Hu, what, when, where, how, and sometimes Y

 November 28, 2023 - Castets It occurs to me that I've been fairly tight lipped about the equipment and project so here's a nutshell (maybe a coco de mer nutshell) summary: Coco-fesses?  🤣  I suppose it's an apt name Coconut meet cocobutt? The project here was to stick closely to what exists in Newark and build it in Castets to expand our global production capacity for this perfumery ingredient.  This molecule is projected to increase in sales so we're trying to stay ahead of demand. The new equipment consists of batch reactors, storage tanks, and distillation.   Batch reactors are basically big kitchen pots: you add stuff and stir while heating or cooling until it's cooked and seasoned to taste (maybe a slight oversimplification).  When you're done cooking, empty the pot out and you can start the next batch. When done cooking, you have your crude material (they call it "brut" here).  It's crude because it's not cognizant of social norms.  J...

November 27, 2023 - Dax Despite it having been a easy-paced work day, I'm feeling a night in for dinner instead of staying out with the AIGP engineers; it'll be a chance to mix things up.  What trip to France would be complete sans un verre de vin?  Of course, I'm sure several other countries would have a bone to pick over who has the best wine, so I won't be making such claims.  Instead, I'll rendre une visite au magasin qui s'appelle La Bouteille.  Contrary to the name, the place was filled with many bottles instead of just one!   There was an impressive display of wines, I'm sure there was some method to how they were layed out but no method known to me 😆.  There was also a bar/section in the back where one could taste from a rotating selection (faire un dégustation).  Fortunately, the guys manning the cashier was super helpful.  I asked about local wines and he pointed me to two types: les vins de Irouléguy et de Madiran (ee-rule-ay-ghee...

 November 25, 2023 San Sebastian After sleeping in and tidying up the apartment, I enjoyed a breakfast of an apple turnover (chausson) and a cup of coffee.  The weather is brisk and ground damp, but nothing closed toe shoes and a jacket can't handle.   I packed up into the car and made my way south today for a day of exploring a little further away from home base.  Today, that means I'm in San Sebastian, which was highly recommended to me by people back home.  The drive down went pretty smoothly, I was struck by just how green the drive was.  Sure it was wet and cloudy, but there's still a ton of green foliage and shrubs persisting around here in addition to the evergreens.  The border with Spain was basically marked by a change from driving on flat roads to navigating up and down misty-tipped mountains; rounding each bend was really quite a sight!   The drive was only about 1.5 hours from Dax to San Sebastian, but I figured I'd spend th...