Today I found out the Paris office’s hidden secret: the last Friday of every month, instead of working, my coworkers go to a bar, drink espressos and talk about football (that’s soccer for you Yanks).

I kid. This is not the case and is exactly what Manoela and Hans didn’t want me to tell the Chicago office.

When I got to work, the light in the lobby was off. I thought “that’s odd,” but proceeded hi-ho-ing up to my office. There was no one around and all the lights were off (although it was still rather light because there are a ton of windows). I wondered if there was some sort of French holiday (I heard that there are national holidays every other week, but I’ve yet to experience one). No, evidently the early-morning storm had knocked the power out.

When a quorum of my coworkers arrived, we went to get coffee and see if the power would be on when we came back. Everyone ordered a café (which is really an espresso that makes Starbucks seem like it’s decaf and comes in a teeny-tiny espresso cup), but I ordered a cappuccino. My coworker, Benoit, warned, “Kelly, I don’t know about in the States, but here in France, the cappuccinos come in a large mug and have lots of milk and sometimes cinnamon or chocolate.” I replied, “Thank God.”

The Italy/Germany Euro game was Thursday night, so there were play-by-play discussions. I tried to talk about the exciting American event the night before—the NBA draft—but no one seemed to get it. (Side note: it’s an exciting night for Kentucky fans. Even my Mom emailed me updates on which Kentucky players got drafted by which team and when.)

We returned to the office after everyone was fully caffeinated, but the power was still out, so it ended up being a work-from-home day. (Hans and Manoela assure me that this has never happened before, but I have my suspicions).