Thank you, Poitiers.
Sorry for the delay, but WiFi has been scarce where we are now staying in Toulouse!
As we leave Poitiers, I'm so incredibly grateful for the experience. Poitiers is an amazing city, with beautiful buildings and architecture, and an even more beautiful history. We visited the Notre Dame, where Joan of Ark took refuge during her war with Britain. We visited the justice building, which was full of 15th century architecture and statues of prominent French characters from the era. After our tour ended, I thought to myself, old stuff is cool, why don't we have things like this in America? And then I remembered, our oldest historic artifacts aren't even half as old as most of the stuff we saw.
I am also thankful for our industry tour in Poitiers. We visited SAFT, which is a company who manufacturers high-tech batteries for space, military, and aviation industries. I went into the tour with rather low expectations, as I didn't think making batteries was exactly exhilarating. But after seeing the site, and the amazing things that they do, and some of the cool opportunities that they have available for their employees; I left intrigued. You might think that batteries are straightforward and simple, but think again, especially when it comes to space. Another awesome thing that I learned on this visit was the amazing labor laws that France has. A full-time work week is 35 hours, and anything after is double pay. If you are traveling for work, you are paid the minute that you leave, until the minute you get back to your hotel or wherever you are staying. Expenses are paid for. Think that 2 weeks paid vacation is amazing in America? Even the lowest-level full-time employees get 6 weeks in France. I wish we could implement laws like these, as I really think it would help with the depression and anxiety caused from a stressful and competitive workplace environment that we see in the States.
But enough with the depressive mood, here are some amazing pics that I took over the last week. Enjoy.
Go Blue!
Scott McCormick B.S.E. Aerospace Engineering '18 M. Eng. Space Engineering '19