C-A's life

Wrapping up in 10 pictures...

2007-12-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

I have neglected this blog for way too long and now the year is almost over and with it, the MBA... :-(

I thought I should still wrap this up with a last post so here it is: the last 4 months in 10 pictures!

Coming back from a very nice summer in Montreal and before jumping again in the madness of INSEAD I when to visit my family in Avignon and Nimes (September 1st and 2nd). Below is the enormous palace where the Pope used to live back when he was in France (notice how small people look).

Now back from Avignon, it was time to get serious and focus on the MBA. So we organized the last Shangri-La party (September 14th); the theme: Tarantino! I am sure you have recognized my imitation of Travolta in Pulp Fiction... :-)

I will let you guess for the others... Note the two new members of the house on the left, Marion and David, who are from the new promotion: July 2008!

Of course, I also had to get back into sports... Having just being nominated as one of the captains of the INSEAD Football Club, I helped organize the July 2008 Section Cup (September 22nd). I helped the E4 team to crush the competition and was able to capture my second title! (Added to the win in the December 2007 Cup)

Having been serious enough with MBA stuff, I allowed myself a little bit of relaxation... OKTOBERFEST!!! We drove to Munich on the Friday (September 28th), slept in the car because they lost our booking, and made it to the entrance of the targeted tent for 7.30 AM on Saturday. We literally fought the massive crowd to be able to get a seat and get one close to the stage. The day was as follows: sat down at 9.00 AM, ordered breakfast and beer, then lunch and beer, then snacks and beer, then beer, then dinner and beer, then beer, then left the tent just before 10.00 PM to try to find one of our own that wondered outside the tent... We drove back to Fontainebleau on the Sunday...

After a week of intense classes and recruiting activities (presentations, dinners and interviews), I visited a friend of mine in Barcelona (October 5th). He is doing his MBA at IESE, a two-year program, and I spent a good portion of my time bugging him that I started after him and would finish before... Barcelona is great, the students mostly leave in the Pedralbes area (very nice area of the city) and have endless BBQ on the rooftops of their buildings. Fantastic!

We did go clubbing one night (picture) and I wish I remembered the name of the place... :-)

The rest of October was spent studying and recruiting, fairly calm, except for one week in Montreal at the end of October for the P4/P5 break, including four days in Tremblant with my lovely girlfriend. Sorry, no pictures... ;-)

And then... SINGAPORE!!!

Actually, it began with Bali because I only spent 2 days in Singapore before we left. 15 or so of us flew there for a long weekend (November 1st to 5th)... Lots of beach time, including body-boarding, and a little bus trip to temples, a volcano, rice terasses (picture), and a monkey forest.

Having spent another full day in Singapore, I left for Toronto for more recruiting (November 7th to 11th). Tanya and I took the time to go see the Falls... Believe it or not, it was my first time! The trip was fun but a little short and I already had to fly 20 hrs back to Singapore.

I spent a full 10 days in Singapore before leaving again for Phuket and Ko Phi Phi islands (November 23rd to 26th). Beautiful beaches and landscapes!!! Below, the view upon arriving to the famous beach of Maya Bay, on the island of Phi Phi Leh, where "The Beach" was filmed... My buddy Laurent (from Montreal/now Paris) joined the group of 11 for that trip, as he visited Singapore for a week.

Spending another few days in Singapore allowed me to rest for my most recent trip: Pangkil (December 1st to 3rd). Imagine: a small private island about the size of the Olympic Stadium, rented to 40 friends, with all you can eat/drink... It was the best weekend of P5!!! As you can see on the pictures, travelling to the island was not easy: 90 min ferry from Singapore to Indonesia, 45 min bus ride, 90 min boat ride and the final 200 meters on a small zodiac to get there... But well worth it!

Having rehearsed a bit on the beach, and a lot more during the 2 days that followed, I was ready for Cabaret!!! (December 5th) This is one of the big INSEAD traditions where, at the end of each promotion, the graduating class performs on stage for everyone... It exposes those of us with talent and those of us, like me, who don/t have any... :-)

I took part in two acts, the first one is a copy of what you'll find if you click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b-fJxzpK7s

The second act... Well let's just say I hope no pictures of that ever surface because my masculinity would suffer...

And that's the end of it!!! One more weekend and I fly to France (December 11th), will spend a few days in London, Vienna and Paris with Tanya, and will be in Montreal for the Holidays!!! I look forward to being home again... Until the next adventure...

I did promise 10 pictures and below is little number 10. It is a glimpse to what I know will be a fantastic opportunity, a great learning experience, and a whole lot of fun!!! If you've guessed/recognized, I don't have to explain more; if not, I'll tell you when we speak!

