Arrival in Doha

Several people remarked ahead of my departure from the UK - especially those living in Doha - that the end of June was a surprising time to come to Qatar.  They made it patently clear that it's rather hot and with the month of Ramadan starting just 3 weeks after I arrived, access to facilities would be more limited during daylight hours.  So suitably forewarned and feeling daunted, I duly prepared by bringing with me factor 50 sun cream, a certified wide-brimmed hat, and my first ever pair of prescription sun glasses.

Perhaps that's why there was no queue at the airport (Heathrow terminal 4), though I had already checked in online, so it was just a baggage drop.  Actually the plane seemed to have plenty of passengers, though as far as I could tell most of them were carrying on from Doha to various other destinations in Africa and Asia.  My prospective employers, the QMA, had booked the flight for me and at my suggestion chose a flight during the day - it as the 13.15 departure and it arrived a few minutes early in Doha at 21.45. 

According to my uncle, when he was living in Doha about twenty years ago there was just the one hotel and it's still a familiar landmark:


(photo shared by Viju Jose)

The pyramidal Doha Sheraton is now situated in what I'd like to call the foothills of the growing skyscraper mountain on the West Bay, buildings that would befit a huge city, perhaps a predictor of future growth (current population of Doha is less than 1 million according to some official statistics published in December 2011 by the Qatar Statistics Authority). Now there are dozens of hotels dotted around and I was booked to provisionally stay in one of them whilst my residency permit is being processed and then government accommodation will be allocated.

As a recent indication of the pace of growth, I purchased the latest 4th edition of the Explorer Guide to Living and Working in Qatar , which was out of stock in most places, but I somehow found one through Oxfam.  A new edition has appeared roughly each year since it was first published in 2006 with the next edition due in September this year.  It's a substantial tome, more in the style of a tourist guide; there are other books that are more revealing about the culture, such as Donna Marsh's The Middle East Unveiled: A cultural and practical guide for all Western business professionals   And, of course, there are many online sources of information of which qatarliving.com appears very popular and informative.

The flight in was along the Gulf, over the water right the way from Kuwait, and when arriving at Doha it was really simple - the plane banked and then descended to touch down moments later, arriving early at 9.45pm (local) [=GMT+03.00 hrs].  We taxied a little way until we were near the transits/departure terminal.  A few minutes later we disembarked, stepped onto the tarmac and made our way to a shuttle bus which was ferrying passengers to departures for transits, and then to arrivals.  My father had reminded me that this would actually be my second touch-down at Doha airport since I had previously been there in 1988 with my mother en route to Bangkok, when the plane stopped to pick up some more passengers before proceeding to Muscat.

The queue at immigration was moderately long, but arriving passengers were being checked pretty quickly.  It was a chance to observe the various nationalities and dress - staff at the entry point to the queue were wearing western-style uniforms and looked oriental, whilst those at and around the immigration desk were wearing [I think] thawb (Arab robe garment), ghutra (headdress) and black egal (headband) and I guess they were Qataris.  Those queueing (mainly men) were probably, like me, coming to work, but were largely from the Middle East and South Asia.  After collecting baggage, and emerging from Customs, I soon found the hotel booth and was met by a representative from the hotel. 

As a stranger I was naturally keen to strike up a bit of conversation with anyone I met so I asked the rep about his background and he related that he was from Colombo and had been in Doha a couple of years.   The driver to the hotel was from Bangladesh and had been in Doha for 4 years, so he was able to describe some of the landscape for me, now lit up at night; it was now about 10.30pm and there was a lot of traffic as this was a day off for most people with many locals liking to walk along the Corniche after sunset.  (He confirmed that the Sheraton was the hotel back in '92.)  And then arriving at the hotel, I was received by reception staff were from Ukraine and Belorus respectively; it seemed different roles or strata in the services were typically represented by particular nationalities.

I had finally reached my destination and soon felt very comfortable in the hotel.   After some unpacking it was time to collapse into bed and sleep ...!

Arrival in France

I have for quite some while being using a domain, chezpaul.org.uk, 'chez Paul' is French, meaning roughly 'at Paul's house.' Yet, as of the start of this year, the only place I had visited in France was Charles de Gaulle airport! However, in March, a couple of friends kindly offered me the chance to stay at their apartment in Paris. I looked at my work schedule (and also mindful of the celebrations at the temple) and indicated the last week of April. That was ok, so the holiday was on!

I only gradually learnt whereabouts I was staying - information was passed on little by little. "It's about 20 minutes from the Gare du Nord" - so I located the station and initially thought it would be North of that location, but actually it was south, far more central than I expected, in the 6th arrondissement, la Rue du Cherch Midi. Being excited and inquisitive about the prospect, I tried to learn more about the locale and came across a video that conveys quite well the environment:

Paris 6eme Rue du Cherche Midi
Uploaded by Chouettedor

Like most streets in Paris, there are many layers of construction history. I think the bâtiment (building) in which I stayed and many in the environs were from the early part of the 19th century. You can see a number of such buildings in the following photo was taken a couple hundred meters down the road:

I was up on the 4th floor - quite a traipse with no lift, especially when I arrived with my luggage after a long journey! (However, I wasn't that tired because I had arrived via Eurostar, which was far more comfortable than a plane).

On proceeding through the main entrance and entering a little courtyard, I was struck by the smells in the air, quite an interesting atmosphere, a sense of antiquity; and the quarterly sounding of a small church bell nearby added to the charm. The block itself is not so grand in terms of structure and apartments may not be huge, but certainly the apartment where I stayed was very nicely decorated, had what I needed, prompting me to muse over the idea of swapping with my own little flat in Oxford!

I was told that about 10 years ago one could purchase such an apartment at a modest price, but now that's no longer the case (even with the credit crunch) - confirmed when I looked at property being advertised in estate agents' windows! The locale's appeal is evident when looking at the list of names associated with the apartments - there is a wide range of nationalities: as far as I could tell, in addition to the French, there were English, Germans, Spaniards, Russians, Chinese and Japanese.

There are quite a number of reviews of this street (see e.g. a quite detailed exploration from a hotel site). They talk mainly about the cafes, restaurants, a bakery, and expensive shops - especially clothes and antiques. However, there's a lot more to it, especially when you investigate it's history - for instance one site was a military garrison and then became a prison, and is now the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. Ideally, the best way is to get to know the people living and working there - but I couldn't do that in less than a week!

So what was the first shop I visited? Discounting a tabac, where I bought a carnet for the metro, it was actually a supermarket on la rue de Sèvres!