Xavier Darcos, Part II

WELL, DARCOS WAS a no-show -- too much going on right now in Paris. However, his speech was read by the Recteur of the Nice Academie and it was quite well received. I have no intention of boring anyone with the details of the 2eme Congrès des Sections Internationales. But I can report that educational conferences in France aren't much more exciting than in the United States. However, the food is much, much better.

Convention food that I'm used to consists of bad steaks, wilty salads, and rubbery vegetables. The dinner I had last night was, shall we say, quite a bit better:

• apéritif
• entrée: Niçoise salad (kind of an obvious choice considering the location)
• plat: roasted duck, stuffed tomatoe, mushroom, quiche
• cheese plate: mine had four: Tomme de Savoir, Roquefort, Beaumont, and a goat cheese of some kind
• Dessert: tarte de pomme
• Coffee

Of course, every table had crusty bread, wine, and sparkling and still water.

The meal kind of helped me get over the somewhat boring 4 hours I had just spent listening to various people speak.

CJS