19 - End of Act 1? - Castets, Capbreton, Vielle Saint Girons
Monday, December 11, 2023 - Castets and Capbreton
A couple of really important people came to the site today and, for some reason, it was important to introduce me to them as the expert from America overseeing the startup. Then later during the plant tour, I was asked to speak a little about the equipment. Also for some reason, I wasn't quite sure how much I was allowed to say so I tried keeping it brief but could tell when I let something I shouldn't have slip when someone in the back gesturingly shook their head while silently mouthing "NOOOOO!" and waving their hands. 😅 So I quickly wrapped up as best I could and tried exiting stage left as quickly as possible; but before I could get clear I was asked to pose with the very small group on the red carpet staged for this visit... 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 On the bright side, I wasn't fired by the end of the day so at least I got that going for me.
Dinner was a return to Mr Seagull at the port of Capbreton. We were seated next to a planter and I accidentally sowed my utensils (j'ai semé mes ustensils). Also, there was a very well behaved golden retriever in the restaurant.
I ordered the tartare de Saint Jeacques as my entrée not really knowing what it was: turns out the Saint Jeacques is a type of scallop (coquillage). Very tasty!
Dessert was something called bannoffee: mashed bananas with mascarpone, and a chocolate wafer. Light and delightful.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - Castets
My next big work activity this week has been working with an operator to develop their written operating procedure. The formatting is done very differently here than in Newark but acting as a resource for the operations team to get familiar with how things should work is still a good use of my time. Since there wasn't a computer available for her just yet, I had a good grammar lesson from typing while she was watching over my shoulder; it didn't take too long to realize that the fastest way to do this would be for her to type 99% (on a separate AZERTY keyboard) and for me to advise on the details about how to respond to specific issues. It's weird how one minute I feel like I'm hitting my stride and can go about life in French and the next I'm staring back blankly as the conversation just washes over me.
Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - Vielle Saint Girons
I started my day by visiting a different company site; it'd be a shame to be so close and not see some of the other facilities we have in France. So today's visit was conducted in French and took several hours due to the sheer size of the facility; like it is big! Not only is it big, but it's also old and has a lot of history related to the Landes region; so seeing how some of the older buildings were revamped and incorporated into the modern plant was interesting. The place is bigger than I'm used to but I suppose it's still puny compared to some chemical plants or refineries out there: people only had bicycles for getting around instead of trucks.
Not too long ago, Firmenich bought DRT (Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques), and the facility I visited today was a DRT site. The history lesson came from how the Landes region began a concerted reforesting effort of pine trees, which converted the region from moors and marshes to pine forests. This effort was partly at the behest of Napoleon, who had a vested interest in a source of wood and la colophane (rosin) for building a navy. (I'm told Napoleon is also responsible for the rows of trees that have grown up along some of the roads, with the intention of the trees providing shade for marching armies).
https://landas.eu/history-and-geography/
And with a forest of pines, people turned from wearing stilts to watch sheep in marshy land to wearing stilts to scratch pine trees: la gemme (resin extraction & to be honest, it's kinda similar to how we get maple syrup but way less tasty). From pine tree resin, all sorts of goodies can be found albeit with much science, equipment, and savoir faire. And thus DRT was founded, surrounded by pine forest and paper mills.
Just next door to this site was a company house that had been proposed as a candidate for my stay in France. I'm glad I opted for Dax, the proximity to the plant and the smallness of the village likely would have been too isolating for me; not that I'm making friends left and right in Dax, but at least I feel like there's places and people to interact with.
Another fun discovery during my rainy tour was that my right safety shoe likes to absorb puddle water (a puddle = une flaque) like a sponge. It's a good thing I was wearing wool socks but it was a shock to see afterwards that I could squeeze the water out of my sock by hand...
Thursday, December 14, 2023 - Castets and Capbreton
Today the question came up about potentially extending my stay in France; it'd be a shame to start the plant just as I'm getting ready to leave. As such, we might start the process of seeing what paperwork is needed for me to stay jusqu'au mi-mars (until mid-March). A quick call with my boss confirmed that he's fine with extending my stay so long as I'm ok with it, and right now I wouldn't mind staying a little longer.
Dinner was at Monsieur Mouette with a bunch of people (surprisingly, the restaurant menu had changed since Monday). I had an entree of "tarama au corail d'oursin"; I had no idea what it was when I ordered but turns out it was a spread flavored in part with the eggs of a sea urchin. I'd say it had a consistency similar to pimento cheese but with that distinctive oily fish flavor we all know and love. It was a fun night! I've found that group conversations are still difficult for me to follow but I can manage pretty well in conversations of 2-3 people.
Friday, December 15, 2023 - Castets
The last day of work in 2023 for me! It's a good thing our holiday lunch was organized for today. A catered lunch from Le Ramuntcho was brought on site, which included massive charcuterie boards and tons of appetizers, followed by tiny skewers (a grill was set up outside for the skewers), then large platters of cheese, and finally an assortment of desserts! Whew, what a spread!
There were also gifts to be had. For the past few weeks, employees have been posting pictures their children drew for the 2024 Olympics and chocolate Santas were sent home to the young artists. For the adults, the site put together goodie bags of perfume samples. Additionally, I'd signed up for a Secret Santa exchange; I was fairly unoriginal in my gift idea and defaulted to chocolate but my Secret Santa knocked it out of the park with a small book of French idioms/proverbs and their explanations plus a "calendar" with French recipes! Il était trop sympa!
After a stop by the mall for a little clothes shopping (maybe I'll have enough clothing to last me till after Christmas now?), I had a cheese platter at Chez Nous, featuring live music by a jazz group called Atrisma. The music was interesting and I got seated at a loveseat with an old travel trunk serving as my table, right next to the band 😂. Met a couple guys from the area who were nice and chatted with me for a bit while waiting for the rest of their group to arrive, one was from Dax, one from Bayonne, and another from Bordeaux.
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