Belgium Rocks!

This week, we are hosting our Colorado friend, Tim Santori. I guess the thought was what better way to entertain than to run from the French riots to the calm country of Belgium. Our first stop, the gothic city of Ghent....


Ghent, Belgium 

Our Saturday night stay in Brugges, Belgium...more to come on this blog entry...time to learn the Black Scholes model.


Brugges, Belgium 

Les French Drivers...

I thought Americans were in a hurry. Not to pass too much judgement but French drivers suck. Let me qualify this statement with a few examples. The best was our recent experience at a gas station. Our French friend waiting behind us decided we were too slow in driving away from the pump after paying, so he decided to hit our rear bumper with his front bumper, multiple times. No this was not in Paris, it was at a gas station in rural France. A few days later, I was honked at for letting a pedestrian finish walking across the street before pulling forward when the light turned green. Sorry French dude. Daily, the French tailgate so close that I can't see the front end of their cars and when they pass, no turn signals and they come quite close to brushing our car. Speed limits don't matter here because they have speed cameras to control speeding. French law requires the government post a sign 1 kilometer before the speed camera to warn you of the upcoming speed trap. That's effective. Our first week in France, a Englishman said French drivers are "always on your bum" and he is right. Anyway, I guess I need to figure out a way to super charge our Volvo station wagon. The French are right, I should drive like a bat out of hell in the speed wagon.

Exams & Vacation

Last week brought the joy of five 3-hour exams in 2.5 days. Fifteen hours of exams wore me out. I find out my results in mid-November. Since the scores are based on a Z-curve, my grade completely depends on how the rest of the class performed. Anyhow, with Rebecca just back from the USA and her exam in Chinese medicine, we decided to drive South to the Provence region. My Mom said we would love it down there and we did.

We had a slow start last Thursday due to my continued stomach illness but we finally made it to the INSEAD campus to meet another couple for the journey South. Ashish an Snehal are from India and we were very happy they decided to share vacation time with us. Ashish is in my section and Snehal and Rebecca spend quite a bit of time together with the partners group. (a.k.a spouse community at INSEAD)

Our destination city was Arles, located in the Provence region of France. Provence is known for beautiful lavender fields, Cote du Rhone wineries, ancient Roman sites, and the setting for many Vincent van Gogh paintings. Our first stop was this little cafe in one of my favorite van Gogh paintings. The original cafe was destroyed by the Germans in WWII but rebuilt to its original form.


Semi-famous art. 

Below, our travel companions, Ashish and Snehal. Did I mention they are Longhorns? Both did their graduate engineering work at The University of Texas at Austin.


Our awesome travel companions. 

The trip duration was nearly 700 kilometers so it took about 7 hours to make it to Arles. On Friday, we made our way to the massive colesium located in central Arles. They still host bull fights in the stadium on a regular basis. It is in good shape and really great to tour. We liked the rolling arch tops.


The top of the ancient Roman colesium in Arles.  

On Saturday, we drove towards the mountains to visit the town of Les Baux. It is a charming town located on the top of a cliff. No cars allowed in this town literally carved out of the rock. It was a pretty special place and we wish we had more time.


Fresh candy in the town of Les Baux.