Monthly Archives: April 2006

First taste of Egypt

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My trip from Paris to Cairo was uneventfull so we will just not talk about it much. Just a note for my vegeterian/Vegan friends: do not fly Austrian airlines if you are hungry. There was only once choice for lunch and it was not vegetables! It was very good but just wanted to make a note.

Actually, one more thing. If you fly early from Paris CDG, do not bother arriving too early. Nothing happens before 6 or 6:30 AM. Next time I will know better than wake-up at 4AM ;).

Now, My first impressions of Egypt and Cairo.

Astonishing view of infinite land of sand 5 minutes before landing. I knew there was sand here but I did picture it like this.

And then, I already experience most the things I had been told/warned about:

  • A lot of women wearing the veil.
  • Life and business following the rythm of the prayers. With the call for prayer as well.
  • Men walking arm under arm or even hand in hand in the street.
  • Omnipresent army and police all over town.
  • Crazy driving and jay-walking. I have seen crazy driving in Lima, Hong Kong or Paris but this is one order of magnitude worse. Also, most cars do not turn on their lights at night since it could bother the people coming in the other direction :).
  • People hassling me at the airport and everywhere I go to either get me to an hotel or a papyrus shop . And they don’t go away as easily as in Peru.

I checked-in at an hotel downtown. It is very close to the Egyptian museum and everything else.

I am seeing Karim, the friend of Jacques Alexandre and Raphaele, very soon. Hopefully, he will give me some pointers.

Le Meilleur des Mondes

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As this hits your screen, I should be somewhere in between Paris and Cairo.

As I leave Paris, I wanted to make a little advertisement.

While I was in Paris, as you might have noticed, it was easy for me to access my emails and update this site. It was all possible thanks to my friends Siegfried and Sharon that provided internet access to me at their internet cafe located close to gare de Lyon. Thanks guys, I should be back in August ;).
I have known Siegfried for almost 14 years now. They are cool people. If you are in Paris around Bastille or Gare de Lyon, come by and ask for them, they will be more than happy to meet you.

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Their cafe is a very nice place, with 11 posts and a very good connection. It is called “Le Meilleur des Mondes” and is located at 4 bis rue Michel Chasles 75012 Paris.

Oh yeah… they offer wi-fi if you have your own computer and they have two computers with QUERTY keyboards if like me you have become AZERTY keyboard disabled.

Egypt, here I come

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Some news before I leave tomorrow for Cairo via Vienna :D.

I got my passport back from the Syrian embassy yesterday morning as planned so it means I now have everything I needed before leaving. My backpack is ready and as I wrote last time, it all fits and weights at 17kgs (38lbs).

The last few days have been very laid back as I was meeting with family and friends during the evening and doing mostly nothing but reading, watching movies and seating in front of a computer the rest of the day.

Actually, one thing stroke me. While I have no trouble doing nothing for the day, I have this strong feeling of guilt nagging me by the end of the day. I feel I should be doing more. So, I will have to work on that later. Not on doing more… but on suppressing this damn nagging!

Talking of the future, the next 2 or 3 weeks should be very busy since I plan on visiting very actively all over Egypt. I have two possible contacts in Cairo provided by Jacques-Alexandre and Raphaele so it should go well. Thanks guys! After that, the plan is to spend at least a week on the dead sea, tanning, scuba diving and doing nothing (this for my conscience).

Anyway. Paris has been great. It was really nice hanging out in family and with my friends but I feel two weeks is enough especially as the pastry shops around here are running out of pastries to try and I have been over the standard brasserie menu (crazy how all brasseries serve close to the same things) almost twice already ;).

Since starting from tomorrow, I will be in Egypt, I am not sure if I will be able to post as much as I have been posting in the last two weeks but I will do it whenever I find a place to do so. It has been great so far. I got some good feedback and exchange with some of you. If you read this site, do not hesitate to comment on my posts or send me an email even if it is only to say hi.

Alright, write to you soon from Egypt!