The Paris Office (Paris #3)

Prior to arriving in Paris, I sent out an email to the valuation department in our Paris office notifying them that I was going to be in town from the 23rd to the 26th and would love to stop by. They replied that they'd love to have me, but as it seems the week between Christmas and New Year's is an un-official holiday all throughout Europe, the only day to do so would be Monday, Christmas Eve. The following is a recap.

This is the view to the south from the 8th floor (Valuation's Floor) of the building. Supposedly, were it not for the building to the right, you'd have a clear view of the Eiffel Tower.


This is the view to the northeast along the Avenue de Freidland (it runs parallel, to the north, of the Champs-Elysees). According to Paul (the head of Paris Valuation whose desk is adjacent to the small patio from where I took this picture), a visit to the area surrounding the cathedral (I think) in the distance is a must if you are visiting Paris for an extended period.


This is the view to the southwest along the Avenue de Freidland. As you can see, the Arc de Triompe is in the near distance.


These were the two valuers that were nice enough to take time from their no doubt busy day (not only work-wise, but also because it was the last day to get in your Christmas shopping and they were walking distance from the main shopping destination in all of France--the Champs-Elysees). The guy on the right is Sam. He was super cool and actually knew Julia from the Frankfurt office as they befriended each other during this international valuation symposium held by our company in NYC last year that they attended. The guy on the left is Rodolphe. What's funny is that this guy is like the American stereotype of a 20-something Frenchman--from the accent, to the dress, to the overall way he carried himself. He was cordial, no doubt, but all throughout he also had this air of French cockiness about him. I could never tell if the sort of sarcastic way he was talking to me was reflective of his limited grasp or contempt of the English language. Still though, as I don't speak ANY French, I can't say anything negative cause he can speak complete sentences in English.


Although this guy isn't in valuation (per se...he's the head of Capital Markets in Paris), I had to take a picture with him. His name is Olivier (pronounced just like the dude who won the Cut & Paste competition in Berlin I blogged about back in October) and he was involved in a recently completed transaction involving an office building in Paris to the tune of 2 billion Euro. Supposedly this is the second highest valued transaction ever for a commercial building...across the world (and the highest in recent history). And yes, he is one of the few people in the Paris office that has his own office.


Just like the London and Frankfurt offices, they have an open floor plan.


This is their kitchen/eating area on the ground floor of the building (the kitchen is in the alcove to the right of the dude in the white shirt). Aside from having a striking color scheme, this area is also adjacent to the courtyard where many of the employees go to enjoy a smoke (as seen by the lady on the other side of the sliding-glass door).


Yes, they also have a bunker stocked with sparkling and still bottled water. Guess its a European thing...not just Frankfurt.


OK. Nespresso is a company that makes gourmet espresso packaged just like the little pre-packaged coffee cups at work you put into the coffee maker where it spits out a single serving. Only they come in a ton of different flavors, they also sell espresso makers in a bunch of different varieties (that also come with an optional carrying case), they have a 2,000 square meter, 2-level store right on the Champs-Elysees (Paris’ 5th Avenue equivalent)...

and have commercials with George Clooney....

No joke, it is officially what is hot on the streets of Paris. Hell, I even saw these commercials in Amsterdam and the lady who ran the B&B we stayed at in Brussels had a Nespresso machine (and she said the customer service, when her espresso-maker needed to be repaired, was superb).

Later, myself and a group of people from Paris valuation had lunch, which I heard was somewhat of a special occasion (despite me being there) because they had been meaning to have a valuation group lunch for a while but hadn't had a chance to until that day as things had been so busy at the close of the year. Well, I don't know how they normally get down during these type of "extended lunches," but it lasted about two hours and, in addition to the actual meal, consisted of about 3 or 4 rounds of red wine, 2 rounds of bread and cheese and a round of dessert (how French is that?). We ended up discussing a number of topics (politics, the French and U.S. real estate markets, the weak dollar, Germany and Germans, etc.)...but I'll attempt to summarize the important points in my Paris Misc blog.

Cheers.