We took the overnight from Boston to Paris and arrived early this morning. We stumbled to our hotel, grabbed a bite and went for a walk. Twenty minutes into the walk James and Ellie were woozy so we went back to the hotel for a three hour nap.
It was just what we needed. After that we walked and walked and walked. I love this city. It’s been two years since we’ve been here and to say that I’ve missed it would be an understatement.
Few tech related thoughts from day 1.
1. I added an international data plan to everyone’s phones before we left. But everyone in this family is a data head so we are using WiFi whenever possible. Going from LTE to 3g hasn’t been a big deal and I appreciate the improved battery life.
2. I tried making a phone call from my Verizon iPhone 5. It hasn’t worked once. SMS has been flaky for us here. On the other hand, Kik has been solid as a rock. Fast and reliable. I’m not sure what I will do if I am forced to make a voice call.
3. Foursquare has been a blast. I added Paris to-do lists from Naveen and Fred and it’s been great to get a push notification when I’m near a place on my list. The amount of Foursquare tips in Paris compared to our last trip feels dramatic.
4. Our hotel is great but the outlets are in tough places and we only brought two converters. Next time I’m bringing a few power strips with me.
5. We have always been big fans of the Metro. So convenient and love getting data connectivity underground. I still have the same app I installed from the last trip. It would be super cool if that app integrated foursquare location data, much like Instagram and Uber have done.
6. My favorite weather app, Dark Sky, doesn’t support France. Bummer.
7. Never really had a problem with Apple Maps in the places I frequent in the United States but Google maps beats the tar out of Apple Maps for iPhone in Paris. Glad I have it.
8. So many Android phones here. The difference is quite apparent.
Well, that’s it for now. Bonne nuit!