The Colonel's Forum

I'm happy to say that I am typing this entry as I await the final leg of my trip home. I will never again return to Clermont-Ferrand. In fact, if I didn't see France again for another few years that would be ok too. I'd like to go back to Nice sometime, and also to Bordeaux. There are a lot of great things about France, I'll just have to re-read some of my own blog entries to remember them. Right now all I can think about is that I'm sick of "boarding by bus" at Charles DeGaulle, and things that don't work properly. I'm told that if you want to go somewhere in Europe where things work properly, you must go to Germany. Sounds good to me. One last note about events this month - Strother H. Brann II turns 60. That's right, my old man is reaching a big milestone in his life next week, and I'm excited that Ella and I will be celebrating with him and mom. We're all heading to Nashville for a nice relaxing weekend. Just a few short w...

... was quite a character. He was also my great-grandfather, though unfortunately I never got the chance to meet him. Earlier this year upon the occasion of my marriage to Ella, dad passed along to me a family heirloom - Leroy's pocketwatch. It's a really, really nice one, and it's still working in top shape. I have decided that one of the best ways to honor the memory of Leroy is to bring the watch with me on special occasions. I don't have specific criteria for this yet, but in general it's going to be events that I think he'd enjoy, and/or events where I think I could use his support. On October 7th of this year, P. Leroy came to Keeneland with me. I have to say I'm pretty sure he had a good time, and he definitely brought me good luck. Ella is continuing to take ove the real estate world in Lexington. She's got a great mentor/boss at the office who is one of Lexington's top agents. The two of them work well together, and Ella is really ...

On the up side of life, it's been a wonderful racing season at Keeneland. We've had great weather, and some really close races. We've brought several first timers out to the track, which is always fun. Because Keeneland is a non-profit and they have to put all the money they make back into their operations, they've made some major upgrades to the track this fall. There are new fences and rails (which is an understatement), there are 5 new high-definition video screens in the center of the track to replace the old scoreboard. I was sad to see the old scoreboard go, becauase it reminded you of the good old days, but at the same time these new screens are truly amazing, and they really improve the experience for the fans. Keeneland has also pioneered a new artificial track surface for horse racing. This is a highly involved system of layers of various artificial materials that look and act like dirt/clay/sand. It's really impressive. It's got the drainage ...

Air travel has really reached some new lows for me. 12 flights over the past 2 weeks, and right now, Delta has got a 59% on-time rate. Not bad, but not good. None of my delayed flights were due to weather. One single delay on my first trip turned a 13 hour trip into a 21 hour trip. Neat. Upon my arrival this week in Paris, I learned that all flights to Clermont were cancelled due to a strike by the baggage workers at the airport there. I guess 5 weeks vacation and a 35 hour work week aren't good enough - they want more money and contracts to ensure their job security. I know everything is relative, but these guys need a reality check. So I got to take the 4 hour train ride from Paris to Clermont. Neat. To add insult to injury, when I called Delta to ask what they would do to compensate me for this, their answer was that "we can't confirm that flight was cancelled." When I was consulting at McDonald's once I was astounded to learn that they have no idea...

The Carmes HQ for Michelin is an interesting place to work. You might think that the HQ of the world's #1 tire maker would be a nice compound of buildings. It's not. Half the buildings are falling down, many are former factory buildings. It's like Lexmark's HQ in Lexington but much older, and without air conditioning. And anyone who has been there knows that Lexmark's HQ is a nasty place to work - no windows, it's converted factory buildings, no sky lights, hallways are too small, conveniently located between the juvenile detention center and the strip clubs... really charming. We got to see some of the other buildings at Michelin over the past two weeks while we conducted some training labs. The conference rooms are all small, hot, and have broken presentation equipment. Their strict security often prevents you from being able to get to your meeting room. The chairs in all the meeting rooms are not the normal "conference room" or "execu...

Last weekend in Clermont-Ferrand was the inauguration of the Tram. Having been in the town since April, and since my French bosses backed out of their contractual obligation to rent us a car, because the French are cheap beyond all belief... where was I? Oh yes, the Tram. So I had to walk 60 round trips to the Michelin office. As the route from the VolcanHotelVille to Michelin HQ follows the tram line, I was able to watch most of the construction myself. The Tram is a light rail system that runs a loop around town. Clermont-Ferrand is building one because a ton of other French towns are building them, and the argument is that the Tram will increase tourism to the town. The validity of this logic is about like saying that, if you put a Tram loop around Momline Illinois, the tourists would just flock there. Of course they won't - it won't have much of an impact - we're talking about Moline, IL here. You go to Moline if you're lost, if you work for John Deere, and...

