Thursday - June 25, 2009

Thursday morning we were up early and eager to get out of the “residence” where our group was staying. This “residence” is subsidized by the government to support international students’ visit to Paris. It was far from where I envisioned staying when visiting Paris, but we were on the go so much, it was good that I just fell in the bed each night and crashed. It was also a good Metro train ride from the city center, so that had to be accounted for with each trip and planning the day. I am becoming a pro at navigating Metros – ones in cities where I can’t read or speak the language!. There were several other groups staying at the “residence” as well, who knows how many languages were being spoken under that one roof!

Our group took the Metro for Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), one of the top business schools in Paris, for a lecture on Multicultural Management in Europe. Because the government covers most all educational costs, the competition for acceptance in top universities is fierce, and the programs generate top notch graduates. The ESCP Paris offers joint programs with the US as well, including PhD programs in business. Professor Arnaud Leveque gave a very interesting talk regarding cross cultural negotiating and other “must know” information for successful “selling” and business dealings in Europe. Attention to etiquette may seem like a small thing, but it is easy to innocently insult someone should you not be researched on business customs and practices in other countries. There are many differences between the US’ way and most all other countries. In my MBA negotiations courses we did a few cases with this focus, and it is a very important piece of international business.

We enjoyed lunch in this school’s cafeteria more than any other school we visited. It was pretty much like being in US with a smorgasbord of familiar items to choose from. Each school treated us to lunch on the days while visiting their campus, which was nice. This university’s culture and atmosphere seemed most in line with our universities in the states. It was nice to be among familiarity.

After morning and afternoon sessions with Professor Leveque, our group went on a boat tour on the river Seine, to see the sights of Paris from the water…It was beautiful. For years I have heard of the river Seine, and it didn’t disappoint.

There were kids hanging out on the banks, lovers strolling in the parks, more than 37 bridges cross the Seine, as it runs through the heart of Paris, and most all have a name and are dedicated to a person. The Seine divides the city into two sections, north of the river is the right bank, south is the left bank, and the Cathedral at Notre Dame is the bulls eye center point which sits on an island in the middle of the Seine.

Our tour lasted about an hour, it was so quiet and peaceful on the river. I would have liked to stayed the whole afternoon floating around the city! The tour boats are available for private charter as well as large boats such as ours can hold several hundred people on one trip.

We saw Notre Dame, got a layout of the city, got a glimpse of many of the major attractions in the city, including the magnificent Eiffel Tower. The weather was perfect, the tour relaxing and a nice break from being in a classroom without air conditioning all day.

The next couple of days are free for us to enjoy Paris, and/or work on our project - which means working on our project a good bit tonight!