Happy Birthday, Tura!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Today is Tura’s Birthday! We started off by touring a waste treatment center. The French are very proud of the technology to dispose of their waste. The treatment plant was set in the most beautiful surroundings at the foot of a mountain on the Mediterranean Sea. It was very unique because of the incinerator used to burn waste. We got the full tour, including how they sort the waste. Very interesting and smelly…

Then we went to the Holiday Inn in Toulon to give our first presentation for a Rotary group. We were an hour late, but it does not matter here in France. It was a small Rotary group of women who meet over the lunch hour(s). They did not have a projector for our PowerPoint, so we winged our presenations for the first time. We were perceived well from what I could tell. They seemed much more interested in our personal lives rather than our professions.

After the lunch meeting we went on a boat tour of the Toulon Harbor. The tour was great. Many French naval ships and a naval school is located in the harbor. After the boat we went to the Marine Museum where we learned about the rich marine history of Toulon.

In the evening we went to Bertrard (our guide’s) home to have a small party for Tura’s Birthday. The hospitality here so far has been terrific. They baked Tura a cake and gave her a book about this area of France. Carolyn got a phone number from some of the men from the boat tour. Who knows what is next!

The weather is warm, about 80s and sunny.

Life is a Beach!

After two very long days of travel by airplane and car, we enjoyed the first day of our exchange. We went for a hike on a beach of the Mediterranean Sea. We could see the summer home of the French President. The beach and the sea was very beautiful. It was very nice out, about 20 degrees Celsius, but the water was not warm enough for us to swim.

Then we had a wonderful picnic with the Rotarians and their families. All of the food was good especially the cake. We went back to our families for the evening.

GSE Departure

Hello Friends,

Our Western Wisconsin Rotary District 6250 Group Study Exchange Team will be departing Friday, April 13, 2007, for Nice, France. We will be traveling the French Riviera until May 12, 2007. Please follow our team by viewing our blog. We will try to post pictures and stories of our travels as often as possible. Please post comments for the team members.

Sincerely,
French Riviera GSE Team Members

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