The team hit the ground running.....just four days ago.

When we arrived in Paris we quickly headed to Le Havre for a wonderful luncheon the clubs in the city organized for the two Governors - Sue Smallwood and Pierre Espinasse. At that time we also met our host families. We are each in separate homes during this stage of the exchange and have experienced the best of French hospitality thus far!

On Monday, we visited the "Cafe Verte" and learned about importing and exporting coffee in France. Cafe Verte is the only remaining coffee importer in France. In the afternoon we went to Honfluer and were treated to a boat ride to see "Le Pont Normandie" and a quick walk around the town. Even in the rain, it was obvious the town is quite charming. In the evening, Dominique Ferme, the leader of the team from Normandy, hosted the entire team and our host families for a lovely evening.

On Tuesday, the group visited the Chamber of Commerce in Le Havre. The building in which it resides is quite impressive and unlike the Chambers of Commerce in the US, all local companies pay taxes that go directly to the operation of the Chamber. In the afternoon, we visited the Port of Le Havre. It is an expansive and sophisticated operation to say the least. And to finish our day's program, we had the happy surprise of seeing President Sarkosy make his first public address since being elected! Apparently, the mayor in Le Havre and the new President are good friends and Le Havre has the good fortune of hosting events like this.

Today, each team member had a professional day. I have not seen the others, but Nick and I spent the day observing the courts in Le Havre. The differences between the French and American justice systems are big and small. It was a wonderful chance to have such a close view!

We apologize for the delay in posting our updates. We are thankful so many of you are interested in tracking our progress. We will do our best to post information to this page every couple days. The days are long and often our minds are ezspecially exhausted at the end of the day from speaking in French, but when we return to Chicago nearly fluent with many new friends we know it will all be worth it!

Submitted by: Margot Vetter, Team Member