This morning I took my last shower and had my last croissant at the Volcan hotel. The Volcan hotel is mediocre at best, by anyone's standard. The rooms are really small. They have A/C in the summer and heat in the winter, but never both at the same time. The shower stalls are impossibly small, and the base of them are shaped like 25% of a pie chart - not sure how to explain it any better than that. They have tile on two sides, and a shower curtain that covers the curve. The problem is that the water pools around the edges, then runs out onto the bathroom floor. The result of this is that you get to shave and comb your hair in a swimming pool. Neat. The reception is only open certain hours each day. There is at least one thing broken in each room. Sometimes it's as simple as a light bulb that never works, sometimes it's something more significant like a toilet that doesn't flush properly. The towels reek of dry cleaning chemicals that as soon as your done wit...

One of my last meals in Clermont was a delightful lunch at a restaurant near Michelin. Turns out it was a salad of goose gizzards (cooked in fat, of course), with a main course of ham hocks or pork knuckles, I'm not really sure which. I did not know this when I ordered it, but as has often been the case, I simply got the "plat du jour" that the rest of my colleagues were having. What a treat - it was really good stuff. The pork whatever was similar to ham, but with more flavor. Not too fatty either. It was served over some lentils, onions and carrots. The Goose gizzard salad was really nice, I'd order it again. Seriously.

I am happy to report that these will be my last two trips to France. On the downside, since each trip involves 6 flights, that's 12 flights in 2 weeks. For those of you who don't get to experience business travel on a regular basis, I've decided to keep track of how the airlines do. Of my first 3 flights, two were delayed. That's a 33% on-time rate, which is pretty bad by anyone's standards. One flight was delayed this morning because ComAir called a mechanic to fix something, and the guy wasn't in their computer system. This means they had to call a 2nd mechanic (one who was in their system) to sign off on the work done by the first one. My flight to Clermont-Ferrand was delayed but they're not telling us why. This too is operated by a regional carrier, this time flying for Air France. As a result of today's experiences, I'm already pessimistic about getting home on time this Friday. On the flip side, the Frenchies can't seem to underst...

It's official. With the start of the fall racing season this weekend at Keeneland, fall has arrived in the Bluegrass. We had two beautiful days at the track with the Charles clan, and my brother in law Sam won a ridiculous amount of money. Sadly, my Sunday at the track was cut short for a 13 hour trip to France which turned into a 22 hour trip to France, but we'll get to the idiots at Delta airlines later. The signs of fall had been coming for some time. In the Bluegrass, this means every town puts on its own fall festival. The tobacco barns fill with drying tobacco leaves. People are tailgating at UK games. Oh yes, and the Bluegrass hills turn to an even more attractive landscape than usual - Bob Ross would be jealous. I'm stuck at the Paris airport for the moment, but when I get more time, I'll explain about my exciting trip this week.

In case you were curious, here's a shot of hip #425 at the time of sale. Note the price on the TV screen.

The secret to the bread pudding at Keeneland is hot dog buns. My friend Matt tells me this and his sources are absolutely reliable - he heard it from the chef himself. I was fortunate enough to have some of this excellent bread pudding this week, as Ella and I attended day 1 of the Keeneland fall yearling sale. The top sale of the day brought a mere $5.2 million, as compared with $11.7 million for the top horse the following day. There are so many great things about the Keeneland Association, just one of which is that 99% of their activities are free (or at least inexpensive) and open to the general public. Try popping in for an auction at Sotheby's, or Derby day at Churchill downs - it's just not going to happen. The Keeneland fall yearling sale is one of the premier thoroughbred events in the world, and it's free and open to the public. Heck, all you need is a letter of credit on file, and you too can plunk down $11 million plus for a 1-year-old never-raced-before p...

While doing time here in France, I have picked up on some (they are limitless) of the nuances of being a young Frenchman. If you're 16-22: It's OK to wear capri pants It's OK to drive a scooter around town Any 80s hairstyle is acceptable. You get bonus points if it involves gel, mousse and hairspray, and also for combining styles, like the mohawk-mullett. In terms of fashion, sports apparel is the order of the day. All-white is perfectly acceptable. The shoes must be Puma - ideally the motorsports "slipper" type Bling is essential - gold is preferred to silver, of course

It was an exciting Sunday here in Clermont Ferrand. Normally that would be an oxymoron, but this was not a normal Sunday. Jean-Marc and his wife Beatrice picked me up this morning and drove me out to Mauzun - a very small village about 20 miles from Clermont Ferrand. We went to see the castle there, and also because the were having a medieval festival today. The drive itself was really neat because it finally gave me a chance to see some of the Auvergne region. The terrain here is generally rolling hills that are broken up by river valleys. The exception to this is the chain of "puys" (pronounced pwees) that are inactive volcanos. The primary crops you see being grown are corn and sunflowers. We saw acre upon acre of enormous sunflowers, which is really something. The castle Mauzun is one of the finest examples of medieval defensive castles I have ever seen. Three perimiter walls of increasing diameter. The middle wall had 16 towers on it - one for each village in the...

