THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE NEWSROOM, April 7, 2004 -
Finding an error on the front page of a major
newspaper is more common than most would think. But
finding a grammatical error in an early edition
article about President Bush holding a meeting about
the Iraq mess and then telling an editor who then
fixed the error is not an experience most young
journalists have.
This was just one more moment to go along with the
others in the past few days where I had to step back
and chuckle about my location.
Another one of these moments happened shortly after I
sent the last dispatch. I was headed from the Internet
cafe to my hotel. After purchasing a newspaper I was
walking along as the Queen of England and her fleet of
police escorts drove by. (She was visiting the city for the first time in several decades.)
She looks good.
I applauded with the other Parisians and started
laughing again.
If getting lost in this city is some kind of must-have
travel experience, then check that sucker off the
list. Not only was I lost out of mind this morning
when I was trying to find the newspaper's offices, to
make matters worse I had my suitcase and a loose suit
with me.
But during the daily rainstorm, and my required cafe
stop during the shower, I regrouped, found the address in
the phone book, ripped out the page in the phone book
and got a taxi. That solved language barriers and my
carefree style of taking down directions and
addresses.
Also mixed in today was a few hours where I thought I
lost my Eurail pass, a few hours inside the Louvre and
an evening trip to the Eiffel Tower. Two out of three
is better than I deserve.
Horse racing tomorrow and then the night train to
Berlin.
Hope everyone is well.
Take care,
Brett
