Trois Cent Cinquant Neuf a Sceaux

Finally on my way, heading to the southern coast of France, near Perpignan, at over 200 mph (TGV: Train Grande Vitesse -- High Speed Train). The shoreline is running almost North-South along this part of France's Mediterranean coast, as I will be quite a ways west of Nice and the Riviera (Cote d'Azur).

I am not taking two vacation days, but rather, two “RTT” days. I have 11 of them to take this year, which I get on top of my five weeks of vacation, and oh yeah, my seniority, according to French law, grants me five additional days off. I needed the break, both for all the activity year-to-date (I have been on the road 50% of 2011), and what is coming (eight countries in the next 10 weeks). My hotel is nothing special, but it is on the beach, good for running. Perpignan is the in the old Catalan region of France and Spain, and many people still speak Catalan. Perpignan is also in the heart of the great wine region of Languedoc-Roussillon, and a perfect “base” for exploring the myriad of vineyards in this ancient (since at least the 9^th century) wine-producing region. Explore, rest, return – that is the plan.

I just remembered, today marks my 31^st year with Schlumberger, and it was one year ago today that I flew from Houston to Paris, beginning my life as a resident of France.

Enjoyed a fine paella for dinner tonight, a delicacy of Catalan...http://twitpic.com/4zqxzf

Trois Cent Cinquant Cinq Jours Dans Sceaux (355 Days in Sceaux)

Well, it has been over one month since I last posted. I have been very busy, as my traveling has increased in 2011. Since I last posted, I made a trip back to the United States on business, and I also flew to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. It was my first time to visit these two locations.

Everything is green and lush here right now. They still do not have the hanging baskets of flowers in the market yet, and I suppose they must be waiting for summer. We have alternating days of brilliant sunshine and mild temperatures, offset by cloudy and cool days. The one thing we have not had is much rain. I am grateful for that, because the rain at this time of year, and even late May, is cold.

I have pretty much cleared out all the cheeses from my refrigerator. I think my total number of sampled cheeses rests at 30 types. I finally found a bleu cheese that I like, it is made from sheep's milk. It is called "bleu de brebis".

I have included some pictures from my travels, and as a picture is worth 1000 words, I will let them do the rest of the talking.

La Coulee Verte (The Green Flow) after one of my runs. My

apartment complex is near the center of the photo, cradled in trees...

Small restaurant near the market in Sceaux, eager for spring and summer to arrive...

This flowers are among the earliest to arrive in spring, here in Sceaux...

The roundabouts are always decked out in floral regale...

The wisteria (at my apartment complex, next to the Coulee Verte) declares the arrival of spring on this cloudless day....

Famous Red Square, the prettiest part of Moscow...

Doha, Qatar, in the morning about 06h30, very humid. All my running gear was soaked, and I started my run shortly after 05h00. Lots of people were out at that time, because by the time this picture was taken, it was already too hot to exert oneself by running...

Doha in the afternoon, after the wind kicks up in the desert...

Chateau Thoiry, site of a good sized zoo, both modern and drive through. I went with my neighbors Oliver and Laurie, and their twins Allison and Jasmine. Good time had by all...

In the lions' park, you pass through via a glass tunnel. it gives you a grounds' eye view of life among the lions. The lions, however, find the tunnel very comfortable for sleeping. This one is literally within arm's reach of me -- and above me -- snoozing away the afternoon.

Thanks for coming along,

Mark

Trois Cent Vingt Jours Dans Sceaux (320 Days in Sceaux)

Sitting out on my balcony as I write today's blog; enjoying a perfectly beautiful day, clear skies, green leaves have almost fully returned to the trees in waiting, and the aroma of wisteria faintly saunters on the currents of a gentle breeze.

