We have actually been preparing for this trip for the last ten years, building relationships with our ESC colleagues so this year would be possible. The ESC is a graduate school of management in Clermont-Ferrand, France, about 4 hours south of Paris by train.
Clermont has a city population of about 140,000. Adding in the surrounding towns and suburbs brings that to over 400,000. Clermont is the regional capital and a center for commerce and education. With the world headquarters for Michelin tires and several universities, there is an abundance of activities and lots of opportunity for international experience.
My husband had an exchange teaching position at ESC in the 2000-2001 school year and we have both been teaching there for a week in the spring each year since. This year he will be teaching some marketing and management short courses, doing research, and doing some committee work while I plan to pursue a masters degree (in English) at the school. We know this will be a very busy year, but we are so looking forward to it.
I have been on an extended vacation this summer and we have done some other traveling, preventing us from getting too caught up in prep for this trip, but NOW is the time. We are away from home a lot anyway, so we know how to prep our home. We also have good neighbors and relatives who will help us by keeping an eye on things here at home.
So, today, I am scanning documents that I may need for admission to the school program and researching travel options. It appears today that plane tickets will be a bit expensive, so I am watching several departure and arrival cities to make this more reasonable. I use Kayak.com, which searches the other travel sites and compares the results. I have set up fare alerts for 4 or 5 most likely itineraries and will purchase tickets in the next few days.
That's it for today - see you tomorrow!
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