London Day 6: Eurostar to Paris

On Wednesday I got up at 5am to catch the 6:55 Eurostar to Paris. The train leaves from St. Pancras Station in London, which Wenk told me was an easy walk from Camden Town. I took a quick shower and stumbled out into the darkness to find Ensign Cole and Wenk on the corner. It was about 2 miles to the station, which may seem a long way, especially at 5:30am, but after all the walking we had done in the last few days, it seemed a brisk jaunt. We checked our passports, cleared security, and were on our way.

The Eurostar is an amazing train. Traveling at approximately 186 MPH (300km/h), it can cover the distance from London to Paris in 2 hours twenty minutes. It passes underneath the English Channel for over 31 miles, which might be a bit uncomfortable, save for the fact that at 186 MPH, that underwater tunnel time takes only ten minutes.

I slept through it on the way out, anyway.

Got a decent look at the French countryside whizzing by, and reached Paris by 10:19 Paris time. We were met at the Paris Nord terminal by Stephane Marsan, the owner of Bragelonne, the French-language publisher which will be translating and printing The Painted Man in France next year. Bragelonne was the first non-English language company to buy translation rights, and is a pioneer in France, bringing SF publishing to a market that many said had no interest in such childish pursuits. Despite the derision of more erudite publishers, Stephane has managed to build Bragelonne into a force to be reckoned with in the last few years, currently the largest SF publisher in France, and one the other publishers are scrambling desperately to find a way to compete with. It is a great honor to be working with them.

It was also a great honor that Stephane took most of the day off to walk us around Paris and show us the sights. He took us around the Latin Quarter and along the Seine, telling us the history behind various neighborhoods and landmarks while also discussing, in great detail, the state of SF publishing in France. It was extremely educational on many levels, and left me very impressed with Stephane, and more confident than ever that I was in good hands.

We stopped by Notre Dame, of course, but without anything to give scale to it’s grandeur, I knew it was time for another shot with my trusty American quarter:

After our walk, we met at a fancy restaurant with Isabelle, my French editor, and Leslie, Bragelonne’s publicist. I was terrified of using my horrible high school French, but of course, everyone spoke english, saving me the embarrassment. I’m sure none of them wanted to hear me butcher their beautiful language.

Over some vin rouge, agneau, and canard, we got to know each other, and then began to discuss The Painted Man. I had known, of course, that Stephane himself had read and loved the book, because he included an amazing letter with his offer, but I was still overwhelmed at the passion with which he spoke of the book. He had brought the manuscript away to the country with him on a long weekend vacation, and by the time the weekend was over, had convinced two others (including Isabella) to read it, and all of them spent the drive back to Paris talking about the story and characters “like kids”, as he put it. He said it was amazing because it was both innovative and at the same time commercial, a very difficult formula to get right.

It was an incredible compliment to have someone so rooted and successful in the field say such great things about the book. Hopefully my blushing and stutters were attributed to the wine.

We went back for a tour of the Bragelonne offices, and I wondered again why I had spent so much of my life in pharmeceutical publishing. Even if the money was better in pharma, how could it compare to working in a place like that, surrounded by all the things I love? Every desk was cluttered with action figures and toys, and stacks of fantasy and role-playing books were everywhere. Original pieces of cover art hung on the walls, and you could feel in the air that everyone had a passion for what they were doing. Sure, there was still hard work involved, but hard work isn’t so bad when you love your job. One man in the office had to be FORCED to take vacation (it’s the law in France), because he didn’t want to leave his job.

After the tour, Stephane asked me to do a brief interview for their website with Manu, one of their webmasters. You can see us below with Kevin Sorbo looking on.

After the interview and a few pictures, Stephane gave us a map and traced a senic route from his offices on Rue de la Bienfaisance to the Louvre before setting us free in Paris.

Not long after we left, I had a sudden feeling of illness, but it passed through me quickly.

We made our way past the Paris Opera, stopping for a quick picture. If you look REALLY close, you can see Myke holding up a quarter in front of it:

At last, we found the Louvre, and proceeded to walk out feet off for several hours, still seeing not a fraction of the immense museum.

We hiked several miles back up to the Paris Nord station, and hopped the Eurostar back. Due to the emptiness of the later train, we managed to get first class seats, and enjoyed spacious seating with tables, hot towels, copious wine, and a delicious meal. The trip flew by, and we were back in London by 11pm.

We walked back from the station, making our way through 78 yards of humps to do so.

Of course, we hit a pub and had a few Guinness before calling it a night and going back to the hotel. It was a big relief to be back safe and sound after such a successful trip, but of course, me being who I am, I immediately started stressing about Thursday, which was signing day!

Posted on September 9, 2008 at 10:04 am by PeatB
Filed under Events, France, Reviews, Sales, World Traveler, Writing
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