 

Upon arriving in Paris, we boarded another bus directly to our hotel, the Cercle National des Armees.  We had about 1.5 hours before we had our next event, so I went for a quick walk around the neighborhood and passed a series of creative window displays in a department store. 

Our group then changed into our service dress and boarded buses again for the Arch de Triumph for a memorial service at the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI.  We arrived about 30 minutes early, so we waited inside the Champs Elysees giant roundabout gazing at the Arch as dusk settled. 

 

When the time arrived we walked down the staircase tunnel underneath the roundabout and formed up in a column on the sidewalk a couple hundred yards down on the Champs Elysees.  As we stood in formation, hundreds of tourists stopped to take pictures as they wandered up the famous street.  After about 15 minutes, a few elderly French veterans arrived with flags and took up position in front.  Behind our group was a similarly sized group of the French War College, Ecole de Guerre, we were visiting. 

With the police blocking the Champs Elysees, we marched straight up under the Arc de Triomphe while a military band played patriotic French songs and stopped to the left of the fire for the unknown soldier.  We right-faced to look at the fire and on the other side the students from the French school. 

A short program followed with various senior officers laying wreaths on the memorial.  We then saluted as they played the French National Anthem and then dismissed.  Our group milled about the memorial for a few minutes and took in the atmosphere before we boarded the buses back to our hotel. 

After a quick change of clothes, we ventured out for dinner next door to our hotel.  My syndicate mainly stuck together and we had a fine French meal.  I had a salad with smoked haddock, potatoes and olive tapenade along with good French red wine. 

The next morning we rode the metro to the Ecole Militaire which sits at the end of the long grassy lawn behind the Eiffel Tower.  The dress code for the week was business suits and everyone looked pretty smart.  We had a morning of lectures about the French military and then took a nice long lunch at a restaurant on the corner near Rue Cler where Laura and I had stayed back in 2008.  We then took a short metro ride across the Seine to the Assemble National to meet with the equivalent of a French congress woman who chaired the defense committee. Inside the conference room everyone had access to a microphone and earpiece.  A couple of translators sat behind glass windows and translated everything back and forth between French and English.

She spoke on defense topics and had a questions and answer session for 2 hours.  Afterwards, we walked across town to the British Embassy to meet the British Ambassador to France.  We were welcomed into the lavish residence that was once home to Napoleon's favorite sister. We sat in a long room and the ambassador spoke and took some questions.  He was Lord Llewyn, the former chief of staff of Prime Minister David Cameron for ten years. 

 

After the talk, we adjurned to the hallway and sitting rooms for champagne and appetizers.  The furniture in the house was largely original from 1815 when it was purchased and had the feel of Versailles or other lavish palace.  It was quite the event and we all felt it was a very posh and unique reception. 

After the reception, we walked back towards the hotel and dropped into a nice restaurant where almost everyone had steak.  I went out with a couple of guys for a drink after dinner and we bounced to a couple of bars before turning in.

The next day, several of my syndicate met up to walk to school instead of taking the metro.  The trip was about two miles, but was scenic as it passed by the Grand Palais, Les Invalides and Rue Cler.  After another day of lectures, several of us decided to walk around the sights and went to the Eiffel Tower first.  We climbed up the 50 or so flights of stairs up to the 2nd level and enjoyed the view as darkness fell. 

We walked along the river for a while before I split off with a couple of other guys to change at the hotel.  The whole group met back up at the hotel and we took the metro to the Latin Quarter.  We dropped into a Cuban themed bar for a beer before seeking out a small restaurant across the river from Notre Dame that was out of this world.  We sat upstairs and several of the group had a view upon façade of the church out the window. 

After dinner, we walked up to the church for a moment before most of the group took an Uber back and two other guys and myself walked the 3 miles back to the hotel to burn off some calories from dinner. 

The next morning we took the city bus to the Senate building to be briefed by two senators.  The French system is unique in that the senators are chosen by the congressman and aren't elected directly by the public.  We again discussed defense issues with translator assistance.  Afterwards, we toured the building and discovered the lavish, gold plated great hall and listened in to a debate on the floor of the senate from the viewing area. 

It was then time for lunch, so we marched across town back to Rue Cler.  Most of the guys bought a baguette (I bought sushi to go) and sat at outdoor tables while one chap from the syndicate and myself walked over to the Eiffel tower and had lunch on a park bench looking at the tower. 

We finished the day with a few lectures from the Gendarmerie.  Little did I know, but the Gendarmerie are a military branch of the police structure in France and their primary duty is towns with a population under 20,000.  The Police National are responsible for Paris and other towns over 20,000 residents. 

After class, I walked over to the Christmas market on the Champs Elysees and bought a few things for the family before walking back to the hotel to meet up for dinner with the group.  We left around 830 and went towards the Opera and settled on a packed Chinese restaurant.  It served very authentic and non-western Chinese dishes that were pretty adventurous.  We closed the place down at about 1100 and turned in for the night.

The next morning we took the metro to the army museum at Les Invalides.  We had a private tour for 1.5 hours covering WWI and the secret spy service. 

Afterwards, I circled the Christmas market one more time looking for something for Laura, but it ended up being more expensive than it was worth, so I made my way back to the hotel.  I shopped a little while longer buying her some perfume and a 3 meters of a colorful fabric I found in a sewing shop I happened upon. 

I was separated from the group so had to make my own way to the train station Gare du Nord.  I ended up taking the RER and doing a lot of walking, but eventually made it on time.  The train ride back was very beautiful as the sun set.  In the end, spending five days in Paris was such a wonderful  experience, especially with some of the very unique events at the Arch de Triumph and Embassy.