Paris Trip the Real Cheat Sheet

March 11, 2022
Alaa
Travel
Add comment

Well, It was not the first trip for me to Paris, but this time I wanted to really have a full on blend of a local and touristic few days. I crawled the internet looking for recommendations from restaurants to attractions to advise. Everything seemed all over the place.  Which reminds me, the travel tech industry has not evolved much beyond the Trip Advisor approach to ratings, recommendations etc , which in general are completely skewed, hotel and restaurant owners have many ways to play around with the ratings, I got bitten a couple of times following those on similar websites, but that’s a discussion for another day.

So, I decided after what I would consider a great holiday in Paris, that I would put together a simple to the point guide, no marketing bullshit, just straight summary of what worked, what you should not miss and what did not.

So if your searching on the internet ever lands you on this article I hope you find it useful.

Let’s start with the one note, if you land here and the Covid-19 apocalypse is still running, then here is what you need to do for this Paris trip:

  1. Get vaccinated because that’s the right thing to do in all cases
  2. If it is an EU approved vaccine, print the vaccination certificate with you before you travel
  3. Walk into any pharmacy ask them to setup your “Sanitary Pass” , make sure to download the “Anti Covid” app on your phone, it will cost you 32 euro approx. if I recall correctly to get your vaccine on the French system ,and viola your vaccine is showing on the app, you will need to show them that in almost every restaurant, museum or park you will decide to visit.

And here is to wishing this Covid drama comes to an end soon, for the record its December 2021 as I am writing this.

Let’s start off with transport.

The city has a massive underground system that can get you anywhere plus an overground train system connected with it called RER that connects you to nearby cities. Those RER trains for example will get you to Euro Disney.

I recommend you buy a weekly pass from the nearest metro station, it’s called “Navigo Pass” its around 27euros and covers underground, RER and buses. Noting that one way trip to Euro Disney by the train is around 19 euros so this is a real bargain.

Uber is present and I would say decently priced, Bolt is also operational in the city however due to Covid there are restrictions on number of people to ride at a maximum of three.

Now let’s get to it, here is a run-down of all the attractions & restaurants followed by some general tips.

Louvre museum:

Because it isn’t Paris if you do not. Buy the tickets online book and I would really recommend the guided tours. We booked on Headout and I would truly recommend. The tour guide was amazing, real value for money. It was approximately a 4hr tour.

If you are more serious about the museum business you need to realize that to get a decent full round of the entire museum you need at least 2 full days, although I must warn you that the saying is you need 2 full months daily to be able to grasp all what’s in there.

Cutting right to the point, Monalisa painting will take you around 30mins to queue to be able snap a quick photo with the painting in the background. Warning, the painting is much smaller than what it seems in your mind.

The “Palais Royal” is the metro station for visiting. More about the metro system later.

Tour Eiffel

Again, if you do not get that picture with the Tour Eiffel in the background then you have not really been there. Book your tickets online in advance to save yourself a lot of queuing. You should still expect to queue for 30mins or so to get up that’s if you want to climb up the Eiffel tower even with online tickets. Without you will queue first to buy, then queue to enter.

My recommendation, book a slot at night. I think it’s more worthy of picture when it’s lit up than in the morning. However, views from the top at night are not as good as you might think, the city of light is not that bright from above.

One thing to note, foggy days can damage the whole experience of being at the summit, because usually fog is lower than the summit you end up seeing nothing.

“Bir Hakim” is the metro station for visiting, its roughly another 8-minute walk after that. More about the metro system later.

 Palace of Versailles

One of the most overrated places to visit, although it remains on the bucket list of many. We visited in winter the gardens which are the main attraction are not really that green as in all the leaves have fallen, so was not exactly a scene to see.

Its roughly a 45mins drive outside with a bus, there is a way to arrive there with the transport system RER, but I have not personally used it.

Buy tickets online on the palace’s website, we made the mistake of buying skip the queue tickets (it turned out to be a scam & there were no queues anyway) together with the audio guide, personal hack take your own headphones with you they do not provide them there. It would take you all in all around half a day all in all but lower your expectations it’s not that of a thing.

Euro Disney

Traveling with kids then I would recommend. They are 2 parks you can buy the tickets online, but you will need one day for each park. My advice do not pay a fortune to stay at the Disney hotels, read on I will tell you another option.

Overall, the parks are great something for every age, take note if your kids are below 130cm of height, there are very limited rides that they can enjoy.

