My Trip to FranceThe next morning we had breakfast served in the room, which was a treat - a lovely tea, croissants and jams, juice and rolls. Then it was off to the competition. Frank and I got badges and first were interviewed by the school newsletter, which put out an edition each day. The themes of the two big presentations were The Conquest of Space: Man or Robot? and Mars Exploration. The reporters asked about the Space Station, the Mars robotic missions and the Manned Missions to Mars. Frank and I had fun answering their questions. Frank told me that the article that would appear however would have little to do with what we actually said as we had no translator and he was right <grin>!
We had our pictures taken by the kids to go a long with the article. We looked at all of the teams working hard on their automated robots. They had to follow a path, which alternated from black to white for speed, then red and black balls were added to the track and they had to pick them all up and discard the black ones. There was also a special ball on a pedestal that was for extra credit - if you could knock the ball off the pedestal. They had to start the robot at the beginning of the course and all tasks were completed automated. The Russians were having trouble with one part but they were to get around their difficulties and come in first for speed later in the competition. There were many schools from Cher and from all around France, some German teams, other European teams and a Korean Team. Last year they also had a South American team and a Canadian. The most fun were the specialty display robots, the spider, the rabbit (which followed the carrot and had babies along the way), the walking legs and the Lego Lady who had many of the Mindstorm robots. The Soccer Tournament was also mind-blowing. Automated soccer robots actually played against each other! Two robots worked in tandem as offense and defense tracking a soccer ball, catching it, running with it through the goal or kicking it through the goal. Incredible work for these terrific engineering students.The Robotics Competition
I went off to tour the city with my first stop being the cathedral. As I was walking up the hill through the old city, past the outdoor markets, and through the winding streets on another gloriously sunny day (though a little windier) I heard the bells. The cathedral, so reminiscent of Notre Dame was calling. The bells were deep and melodic calling one and all. The entire time I was walking the bells were ringing, about 20 minutes, and when I arrived several people were going in. I was very lucky to arrive in time for a service. When I entered the cathedral I was completely awestruck by the size and scope. All of the chandeliers were lit and the chorus (about a half-mile away) were in their robes, the stained glass windows were radiant. The bells ceased and the organ began to play filling the immense space with sound. It was a funeral and Monsieur Giraffe was an honorable soldier and respected man of the town. The chorus sang beautifully and the entire service could have taken place several hundred years ago.The Cathedral d'Etienne
We were delighted to have been invited to lunch with a Lord whose father had been right hand man to the former President of France, Charles de Gaulle. We had an incredible gourmet meal that lasted 2 1/2 hours at the restaurant of the Palais de Jacques Coeur. The Palais next door is now a museum is an incredible old chateau that I visited after lunch. Lunch was also with the Director of the ENSIB, Pierre Marcher and another local politician and Maurice. We had salmon spread on bread and some huge white asparagus and a lovely white wine from the region. All of the plates were prepared by the staff in the private room where we were sitting which was very special. Then I had the house special fish plate which was a combination of salmon and several other light fishes in a cream, wine, mushroom, herb sauce with a fish soufflé on the side. Too incredibly delightful. We also had red wine which the Lord said was too young - at which Frank commented that so was his palette and thus it tasted fine. I had chocolate mousse for dessert that was as light as a feather.The Nobleman and the Palais
In need of walking off lunch I visited the Palais and arrived in time for the tour. This beautiful castle-like chateau was 17th century but had some of the first innovative plumbing for the time - they had hot and cold running water that used gravity and a system of drains and some interior toilets (holes in private rooms). The attic was beautiful - huge wooden beams covered like the interior of a barrel. Spiral staircases and towers, astonishing sculpture and detailing, stained glass, chapels and a prison room in one of the towers.
I found some nice shops on the way back and found a lovely blue sweater and elegant white dress, both of which were quite reasonable. I had lots of fun trying on clothes. I found an antique bookstore and a lovely print of the interior of the cathedral for Frank, it was very special as it had a man painting or drawing on one of the balconies overlooking the vast interior. The man had a pad and to his right a paint set, which looked actually just like Frank's little hand-held computer! Really nice perspective. I also found a very old, turn of the century, illustrated children's copy of Robinson Crusoe which was bound in red leather with gold gilt and filled with gorgeous prints. I found a little color version of Alice in Wonderland that was about 25 years old. I returned in time for the big presentation at 5:00.
Frank, Regina and Maynard were interviewed by a TV reporter and the students could ask questions. There was also a live connection with astronaut Joe Edwards who is currently directing operations in Star City. The theme was The Conquest of Space and everyone had fun asking Joe and Frank questions about manned spaceflight and Maynard about the future of robotics. Maynard developed the robot that will be used next summer to go inside Chernobyl.
Dinner was another 4 star hotel, this time with the President of the region of Cher and some of his staff. This was another marvelous gourmet restaurant and lasted even longer than lunch. We arrived at 8:30 and dinner was composed of many courses lasted until 12:30am. We began with champagne and olive paste on crackers. This was followed by an incredibly light soufflé, just a tiny 'for one' size. For this we had a delightful white from the region (Sancerre). For appetizers we experienced probably the culminating peak of a gourmands' existence - a whole foie gras, cooked to perfection, slightly browned with a honey like sauce and the most incredible red wine which had about 7 layers of taste ranging from cinnamon to citrus to honey to flowers. I have never in my life had any wine that tasted like this with some many levels. As Frank said, it made the foie gras. You hear a lot about certain wines and foods complimenting each other but I have never truly experienced anything like this. They were married on the spot they were so perfect for each other. We are going to attempt to find out the name of the wine, which we were told and have forgotten. This unbelievable third course was followed by a delicate lamb for me that was perfectly complemented with garlic and vegetables. Dessert consisted of cheese from the region. The goat cheeses (of which there are 5 from Cher) are the lightest most exciting cheeses I have ever tasted. And then the sweets! We all had what they called strawberry soup - but which was just a mound of the sweetest strawberries you have ever tasted - actually RIPE and SWEET unlike American strawberries, which are always picked early and are tart. Real strawberries are NEVER tart. They had a lovely light fresh sweet sauce and it was like a bouquet. This was followed by coffee, Armagnac and cigars for the gentlemen. We were astounded by their generosity.A Gourmet Meal
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