I’ve just gotten back to my Paris hotel room after having dinner at Le Grand Véfour. The dinner was very French - small, luxurious portions served with incredible attention to detail. I appreciate the chef going out of his way to accommodate my vegetarian diet - something that seems like it must be less common in France. As fantastic as the meal was, the most amazing aspect of the dinner were my dining partners - Dr. Robert Kahn, Louis Pouzin as well as Dr. Kahn’s wife, Patrice.I’ve had a few dinners with Bob and Patrice lately as I’ve been traveling with them for the last week or so. We’ve been talking about the Handle System and the Digital Object Architecture with various European groups such as ITU and UNESCO, but it was really amazing to hear these guys who changed the world casually talking about the “old times” and their work to bring packet-switched networks (ie the Internet) into a world dominated by entrenched telephone companies who entrenched in a world of circuit-switched networks. It is also amazing how normal and humble these two guys are.I’m trying hard to keep this experience fresh in my mind.