Now getting there is simple, my general tip on transport in general is you should buy the Weekly transport system pass called “Navigo” pass as I said earlier. The Trip on RER Line “A” from Paris is roughly 50mins trains run till late in the day. I would recommend you wrap up your day there, head back to your Paris hotel and come out the next day to continue.

This way you do not have to hop between hotels and the hotels within the Disney parks are for sure not the worth the money they charge.

There are no fast passes any more, but the option to buy skip the line kind tickets for every game from the euro Disney app. The skip the line ticket costs an additional between 5 to 12 euros per person on some games it’s worth it.

Worth noting food over there is so subpar so do not have high hopes and save those calories to somewhere worth it.

Food

Certainly one of my favorite topics and a trip isn’t a trip if it did not have plenty of food. I think we’re lucky overall with our selection, so here is from my perspective the must tries :

  1. Café de Flore – Fantastic breakfast place a real typical Parisienne place small size yet very cozy, hot chocolate is amazing and food is great. Expensive for a breakfast spot but worth it.
  2. L’Entercote de Paris – Super amazing, single selection on the menu which obviously is the entrecôte, one of the best steaks and sauces you will ever taste. Ambience is decent not fancy but a flying color on all aspects, do not miss. Location is very close to Champs Elysée
  3. Relais de l’Entercote – I would rate it second to the previous one, both equally famous, this one though is a bit fancier from ambience point of view single dish not selection, and the sauce is pretty unique. Expect to queue for both of them if you head there after 7pm.
  4. Leon de Bruxelles – now known as Leon is the place to be to eat muscles, a wide variety of muscle in different sauces and setups, all of them are wonderful. Its right on the champs Elysée, again expect to queue for a little while

Random but worth doing

  1. Shakespeare and Company – Renowned bookstore in Paris pretty iconic, and it actually has some pretty nice vibes to it, it’s over in the Latin quarter
  2. Latin Quarter – Have a walk in the Latin quarter, lots of old shops , places to eat quality of food in many of the places there is not great so consider a light snack instead. But the whole area has very nice vibes to it.

من ما كتبت….

February 9, 2022
Alaa
عربي
Add comment

فتحت عينيها بصعوبة فلم تعتد أن تكسوا الشمس عينيها في مثل هذا الوقت من العام…هبت مسرعة تنظر في هاتفها ، كانت تشير الساعة الى السابع و الربع صباحاً…يبدوا أنها لم تسمع صوت المنبه …على أي حال يجب عليها ان تنهض فيجب ان تكون على مكتبها بحلول الثامنة فليس من الجيد ان تتأخر عن موعدها في الإسبوع الثاني من تسلمها العمل…

نظرت من النافذة المطلة بطَرَفِها على جزء قليل من حديقة سنترال بارك الشهيرة و ابتسمت قليلاً فها هو حلم الطفولة قد تحقق و التحقت بالعمل في نيويورك و في أكبر المنظمات الدولية. عادت تنظر في المرآة لتستكمل ارتداء ملابسها و أدركت انها ليست لديها ما يكفي من الوقت اليوم للاهتمام بشعرها فهو يحتاج لبعض الوقت بسبب طبيعته العنيدة، ستكتفي اليوم بربطه على هيئة ذيل حصان .

ابتسمت و هي تلملم أشيائها من طاولة قرب الباب و تذكرت وقتاً ليس ببعيد عندما كان يؤرقها مظهر شعرها و أنها لم تكن تفعل ما فعلته بشعرها اليوم دون ان يترك ذلك غَصة في نفسها ، كانت تقلق كثيراً في سنين المراهقة من مظهرها و تهتم ان تكون في افضل شكل، و لكن ظل شعرها العنيد ينغص عليها . 

تذكرتهُ…لم تنسى ما قاله لها يوماً منذ حوالي عشر سنوات. كانوا يقضون إجازة قصيرة و كانت قد أمضت يومها في حوض السباحة . في المساء بينما كانوا يتأهبون للخروج للعشاء أبى شعرها ان يبدوا جميلاً في نظرها فانخرطَت في البكاء. لم يدري ماذا يمكنه أن يفعل ، ربما لا يدري كلُ الرجال ماذا يجب عليهم ان يفعلوا عندما تبكي الأنثى، اقترب منها و ضمها اليه و قال ، يقولوا انكِ تشبهيني كثيراً و ذلك الشعر العنيد هو أيضاً من عندي ، و لكن أنظري الى الجانب المشرق عندما أرحل عن الدنيا يوماً سيكون ملازماً لكي شيء يذكركِ بي…ارتمت في أحضانه يومها و استكملت البكاء و حاول هو جاهداً ان يخفي دموعه و لكنها رأتها….

