PRI part 5

It's Friday now. Monday was  my pre-conference day with the Climate Action 100+ steering committee, then three days of the conference. I was out for dinners four nights in a row, taking last night off. So today I was a bit weary. I was not looking forward to today's ALL DAY TEAM OFFSITE.

Kind of like the fun fair Tuesday night, I was not psyched. But just like the fun fair, it turned out to be a great day. One because I work with a very bright, very committed, and somewhat cycnical group of people. They have some radical ideas and that is what we spent the day discussing. It was energising to be taking on some really big questions about our theory of change and whether or not we have become captive to the signatories we work with.

Two, we were in an awesome place. My D.C. based colleagues work in a WeWork office and used their credits to get us into a WeWork space on the Champs Elysee. So we passed the Arc de Triomphe on the way to work.

Here's the view from the balcony, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

Here's the stairwell from below:

And from above:

And here's looking out of the stairwell window. Why should a wall be just a wall? Why should a staircase be just a staircase?

The WeWork space was so cool it had beer on tap. My manager Ben and his manager Paul are disappointed to learn the taps aren't turned on until 5 pm--it was 4pm at the time. Paul went out and bought beer.

Here's one of the lounges.

Here I am on one of the balconies. My colleage Emmet (from Donegal) took my photo. I told him to make sure I wasn't blocking the Arc.

We worked from 10 am - 5 pm. I took notes all day so I was worn out. Some of my colleagues caught the Eurostar back to London, some got a rental car and began a long weekend in Normandy. As for me, I took a shuttle bus to Charles de Gaulle, where I spent a night at a very cool hotel prior to a Saturday morning flight. The train/metro/city bus drivers were on strike on Friday the 13th. I was lucky the airport shuttle was running, however it took forever to get to the airport.

One last photo, this of our view at lunchtime, when I finally got to sit at an outdoor cafe. I think this is called Rue Francais, which I think is weird. I'm not aware of an English Street in London. Which isn't to say there isn't one.

Sept. 13