As you know, I am without a car here in France. Texas finally reciprocates with France on the driver's license, so being able to drive legally is no hassle. Nonetheless, I have elected to do without a car, as I can get along without one with respect to commuting, and a rental is available at the end of any "voyage par TGV". I take the bus to work, the 395, from the Mairie de Sceaux (city hall) to Bois Brule in Clamart. From the Bois Brule stop, I walk 5-7 minutes to the office. On Monday, I encountered snow between the Bois Brule stop and the office. Yes, white stuff on the sidewalk, white stuff in the air. Fortunately, it was not also cold and wet. One of the trees in bloom begins its spring completely covered in tiny white petals, no bigger than your fingernail. There was a gentle breeze and the fallen petals covered the sidewalk -- it did look like snow -- and as I walked under the tree, the breeze kicked up just enough to create a shower of white petals -- falling snow. It was the only snow I really enjoyed this year, I can assure you of that.

Our office here has a cantine (cantina, cafeteria), as our building is also part of the engineering and manufacturing facilities here. Rather than send a few hundred people out in their cars to the always busy roads and streets of greater Paris, we have a cantine. It is very efficient, as we can be in and out in 30-40 minutes total, but it does not always seem like a break -- lunch, yes, the food is quite good, but a break? Not always. I have a couple of American coleagues here, and we leave campus once a week to get a real lunch-break. There is a place only a 10 minute walk from here which is a pizzaria and creperie. Pizza and crepes. Not a combo I would imagine, but hey, ca marche (French expression for "it works", literal meaning "it walks")! Oddly, both the pizzas and the crepes are quite good here, though I only partake of the crepes maybe once a month (I do not want them to "hang around" while I run). We have gotten to know the waitress (there is only she and the cook for about 20 tables), and she knows our order for pizza and drinks without asking, though every now and then I change things up just to keep the experience fresh for all parties...cheap entertainment, I know. It makes for a pleasant break and head-clearing exercise, which is its primary purpose.

Speaking of the office, here are the countries represented on the HQ's floor:
French Morocco
Vietnam
Turkey
France
USA
Algeria
India
Trinidad
United Kingdom
Ireland
Egypt
Italy
Scotland
Peru

Jordan

You can visit around the world in one stroll down from my office...

I went to Moscow this week, my second trip to Russia, but first to Moscow. I was attending a workshop being conducted by our Russia area management. It dealt with geophysics, and it was interesting to talk to them about their business, and listen to them present and describe their ongoing activities. The workshop was done in Russian, but they had arranged an interpreter for me, who translated each presentation in real-time. Fortunately, the slides themselves were in English, with the more complex slides being done mostly in Greek (and other symbols of higher math). It was a good opportunity to get to know the team there, but while it was sunny in Ile-de-France, Moscow was overcast with piles of snow still on the ground, and not one tree had yet budded. I was very happy to get back to Paris and sunshine. I landed at about 6PM (18h00), and traffic was so bad that it took me almost as long to get from the airport to Sceaux as it did to fly from Moscow to Paris! The driver and I chatted a lot, and I had to do it all in French as he spoke very little English -- I even showed him a shortcut back to my apartment, giving him directions as we went along.

Just a side story of my flight to Moscow, if you will...the flight from Paris was packed, mostly with Russians returning from holidays, including a family of five who were seated in my area. The teenage girl and her pre-teen brother drew the short straw and sat next to me. The nationality of these kids could not be picked out of a line-up of American kids. It was kinda cute considering most of our impressions of Russia and its people, coupled with its 20th century political history. Anyway, some of the guys at the office want to form a band just for messing around, and asked me to be a part -- we are just going to do 12-bar blues kinda stuff, with a few extras thrown in for good measures. One of the extras was "Like a Rolling Stone", Bob Dylan's classic, and the song Rolling Stone Magazine calls "the greatest song in the history of rock and roll". The leader of the group was lamenting the words "too many and too complicated to get right", and I said, "no problem, know them all for all verses" (he is not off my generation, about 15 years behind). I was chartered to put the song together. I have a video of Jimi Hendrix playing "Stone" at Monterey in 1968, and decided I would study it for ideas on how to lead out on guitar, and ascertain the structure of his chords, etc. I was watching the video over and over again on my Android smartphone, and the whenever I sat it down on my tray table, the Russian teenager (from Smolensk, I later discovered) would watch it, too. I noticed her interest, and offered to let her listen. Being polite, she refused, but I smiled and insisted, and she broke into a big smile and set the Boze headphones on her head. She was smiling and bobbing to the music in zero-flat. She had seen a picture of Jimi before, but not heard his music until now. She asked if I played guitar, and I said yes, and she asked if I was on television, I laughed and said, no, I just play for fun. She asked what I played, so rather than explain in a language with which we both were struggling (English), I let her listen and watch Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King perform "The Sky is Crying". She liked it all. It was a nice break from the monotony that is flying, and a fun exchange, both generationally and culturally.

