It Must be the Coffee

Well, we completed our work in Amiens a day ahead of schedule so it looks like I'll hit the road to Frankfurt tomorrow and cash in a vacation day on Friday!
It was amazing what we were able to accomplish in such a short time, but unfortunately due to proprietary rules I cannot discuss that (besides many of you would probably delete this site from your list for subjecting you to such boaring things)!

I think I figured out how we were able to get ahead of schedule though, Coffee! Now it is important to note that I quit drinking coffee (in the US) almost 4 years ago. I switched over to a mixture of red and green tea (naturally decaff and full of antioxidants blah, blah, blah). Anyway, when I am over here I simply cannot resist the coffee. It's the real deal! Full of flavor, and really packs a punch. Also, you can't avoid it!

Here's an example of the typical day:

1. Wake at 6:00AM, have a lite breakfast (some sort of whole oats cereal with other things in there), a small pastry, a small juice, and of course coffee.
2. Arrive at work, and are immediately greeted with "How about a coffee?" (How they got to work before I did and already had coffee ready I don't know)
3. You work feverishly until precisely 12:00noon, go to lunch, then coffee, while discussing what happened in the morning and what you will do in the afternoon to correct it.
4. You work feverishly again until 5:00PM and then go to dinner (dinner is an experience all it's own: first you meet for beer to decide where to go eat, you then choose a wine for the starter which is usually champagne in this region, and a wine to go with the meal, then either dessert or a cognac, and then coffee).
5. At this point if someone else has just arrived in town, and either you or someone you are with knows them, you go for a beer or two to celebrate seeing them again and to wish them luck on their work.
6. You get back into your hotel room and catch a few hours sleep before doing it all again.

The day seems to fly by and before you know it your work is completed and you are ready to leave.

Well, I've got about a 5 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow, but I'm not going to be in any hurry. I'm a day ahead of schedule and plan to take my time and see the sites along the way. Hopefully I'll capture some of them for you to see too. You can be sure of one thing though, I'm gonna have a nice cup of coffee to make sure I stay awake during the drive!