ارتسمت على وجهها ابتسامة ناعمة و ملأها سكون ، امتدت يديها الى حقيبتها تبحث عن هاتفها…بدأت تكتب له رسالة، لكن سرعان ما محت ما كتبت، حولت ازرار الكتابة الي العَربية فهي تعلم انه يتذوقها أكثر من الانجليزية و كتبت جملة من كلمتين فقط….” أبي أحبك”…. 

Leadership My Style…

December 4, 2021
Alaa el Nawawy
Leadership

In recent weeks I got the opportunity to discuss my leadership style it’s been a controversial topic discussed many times and I think over the years I have built a style that is built on three main pillars. Let me take the opportunity to put down those principles in writing it helps me usually grasp my ideas in a better format and also as a reminder to look back at this blog post to discuss and analyze am I really applying them in a life or not.

The 3 pillars for me are as follows :

1. Agree on the objective : A lot of leaders spend time setting objectives for their team members that align to the objectives and mission of the team, but in hindsight forget to make sure that the team is actually aligned to the mission and objective of the team as a whole. Where is point A and which point B are we heading to is in many cases overlooked. While setting individual objectives is definitely very important but that’s a completely different topic than setting team objective and aligning to it. One must not fall prey to confusing setting the objective with setting the path by which we will reach that objective , that is what you leave to each individual team member to figure on their own.

2. Feedback : You get astonished at the amount of people who lose their jobs or fail at it just because their leaders fall short in giving them feedback. There is no merit in watching your team member hit the wall multiple times without stepping in to discuss approach and coach them on their own approach. 6 months or even annual performance review cycles is a very flawed approach. Continuous check-ins both deepen the relationship with team members and insures you are actually setting up a person for success rather than waiting to tell them I have told you so.

3. Moonshots : Its often overlooked by leaders to understand why their team members are doing this job. Apart from the obvious reasons of earning a living , every individual in my mind chose their job initially because they found something they are passionate about in it. The daily ramblings of the job often push people away from their passion to the point that they forget. As a leader you must instill in your team a single project, task or objective that consumes around 10% of their time that is in direct connection with their passion, even if it is not in direct relationship with their day to day tasks. Without a reason to show up everyday with the same enthusiasm , one day they will just lose the reason to show up and things go downward from there

Get used to rethinking your style and adapting , who knows maybe in a few years from now my 3 pillars will change , till then we continue to pursuit what’s best given what we know at the time.

Cyber Security ….We are All Responsible !

September 6, 2020
Alaa el Nawawy
Cyber Security
Add comment

In a recent article published by the World Economic Forum, it categorized the great disruptions that the world would face as and I quote “Pandemics, Cyber-attacks and environment tipping points”. (link to article at the bottom)  

The reality put forward by Covid-19 when it comes to tacking a global health crisis is that the collective effort of a society is as important as the individual efforts of people or organizations and maybe in some cases even more important. Putting Cyber-attacks into the same bracket as pandemics and environmental tipping point does not make it difficult to realize the analogy and the reality that we need to start tackling cyber security in similar fashion.

It is adamant to realize that a cyber security breach of an organization that is offering products or services be that a financial institution, e-commerce platform , healthcare provider or others has the potential to spread to other organizations through the fact that many organizations rely on each other’s services to offer a complete user journey or experience through API’s etc , but the scenario that worries me more , is what a follow on cyber-attack could do to the individuals who consume those products and services.

Exposing customer credentials from any service provider, can trigger attempts to leverage those credentials to access regular individual’s social media accounts, other financial institutions they may be using, private emails or even devices. While the cost of cyber breach to organizations is always tied to a monetary value in terms of either direct financial loss, loss of potential revenue or brand reputation, yet the impact on human life in the aftermath of regular individuals being victims of a mass scale cyber-attack is in my opinion unquantifiable.

Similar to the global response to Covid-19, its time the world realizes the need for coordinated cyber security measures to be taken across all organizations offering services to consumers online. Organizations need to realize the extent of impact to human wellbeing from negligence on applying proper cyber security practices on their side, repercussions are no longer limited to their own organization. Regulators, governments and the cyber security community needs to drive every organization offering services online to a minimum state of cyber security controls, those controls need to take the same priority or even higher as imposing taxes, renewing business licenses and should be subject to an audit.

