The time is definitely flying by now that we have all settled into our traveling routine, are accustomed to each others’ quirks, and are down to the wire to get our projects done and only two cities left to go! The weather has turned glorious here in LeHavre, I only hope it remains warm and sunny in both Paris and Barcelona!
I had a nice run along the boardwalk this morning, not too breezy, quiet, uneventful. The French operate on a much less stressful schedule than Americans. Work weeks are customarily 35 hours, nothing opens before 9am, all is closed on Sundays, stores close at 6pm, and many are not open on Mondays either. Many Europeans take holiday for 4-8 weeks each summer…. Hmmm, I like that schedule!
We had class lecture today on Shipping and the Global Economy by Professor Yann Alix, who speaks three languages and is in a different country each week working with various organizations in his area of focus. The program’s director, Armel Esnol, presented education opportunities available through the Business School of Normandie. There are some interesting programs available. My love for education surfaced and his presentation of opportunities made me think for a moment about a possible PhD one day! Again, we were all stunned to learn how much assistance the government gives for education…. Less than half the cost in the US to students, and many exchange programs require fees to be paid only to the home school. Professor Roger Soulieux presented a lecture on the supply chain, too much information to absorb fully, but a good start. We had progress report meetings with the program director and group work time in the afternoon. Our project is developing nicely, but a lot to get done in the next couple of days. We leave for Paris on Wednesday, and we prefer to not be worried with the project while in Paris.
In the afternoon we took a tour by boat of Port LeHavre. At the time the port was built, it was one of the largest in existence. It still boasts a specialty offering of the northern most major port in route to Asia. The port has an oil refinery as well as capabilities for container shipment and grain. We learned capacities of various boats, shipyard requirements, etc. It was nice to be out on the water for a couple of hours in the sun.
We had an interesting French captain (see photo). Not much else to write for now, it’s time to focus on project work and make some significant progress. I will write again from Paris.
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