Ca y est! (or something)

So here we go, this is it, the conference starts! A week of results and discussions (and plans) is just starting, and it's exciting. And it's like always at big conferences like these... you meet the first colleague on the metro, the next one on the way out, and by the time you have arrived at the registration desk you have become a crowd. First confusion (where are the rooms? where are the toilets? and most importantly: what's the password for the internet connection and where is a plug for my laptop??) soon calms down, and right now people file into Salle Maillot to hear a talk about the status of the LHC (the machine, that is, rather than the detectors). Interestingly, they all stay close to the edges of the seating area, apparently ready to flee, hop into the next session, catch news about ws and zs or secure a place at the computer terminals... are physicists noncommittal? We'll see later in the week...