I fly back to the USA this week for business, and will get to meet my grand-daughter for the first time. I am looking forward to that.

Until next time,

Mark

Trois Cent Treize Jours Dans Sceaux (313 days in Sceaux)

Another beautiful week, though today, Sunday, is rainy.

Well, this past week and this one coming up I am dealing with taxes -- for two countries. the USA is the only country that taxes its people no matter where they earn their income. As a result of being on French payroll, no withholding for USA income has been taken out, so now I will be writing a huge check to Uncle Sam very soon. A smaller check will go to the French government. UGH!

My French lessons continue, and my teacher swears she will have me fluent in another six months. I confess that she is more optimistic than I, but I am willing to give it the effort required! My interactions with the owners of the stores in the marche' de Sceaux is getting better, as I understand a little more of what they are saying, and can answer some of their questions. I am beginning to hear the price numbers better, too. Anytime I am in a shop with a line, I discretely listen to the conversations around me to try even get the gist of what they are saying, or at least pick out a few words. I also am using French subtitles on my TV, both for French and English programming. I look up new words all the time (as I come across them) using Star Translate on my Android phone, and it also does phrases, and translates in either direction. There are now sticky notes all over the apartment as I try to constantly expose myself to the language.

I made my LSD yesterday, covering the 10 mile (16 km) distance in 96 minutes, a 9:52 pace. The 8th mile (13 km) clocked in the fastest at 9:10. A guy on the sidewalk say me running his direction, and began to mock my running (in good fun) by bobbing and weaving toward me (this was about 6:30 in the morning, and in that 8th mile), and I guess he expected me to adjust my path for his bobbing about. I did not, and you should have seen his face when he realized I was undeterred by his presence! I brushed him aside without changing my path, and he said something, the tone of which was "I was only kidding!" I raised both arms in acknowledgement as I continued, and he laughed, know I was not angry, either.

I felt strong as I finished the run, and I originally intended to have a celebration breakfast (I had not done this run in 2 months) at Le Gare de Saint Michel, a brasserie near the St. Michel RER and Metro stations, just downstream on the left bank from Pont Neuf, my turnaround point. This is also the area for the University of Paris, and the brasserie was packed with what looked like the all-night college crowd. I was pretty sweaty, and the spacing was tight, so I spared everyone and headed back to Sceaux. I usually do an interval run through Sceaux, from the Robinson RER on the rue Houdan into the Marche' de Sceaux, looping back only Rue d'Ecoles to the Coulee Verte, normally a 1.6 mile run (2.6 km). At about the 1.2 mile (2 km) point, I was mentally tired of running. The body felt fine, I was not winded, my legs did not feel fatigued, but mentally I had enough. Weird the way our bodies and minds work with and sometimes against each other...

As you may have seen on my Facebook, I attended a classical guitar recital/competition in Antony, the "ville" immediately south of Sceaux. You can read about it here. We were invited to vote for our favorite performer of the night; of course there were more astute judges for the actual grading of the performances. I walked back from Antony, about 3 miles (5 km), getting home at 11:30 PM (23h30), just in time to catch the pre-game ESPN show for the NCAA national semi-finals. Kentucky received the kiss of death when Digger Phelps picked us to win. He has never like our program. Since Kentucky was the second game, I turned the TV on and napped through the first game. I watched all the Kentucky game against UCONN, but the boys when down 56-55. That was about 5AM (05h00) this morning.

Thanks for coming along!

Mark

Trois Cent Six Jours Dans Sceaux (306 Days in Sceaux)

Oh my! What a beautiful week we had! The clouds came back for the weekend, but it was a cloudless week, nonetheless! It is amazing what a good dose of sunshine can do for one's outlook (not the program, Outlook, that requires much more help).

