Extra Credit in Feb: Work takes me to France, but the week is spoiled by food poisoning...

While Philadelphia was the marquee trip for the month of Feb in my 12 month marathon, I had to make an unexpected visit to France for business meetings with my boss.  That makes two trips in one month, hence, "extra credit" for me in Feb.  I was debating whether or not I should even bother posting a blog for this trip, since it was more business than pleasure, which is why you'll notice significantly fewer pictures this time around.  Nonetheless, it was still a trip full of new experiences worthy to blog about, albeit not all glamorous (i.e., more to come in a bit on the food poisoning).

Looking down on Obernai

My company's offices are located in Molsheim, France (near Strasbourg, which is a one hour flight east of Paris near the French-German border known as the "Alsace" region).  Upon arrival on a Sunday afternoon, a colleague of mine was kind enough to invite me to spend the evening with her and her family.  Prior to dinner, they first took me for a walk in the hillsides of Obernai where there are a lot of wineries producing 7 types of Alsace wines:  Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Tokay Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Noir.  The photo to the left is from the hillside looking down on a town called, "Obernai."  When I snapped this picture, I thought to myself "Geez, last year at this time, there's no way I could have predicted myself standing in this very spot, freezing my butt off on a hillside, looking down on a picturesque European town...This is so random!"  Similar thoughts went through my head, as I was graciously welcomed into my colleague's home sharing a home-cooked meal in a French house with a French family -- I felt comfortable, but at the same time, I felt so far away from home and my "bubble," but in a good way....

My schedule for Monday-Thursday was jammed pack with meetings, as I had to make the most use of my time visiting with my boss and team in Molsheim.  But, dinner/food is always an experience after each long day in the office.  I was enjoying oysters and mousse chocolat to start my week, but then it went downhill mid-week....It was hard for me and a colleague to find a descent place to eat at on Valentine's day, because everywhere was booked.  So, we just ended up at a pizza/pasta chain restaurant that's kinda like the equivalent to an "Olive Garden" here in the States.  I ordered a basic pasta dish which tasted and seemed fine during dinner.  But, the next day I didn't feel so well.  I woke up really tired thinking it was just the jet-lag catching up, but by the time I got to the office and the morning progressed, my stomach started not feeling so good and I felt nauseous, so I had to ask my colleague to drive me back to the hotel.  I tried to sleep it off all Wed afternoon but kept getting the chills and finally I ended up puking in my room.  At first I thought maybe it was the oysters, but that had been 2 nights earlier at the restaurant in the hotel which is reputable.  I was also feeling kinda stupid if it was cause of exhaustion from the traveling, because I was only on month two so far!  Well, I didn't feel so stupid afterwards when an admin from our Molsheim office confirmed that two other Millipore employees had eaten at the same "Pizzeria Del Arte" chain as me and fell ill the next day, as well.  The admin placed a complaint with the Mayor's office after hearing about my case.  Since it was my colleague's choice to go to Pizzeria Del Arte, I told him if he wanted to get back at me for pushing him on some reports, he didn't have to try to kill me...I'm just glad the food poisoning was over in 12 hours, because I was so worried for the plane ride back to Boston.  

Restaurant la Vignette

Was able to recover to go back into the office Thursday, but the food poisoning killed my appetite for the rest of the week, which was unfortunate.  I was able to accept a dinner invitation from my boss for my last evening at this cute little place in Strasbourg called, "Restaurant la Vignette," which was really good.  So, if you're ever in Strasbourg/Molsheim area, avoid Pizzeria del Arte, but I definitely recommend Restaurant la Vignette for some real good, authentic French food from the Alsace region.




As you can imagine, it turned out to be a really long week between the rigorous work schedule and the food poisoning.  But, I'm glad to have survived my first experience of getting sick while traveling and getting that over with.  Really hope I don't have to experience it again, at least not for a long long time.


In the last 4 weeks, I've done three places already.  My next trip is supposed to be towards the end of March, so there's going to be a little lull before my next post.  And, after this last trip with the food poisoning and 4 hour layovers at Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris, this lull doesn't seem like a bad idea right now......