The last several days...

Sunday I went to La Rochelle with the professor and her husband and daughter (Juliette, 8).

La Rochelle is an old port that was a bastion of protestentism in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The most interesting buildings here are old stone towers, which were used as military posts. Within the towers, there is a labyrinth of stairs.


This was our last day of rainy and cool weather. Since Monday it has been sunny, hot and humid.







Monday night we had dinner together and it was paid for by UT. You can see a free dinner puts us in a good mood. The food was excellent.

The two students closest to the camera are French. They also attend the Bordeaux Business School.







Tuesday we went to visit the Airbus facility near Toulouse, where the new A380 airplanes are being assembled.

The A380 is a double-decker and can seat up to 800 passengers, or 550 with casino, bar, and lounge included.

It was interesting to see the sheer size of the planes. Comparing the plant to Ford, it is much cleaner, newer, and more efficient.




We also visited Carcassone on Tuesday, since it is not far from Toulouse. This was very interesting! The medieval walled village is even older than Sarlat. It was the home of the Cathars who were not Catholics and spoke a different dialect. Despite the many fortifications, the Catholics eventually took over.








Wednesday was great. We went to wine tasting school. It lasted about 2 hours, and we learned essential things about tasting and appreciating French wine, which is very complicated.

There are many, many regulations in France concerning every aspect of the wine, from the vine to the label. So, there are over 450 appelations (regions), and within each appelation several specificities and, of course, different vintages. You need a really big book to figure it out.