I took a "test flight" with my colleague at work who owns a plane. He had just gotten the plane back from its annual maintenance, and wanted to see how well it performed, especially since it was a cloudless day. Besides, he said, it is better to crash in daylight...(a little British flying humor; very little!). It was a great time, and having flown with him before, I noticed the added pep and responsiveness of the plane, too.

I finally got the heating fixed in the apartment, just in time for spring. When the heating technician came 3 weeks ago, he discovered I needed about 50% m0re capacity from my units. We doubled the size of one of the units in the main room, and took the removed unit and moved it to the kitchen, and then threw the kitchen unit out. Now you can feel the chill being knocked off immediately. I hope for one more descent to freezing to test it, but I will be ready for next year!

The team that came to do the replacements came on time, were very friendly, encountered an unexpected issue (and with my drill resolved it), and finished on time, even sweeping the floors before they left. Overall, a very good service experience without any hassle whatsoever.

I went into the marche' de Sceaux on Saturday, around noon. I had already picked up a few items at Monoprix on the other side of town, using my backpack to carry them. I went to my favorite bread shop, and got my bread for the week and a sandwich. I finished the rest of my stops in the marche' and decided it was too nice a day to eat the sandwich on the go or back at the apartment. So, when I got to the end of the marche', I kept walking to the entrance to the Parc de Sceaux, found myself a bench, and enjoyed the sun, the view, and the sandwich. Tres jolie!

Now for the cheese report. Below is the list of cheeses I have tried.

Les Fromages de France

• Babybel (encased in red wax)
• Vache qui Rit (smiling cow, cream of gruyere)
• Kiri (soft white cheese)
• St. Agur (blue cheese, but soft and mild)
• Reblochon
• Brie
• Compte
• Emmental (French version of Swiss cheese)
• Chevre frais
• Chevre vieille: too strong and smelly
• Camembert
• Merzer: too strong and smelly
• Gouda
• Gruyere
• Chausee aux Moines: boring
• Cousteron: boring
• Morbier
• Bougon: boring
• Crottin de Chevre
• Crottin de Chavignol: though this is the original Crottin, other versions taste the same
• Brouere
• Mimolette
• Edam
• Cantal
• Saint Nectaire
• Fromage pur chevre: boring

I will continue to sample and report every few months.

ESPN America carries the NCAA March Madness via a license with CBS, so I am enjoying the season of hoops: GO BIG BLUE!

Speaking of "enjoying", my French teacher told me, after bid her adieu with "Enjoy your weekend", said they had no such phrase in French (they say to "pass through a good weekend"), and they do not have the verb "to enjoy", so we made one up. For you francophiles, the new word is:

infinitive: enjoyer, passe' compose': enjoye'

j'enjoie

tu enjoies

on/il/elle enjoie

nous enjoyons

vous enjoyez

ils/elles enjoient

Enjoyez le voyage!

Mark

Deux cent quatre vingt dix neuf jours dans Sceaux (299 days in Sceaux, and I think I might post tomorrow just to have an easy title)

Just got back from a week in Cambridge, England, visiting our research center there (sometimes it is hard to even pretend to be smart enough to grasp what they are talking about: "...the phase of birefringent shear waves changes at rates higher than normal spectral sampling might suggest..." OK, then to buy time while my mind is trying to visualize what I have been told, I throw in a question that leaves them dumbfounded most of the time: "And how are we going to make use of that information in reservoir characterization?". While they wrestle with that, I am thinking, with my mind bending to its elastic limit and hopefully before exceeding yield strength, "Is not the time rate of change of the phase expressed as frequency, or is it the derivative of frequency itself..."

Great visit, fun to be a part of such things, and on my page you will note the "American Cemetery runs". These are runs from my hotel to the cemetery for the Americans who flew from England in WWII. It is in a beautiful and tranquil area, at the "spur" of my running loop. You should be able to click on the image, zoom it up, and see the cemetery (N 52.2162 E 0.0541). I also visited the Eagle Pub, where in the back room, American WWII fliers burned their names into the ceiling with cigarette lighters. The ceiling has been preserved by varnish, rather than paint, ever since.