There is a lot going on in France these next few days. Here are some highlights: 1) Tomorrow is the world cup final between France and Italy. I cannot describe how big an event this is for the French. Of course you know that soccer is a lot bigger over here, but to have a world cup final between two teams that are such big rivals, and to have Brazil and Germany NOT make the finals - this is big time stuff. Even this relatively small town of Clermont Ferrand is throwing one enormous party at the town square for the big game. They have erected a 40 foot big-screen at "Place de Jaude" where they will broadcast the game. Festivities begin tomorrow at 12pm, game is at 8pm France time. I've been warned that I might not get much sleep tomorrow night because sometimes people will party in the streets all night. 2) Next week is July 14th. In America we call it Bastille day, but here it is simply referred to as July 14th. It's the French independence day, but with a ...

I'm back in France, and it's everything I remember. The Charles DeGaulle airport is absolutely the worst airport on the planet. When we landed and parked at our gate, we had to wait about 20 minutes before getting off the plane. They had to call the bus you see, so that when we walked down the stairs off our 767, we had a bus to board. One of the ironies here is that of my past 8 Delta flights, the previous 7 were late (for reasons OTHER than weather). The arrival at CDG was on-time, so you'd think the bus would've been waiting for us... not so. Even better, we had a new bus driver, who made 2 u-turns en route to the terminal building. The plane was parked at CDG's newest terminal, actually. The thing is, it was built by the French, so it partially collapsed in May 2004 and cannot be used at all. It is currently full of scaffoldings that are preventing the enormous structure from collapsing entirely. Being the busiest airport in France, you'd think tha...

Sorry for the long delay, but a wedding and honeymoon take a lot out of a guy, you know? I am happy to report that both activities went exceptionally well, and I am absolutely convinced at this point that I have the best friends and family that a guy could ask for - seriously. On to more serious matters, when did people start using cell phones in restrooms? Have you seen this? I've been travelling a lot lately and I have to say I am frightened by the number of times I find myself next to someone in an airport restroom who is chatting on his cell phone. That's just not right. "Hi Frank - I'm taking a whiz right now, but let's go ahead and talk about that business proposal..." Come on. I continue to be disappointed in the appalling service we get from airlines these days. Smaller seats, less food service ("here's your snack pack"), more frequent delays, general lack of customer service. Five of my last 6 flights were late for reasons other ...

There are a lot of things about Europe that are different from the US. Some things are different in a better way, other things are different in a bad way, and I guess a 3rd category would be some things that are just plain different. Charles DeGaulle airport is different in a bad way. They don't use jetways. In the US, this is not uncommon when you're looking at regional jets or small airports. CDG is the busiest airport in France, and on the way home I had to take two busses in between airplanes and the terminals. My plane from Paris to Kentucky was an airbus A-340. It's a nice plane. It's also enormous, and all 200+ passengers had to take a bus from the terminal to the plane, then walk across the tarmac and HIKE THE STAIRS up to the plane. Only the French... The flight was decent. Air France has food slightly better than Delta, and free wine even in economy class. It used to be that on an international business trip you would get to fly business class, but t...

I'd like to talk for a moment about espresso. Those of you who know me will recall that I am not a coffee drinker. Technically, this is still true. Since I have spent time here in France though, one thing I have picked up is the customary espresso that accompanies every meal. I was reluctant at first, having had so many mediocre experiences with American coffee. At one point, Frans Maas (the logical Dutchman on the team) said "how can you ever truly finish a meal if you don't take a coffee?" So I gave it a shot. To make a long stort short, coffee in Europe and coffee and America are two completely different things. Back home, we serve a watered down, bitter cup of bean juice that generally tastes like a cross between muddy water and turpentine. Here in France, if you ask for "un cafe" what you get is a cup of what we call espresso back home. This is an entirely different beverage. I heard it was made from the same raw material though, so I got curi...

Well I'm finally winding down this marathon trip to France. 46 days. I'm outta here Friday morning (6/9) and I can't wait to get back to my honey, my house, my dog... crazy things like air conditioning, heating, rooms larger than 8'x12', shower curtains, and the ability to drive to work. I spent this weekend in Clermont Ferrand and I was again reminded of why it was a good idea for me to have spent so many other weekends traveling. This place is absolutely dead on the weekends. There was an amish quilt exhibition at the art museum in town, but I decided to skip that. Sorry Mom. Instead I explored some more of the old city, ate a good kebab, and spent some time at the city gardens where the roses are in bloom. I caught up on sleep, took care of some wedding business, and just finished a nice TV dinner (chicken with lemon vegetable sauce + couscous). There's another thing I won't miss - eating alone. You can only go to restaurants so many times and as...