The broader community specially organizations which have an aim of getting as much people connected to the internet specifically social media companies have an obligation to support the spread of proper cyber security practices exactly like they made easy access to Covid-19 information. Internet usage continues to grow, and companies continue to find new avenues to leverage the internet to offer services to consumers, they also have an obligation to inform and educate the average user on proper ways to protect themselves online….

…..In short it’s time for a collective response to cyber security issues, organizations do not just have a responsibility towards their own shareholders and customers, but to the wider societies they operate in.

But will the world really change ? ..

March 30, 2020
Alaa el Nawawy
Life
Add comment

With everybody settling into extended weeks of quarantine , thoughts about a world post Covid-19 continue to evolve , with thoughts ranging from new learning experiences , a re-structured payment hierarchy that rewards jobs we realized we need most to people even juggling thoughts about the end of capitalism as we know it today.

I tried to gather my thoughts about this unprecedented time, after all it’s a time unlike any we have lived before nor will we god willing ever live this again.

To start with there is no other that the topic dearest to my heart Tech.

  1. Technology: Time and again technology has come to our rescue enabling millions of people around the globe to continue learning, communicating and working. Jobs, meetings and tasks in industries that were for long deemed undoable down the wire turned out to work just fine. Looking at the cost that could have been avoided over the last 10 years at least if the same means which have been available for that period of time had been leveraged in the same manner and the impact this would have had on profitability, environment and well-being of people.

So, what’s next in that space, more of predictions because everybody does that don’t, they:

  • E-learning will definitely come out as a big winner, and I mean it here in the context of e-learning only and first not just for post graduate studies but all the way down to schools, e-learning only schools are a must ,I can almost see this happen in the next few months .
  • Remote first work ethic, organizations specially in industries outside the tech space will embark on journeys to explore how tech can help them improve their bottom line, after all it worked during a time of crisis, so why not during normal times. Additionally, I do not feel we have realized the full potential of technology in that space beyond the ability to communicate, the need to extend to the ability to execute will drive a lot of change in that space.
  • E-commerce, not that it needed any further boost than it did, but brick and mortar trading I think has taken the final knockout blow with Covid-19. Entire investment plans will be re-visited.
  • Health Care tech, for the lack of a better word, for years Fintech has been the hot topic, no more, I think. VC’s, investors and corporates will embark on a journey of cash splashing on everything health care related that enables faster access to health care, better and speedier testing, old school vaccine development will get an overhaul, at the same time.

 

  1. Capitalism ..think again. A lot of the thoughts I am reading around the demise of capitalism for me do not even qualify for wishful thinking. I am convinced that if it wasn’t for the overtake of capitalism in the past 40 years or so, none of what we have today could have been possible. All the tools at hand that we are using to fight Covid-19, or enable our lives to continue during this time would not have been possible if it wasn’t for capitalism.

Yet the argument about how the system has suppressed the most needing, crippled people and nations with debt is strong and valid. However not strong enough to compel a full system breakdown. I think changes in that space can be summarized in the following:

  • Regulation: Governments will become a bit more heavy handed in regulation of industries they have continuously overlooked, specifically in light of Covod-19 and the realization that free market does not always step up to expectations at times of crisis, healthcare, insurance, consumables are targets
  • Earnings: Triggered mainly by the realization that people who we most need to live deserve a lot more pay than people who entertain us, although astonishing that it took a global pandemic to reach that realization. Yet I fear the euphoria of this will be short lived if not capitalized on quickly
  • Immigration: The shortage of skills or rather the imbalance of it will trigger a new wave of immigration, although I believe it will be a much focused and organized one.

 

  1. Society …or people in general, their emotions, habits and thoughts about their lifestyle and its sustainability will jump high into people’s minds. I do not think within my generation at least that a threat to life its continuity and our abilities to sustain it have ever been tested, a few thoughts there would be:
  • Savings: As soon as the dust settles, the need for new safe nets would emerge, safe nets that do not involve stocks or bond, but more innovative accessible to the masses investment forms to enable people to sustain life at times like this.
  • Healthcare: It would no longer be a need, the big winners out of this will be insurance companies who will be able to develop new more economical models that enables a wide spectrum of people to access healthcare in a more affordable manner
  • Education: Newer generations on the doorsteps of undergraduate studies would rethink their prospects, all lists that currently exist of the jobs needed for the future would be revisited.

 

Ironically the society and human aspects of the post Covid-19 world will be the most challenging, for the simple reason that we tend to forget. Getting the masses to adhere to new principles and way of life has been a challenge at the time of the crisis itself through all the resistance seen worldwide to the simple directive of staying at home, so embarking on a full lifestyle change post the Covid-19 era will be even more challenging.