The trip to England and on to Cambridge was totally by train: I took the RER B line from Robinson (I walk to that station) to Gare du Nord (30 minutes); took the Eurostar from Gare du Nord to Saint Pancras in London (2.5 hours); crossed the street to Kings Cross station in London and caught the regional to Cambridge (1 hour).

I need to catch up on the cheese report, by making notes the next time I go to market. I have tried some new ones, with varying success, but I cannot remember their names. This will be a good project going forward into the next blog

I explored the twice-weekly open market in Sceaux on Saturday (yesterday). The market is available Wednesdays and Saturdays, but I have never really explored it. There are many items, mostly foods -- vegetables, cheeses, and meats -- and dry goods as well, such as shoes, clothing, kitchenware, and other odds and ends -- even blankets made the old way (could be a good souvenir, which is the French word for "remember" or "memory"). It was nice, and perhaps another aspect of life in Sceaux for me to explore.

It is almost time to break out the bicycle again, adding another dimension to my workouts, and perhaps as a commuting vehicle. The challenge I face is the 300 feet (100 meters) climb between my apartment and my office. I will have to build up to that one. Everyone who cycles to my workplace faces such an uphill challenge, and they say it just takes time...

The NCAA tournament is on, and even though CBS has the contract, ESPN America is carrying the games via CBS. I got to watch Kentucky defeat WVU live; it was all good...

I am signing off for now, thanks for coming along,

Mark

Deux cent quatre vingt douze jours dans Sceaux (292 days in Sceaux)

Yesterday was a good day in Sceaux. As I stated in my last blog entry, this has been especially dreary winter. There have not been very many days of sunshine, even less than usual for this part of the world. As a result, the general mood of the people has been somewhat down, as has been verified to me by some of my French friends. It is amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for one's spirit. Yesterday morning, when I went into the marche' de Sceaux, the pedestrian areas were full of people, most of them not walking. What is so unusual about this, you ask? People were not trying to hide from the weather, or move quickly in and out of the stores and shops to quickly return home. People were visiting one another, enjoying the partly cloudy skies above them. I will not say that spring has arrived, as there are no flower baskets hanging in the marketplace -- I take that as a sign that spring has truly arrived -- and thour our flirtation with sunshine yesterday was brief, we settled into an afternoon rain, the buds on the trees tell us that spring is near. And that fact lightens my steps.

My running has picked up again, after significant layoffs due to colds, nursing a heel injury, and business travel. I have learned to listen to my body somewhat, and manage my expectations. I knew that I would not pick up where I left off, and a concentration on form would be far more important than time or distance. I am in the process of building my way back to a 10 mile weekend run, but as of today, I sent some might be as much as two weeks away from achieving that goal. I share my running stories with you for two reasons: it is an activity in which I spend a great deal of time, since it can be done without the need of translation; and as an encouragement to my friends who follow along on my blog who are also runners, and we take encouragement from each other's stories of struggle and success.

My business travels have taken me to Scotland and Norway, both places more cloudy than Paris, and they see even less blue sky than this area of northern France in addition to being colder. These are obviously summertime places to visit, and I'm quite certain I would not want to live there. The people I met were absolutely wonderful, very open, receptive, and looking forward to warmer weather as well. My business trips really do not allow the opportunity to do any sightseeing, especially trips involving more than one location. But traveling to these places and talking to the people, gives me incentive for weekend journeys, as these places are within a two hour flight of Paris.

Next week I am traveling to Cambridge, England. We have a research center there, and some colleagues and I from headquarters are visiting to discuss longer-term trends in research and development, as well as kick around some new ideas. When one has an idea that seems a little crazy, out of touch, certainly out-of-the-box, but plausible enough that it just might work, it is good to take a trip to visit the boys and girls in research to make sure that you are not in violation of the laws of physics. And that will be a part of what we will be doing. This is the fun stuff.

I have saved the best for last. On March 5, 2011, my granddaughter Anna Belle was born. The proud parents are my daughter Michelle and her husband Taylor Bacot. Anna Belle's proud older brother is Brady Bacot, age 2 1/2 years. Michelle and Anna Belle are both healthy and doing well. I look forward to meeting her as soon as I can get a break in my business travels. http://bacotfamily.blogspot.com

And with that bit of news, I will sign off for this week.

a bientot,

Mark