astro_jcm, Paranal Observatory was my home away from home for many years. In this blog post Vanessa Peidro Cid, the Head of Paranal Logistics and Facilities, takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of what it takes to run this small "town" in the Atacama Desert. A lovely piece by Elena Reiriz Martínez, one of our communication interns at ESO.