BXBX NOVEL Chapter 119: France
We retrieved our bags in record time after landing, and our plane to Paris took off an hour later.
We were in first class, so there was plenty of room for us to stretch our legs out and enjoy the flight.
Most importantly, there were no wailing kids.
Charlotte and I went right to work. We started by discussing logistics and planning out which museums we wanted to visit. She would playfully hit me on the leg at various times in order to make a point.
For the rest of the flight, we tried to get some sleep.
Charloote unbuttoned a few buttons, explaining that the warm air in the cabin was making her hot.
She most likely just wanted for me to steal glances at her.
As the flight wore on, she drifted off to sleep, with her hand under my arm and her head on my shoulder.
I fell asleep just a few minutes later.
We awoke to an announcement from the captain that we would be landing soon.
The landing went smoothly, we picked up our luggage without any problems, and then we went to rent a car.
We chose a black Mercedes-Benz E-Class with a comfy leather interior.
We loaded our luggage into the trunk and set off to the city center.
I knew that some very good times were in store for us, and for me, the next few weeks were going to be very productive as well.
I had reserved a hotel in Paris that was fairly close to the Louvre. My plan was to be able to walk to our destinations as much as possible. Since we had arrived in the late morning, we were able to check in at the hotel and then do some site-seeing.
The first stop, of course, was the Eiffel Tower, the most visited paid monument in the world.
When it came to be our turn to ride up to the second level, Charlotte and I pressed forward.
The view was incredible as we looked out over the massive city.
Charlotte hugged me several times; she was so excited.
I had bought a camera before the flight to Europe and Charlotte was trying to get some good shots of the many historical and famous buildings that were all around us.
Later, we went to the Arc de Triomphe and then walked down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.
We found a nice restaurant and had a great meal. We sat at a table outside where we could look down the Avenue and watch all the people.
The food was good, and the atmosphere was great. We really enjoyed ourselves.
The events of our long day finally caught up with us, and we went back to our hotel.
The next day we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. We walked for blocks and marveled at the variety of memorials and the number of famous people who were buried there.
We found a good restaurant a few blocks away and had a great lunch.
Then we went to the Louvre Museum. It was fun to see the excitement on Charlotte's face as she witnessed historical treasures for the first time.
She was so intense and full of life.
We left Louvre and walked through the narrow cobblestone paths lined with quaint shops and cafés and the Parisian buildings, with their iron-forged balconies and window boxes overflowing with flowers.
We wandered into a small shop that sold postcards and souvenirs.
While browsing, Charlotte picked up a brightly colored brochure from a display.
"Jack, check this out!" she said, waving the brochure in front of me.
I took it from her.
It was an advertisement for a night cruise on the river Seine with on-board dinner included.
The images showed stunning views of Paris landmarks at night. The brochure said it was a great way to view Notre Dame, the Pont Neuf Bridge, the Grand Palais, and many other landmarks.
"We should definitely do this." Charlotte said.
"It does look pretty good..."
"A dinner by the Seine at night, with candles..." She grinned. "That will be so romantic!"
I glanced over at her, surprised. "I had no idea you had such a deep appreciation for romantic matters..." I said sarcasticly.
Charlotte had a mock pout on her face.
I laughed. "Alright, alright. We'll go."
"Good. I would have dragged you along if you changed your mind."
We walked through Paris, and we were just about to get back to our hotel when we found ourselves near the Renault Paris Headquarters, where the Paris International Auto Show was taking place.
I was curious, so we decided to take a look inside.
Many of the newest cars and concepts were in the showroom, but one stood out to me.
Renault Elect'Road.
An electric hybrid plug-in van.
The sign next to it mentioned that it was Renault's latest innovation—a step toward the future of electric cars.
Seeing that van made me remember something.
'If I want to soak my hand in the electric car revolution, I need to start taking action in that direction.' I thought.
We went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the night.
I sat on the bed and decided to make a quick call.
"Hey, Derec, it's Jack." I said.
I have started calling Derec directly, but we had to keep our calls restricted to things related to my job.
"Everything alright?" Derec asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something," I replied.
"Sure..."
"I'm already in Paris, and I walked by this auto show," I started. "They had this electric hybrid plug-in van on display, and it got me thinking about some stuff."
"What are you thinking...? Electric cars? Isn't that pretty niche? And just... clearly not cost-effective or profitable?"
"Calm down, Derec. It's early days. The industry just needs a push, some branding, something that would get stuck in people's minds. Listen to me, there's this new company that just started up—they're called Tesla. I heard they want to develop an electric sports car." I said.
"Tesla?" Derec repeated, clearly unfamiliar with the name. "I've never heard of them. Are you sure this is worth looking into?"
"Yeah, that's because young people will love it and if we get in early, we could make a smart investment. I want you to start looking into them; maybe even reach out and see if we can get involved somehow."
For a moment, Derec was quiet. He was probably thinking about the idea. "Alright, I'll start digging around and see what I can find."
"Oh, and don't go overboard, Derec," I added quickly. "We should dip our toes in first. The company needs innovative and smart people on the board, not just a bunch of investors grabbing all the equity. If we take too much for ourselves, the people who really know how to make this work might get discouraged and overlook the whole thing."
"So, wait—you want us to invest or not? I'm a little confused here."
"I do," I clarified. "But not too much, at least not right away. We can always invest more later if things start to look really promising. For now, let's just get a feel."
"Alright," Derec said slowly, starting to warm up to the idea. "I'll see what I can do."
"Perfect."
"I'll keep you posted."
"Thanks, Derec. Talk to you soon," I said, ending the call.
If we gobble up to much equity than the person that acted as the Chief Executive Officer and the person that was a living advertisement for the company, Elon Musk, might never actually invest in Tesla himself, and I would never know how the future would look for them...