Team Update

The view of Valence from Crussol, a 5th century castle on the top of a mountain.

Bonjour from France!! I am Kent Fischer, Rotary GSE team leader from 5840. I am privileged to be asked by Ashley Festa to continue the blog discussion and review the next few days. The first week progresses with many visits lead by our wonderful Rotarian hosts to plants, schools and awe inspiring sites. The Rotary GSE team has visited ISTM, Institut Supérieur Technologique Montplaisir, a specialty technical school for 19-25 year olds to learn the making and fitting of artificial limbs. Interestingly the students must begin by building a rudimentary limb and it’s properly fitted orthotic before they progress to the computerized robotic limbs used in some cases today. This is not only to teach the profession from the ground up but in the event that the graduate goes to a part of the world where no modern conveniences exist. The headmaster stated that students come from all over the world and that there are 22 applicants for each admission. Radiology technician training and commercial art are taught as well. Interestingly, one of the French GSE team members is a teacher at this institute.




A student creates a model of a foot at the technical institute for orthotics.



One of the displays in the Corima manufacturing plant.

Later our team enjoyed a tour of one of the top leaders in the world of carbon racing wheels for bicycles. Corima is run by a Rotarian and his son. They have expanded their state of the art carbon product line to include the entire frame of racing bikes, bike seats and wheelchair wheels and components. Check out this exciting company online.
This evening, like all evenings, end with a return to the loving French Rotarians who have graciously opened their homes to us and shared their families and their time to make each of us feel loved and safe. This evening, Ashley, journalist and trip blog coordinator, was treated with observing a German journalist interview her host family regarding his business involving agriculture production.



The team stands in front of a helicopter outside Thales Corp., which manufactures electronics.

Thursday a.m. the team toured Thales, a super-secret manufacturer of electronic components for helicopters. Their primary devices are navigational equipment and guidance systems for military use. We were not allowed to take photos so none are available. However, this company is also a cutting edge provider of GPS and navigation systems for commercial aircraft, ships and trains. Although highly technical, this tour was exciting and interesting as the engineers provided many models and materials to help us understand their product and mission.

Friday the team was welcomed by the county or “departmental” government of Drôme in which Valence is a part. An elected member of the governmental body explained how taxes are levied, collected and spent by this group of elected citizens. Much of their efforts are of a humanitarian, environmental and educational nature. Wine and regional olives were served and questions were answered and discussed.

The stone palace created piece by piece by a postman during the span of 50 years.

We quickly left the city’s center and headed north within the region of Rhone-Alps. The agriculture and activity dramatically changes from olive, grape and peach production to row crops, legumes and cattle production. The team toured a “palace” created over 50 years by an ordinary postman with an unordinary imagination. This postman, named Cheval, for 5 decades walked his route and picked up rocks and admired the fronts of postcards his postal clients received from all over the world. He created a palace that was a shrine to faraway places and the people of the world.

Saturday a.m. we changed clubs that would move us further south toward Provence. First, however, we were re-routed to the most beautiful town in the region we have seen so far called Aix les Bains. There we were greeted and recognized by the mayor, the Rotary District Governor of 1780 and by other local dignitaries. We presented our PowerPoint presentation of the proud state of Texas and Rotary District 5840. This presentation was beautifully lead by team member Ashley Festa, our primary French speaker. The presentation was well received as the color and content were put together by team member John Marshall. Here we met the French GSE team of 3 young, bright women Virginie, Stephanie and Claudie and led by Rotarian Michelle Bouchet. Madam Bouchet is also the current president of her Rotary Club. They will be arriving in Texas to D-5840 in mid-April. We had a wonderful lunch buffet and then strolled along the gorgeous lac du Aix les Bains where we watched sailboats and games of patank carried out by locals. We had a chance to sit and relax at an outdoor café and enjoy the company of our French Rotary hosts, the French GSE team and a cool beverage and ice cream.



The District 1780 GSE coming from France to Texas. They are Claudie (from left), team leader Michelle, Stephanie and Virginie.

The team at Pont du Gard, which was built by the Romans about 2,000 years ago.

Sunday the second Rotary club in the district provided members to take us to the fascinating Roman site of Du Pont du Gard. This is the only remaining example of the aquaduct system built in the first century following the birth of Christ. We drove from here to a stone quarry that has been in use for over 400 years. A yellow stone of sedimentary, fossilized rock is carved out of this quarry today in 1 meter by 1 meter by 3 meter blocks weighing 20 tons each. The French government imposes strict environmental controls on such a manufacturer including dust and noise control and replacement of material so as not to leave a large empty space behind. The quarry owner is a Rotarian and gave a wonderful explanation of this important enterprise. At the end, Rotary Club banners were exchanged and wine, sausage and black olives, all from the area, were enjoyed by all. The Rotarian owner was very interested in “The Quarry” in San Antonio, and you could see the wheels spinning as this development was explained to the operator of an active quarry with a very large space in the ground.

Sunday afternoon found the team winding its way along a deep canyon in Provence where we took a short break to share the fine art of stone skipping with the French. Lunch at a marvelous sidewalk café was provided by the USA GSE team in the ancient city of Uzes. Next an underground cave was explored by the team and their hosts. The cave was beautiful and the similarity of both the cave formations and surface landscape to the Texas Hill Country was striking. The evening ended with a dinner hosted by the Rotary Club at a restaurant within an ancient walled city that dates back over 4 centuries. We concluded the evening with champagne and a tour in the home of one of the Rotarians living within the walled city. When asked why Texas sparkling wine was not served, our host said that he would have but that there was just none to be found.

Monday we will be up to our elbows in alligators and then explore the depths of one of France’s nuclear power stations. Alligators, roses and greenhouses exist here because of the nuclear plant. Please check back to see how and why they are all related. We hope this blog is helpful to those who read it and we love the opportunity to bring it to you and give many thanks to our District 5840 and its leader District Governor Jim Montgomery. Love to all, your humble team leader Kent Fischer.