Signing off,

C-A

Montmelian (June 16th)

2007-06-24T03:55:00.001-07:00

THE very best party at INSEAD so far... This guys put a lot of effort and it was great... It's just too bad I don't have more pictures! The theme was evening or military... As soon as you got to the chateau, an old fashioned army jeep would drive you through the property all the way to the party... Fantastic!

My friend Ralph (center of the picture) who is doing his MBA at IESE in Barcelona came to visit... He thought the party ended quite early as we walked back to the car around 5:30AM... I can't imagine what the party life must be in Catalunya! :-)

By the way, what I have on my face wasn't part of the costume... It's my good looking nose-cast...

Baywatch Party (June 9th)

2007-06-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

The title says everything about the theme... My house was transformed from Shangri-La to "Shangri-La Bay"... :-)

The party was good! Dominique, a friend of mine from Bombardier who was on vacation, came down from Paris to get a taste of the INSEAD experience... It's just too bad I broke my nose that morning playing soccer: notice the cool plaster!

Golfing again! (June 8th)

2007-06-24T03:26:00.000-07:00

The "Golf de Fontainebleau" is meant to be part of the top 10 golf courses of Central Europe... Green fee was decent: 50 EUR for INSEAD students... Tried to improve from my last performance, given the competition from Hami and Ian, but it didn't happen... I will need to train harder in Montreal if I want to do better in September!

A camel on the INSEAD lawn?!? (June 6th)

2007-06-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

It was Arabic Week and they brought a CAMEL!!! So funny, had to take a picture...

Golfing (June 2nd)

2007-06-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

It was time to put my golf clubs to good use! Girish and I headed to Cely Golf Club to play a little 9-hole... Great scenery, disastrous golf...

Dragon Week Party (June 1st)

2007-06-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

Before anyone comments on the dressing, I must mention that the theme was Shanghai 1930s... My friend Laurent from Montreal and his wife Amanda who were at the Ball the week before were still in Paris and they joined us... I guess the venue was decent: in a boat, on the Seine, in the middle of Paris... :-)

Summer Ball (May 26th)

2007-05-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Fantastic event in the superb Chateau de Fontainebleau!!! My friend Laurent and his wife Amanda were visiting from Montreal and we all had a blast!!! Wish my lovely girlfriend had been there as well...

The party was very "chic"...

Well, for the most part anyway...

We had a nice breakfast served at 4:30 AM...

Here's a picture of some of the 5:30 AM "survivors"...

Yes, as you can see, it wasn't too dark when we made it home...

Back in Montreal and Golfing!!! (May 5th)

2007-05-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

So very nice... Picture on Hemmingford's golf course...

End of P2! (April 30th)

2007-04-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

We had a little party on campus to celebrate the end of P2 and say goodbye to the friends going to Singapore for P3... Here's a picture of my section (E8) and one of me because I missed the section picture... :-)

Geek Day (April 10th)

2007-04-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

No comments... lol

Easter in Montreal !?! (April 8th)

2007-04-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

I surprised everyone showing for Easter in Montreal... I was great to see my family and lovely girlfriend... I was only in and out unfortunately and had a difficult traveling schedule: 9.5 hours layover in London on the way to Canada and 4.5 hours layover on the way back... But it was worth it!

Italian Week: Go-Karting (April 1st)

2007-04-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

We tried to put together a team with people from the house... It ended up being a little difficult as some of us didn't recover from the Italian party in time to race... But the day was just splendid and we had a lot of fun on the track...

Italian Week: World Cup (March 31st)

2007-03-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

I played with team "America" as there was not enough players to do US, or Canada, or even South America in a single team... We did well (among other things, we took the Italians out with a 3-0 win)... We ended up losing in the finals against team "Africa"... It was weird, the Italians lost playing a very offensive (African) style of game and the Africans won playing a very defensive (Italian) style of game... All in all, great fun!

White and Tight at Villecerf (March 23rd)

2007-03-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

The theme is pretty self explanatory... We were all a bit tired from the Dash but great party nonetheless !

The Dash (March 22nd)

2007-03-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

What is it? A race through town, from the Chateau de Fontainebleau to school, with everyone dressed up... The house went there as "dirty MDs" carrying our beloved Boris the bore head (see if you can spot us)...

Six Nations Rugby: France - Scotland (March 17th)

2007-03-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Very exciting game! France needed 24 points difference over Scotland to secure her win of the tournament, just ahead of Ireland... They had a 25 points lead with 4 minutes left when Scotland scored to reduce the difference to 20 points... However, in the dying seconds of the game, France managed to dramatically score again and win it 46-19, thereby securing the championship...

The Scots were only smiling in the beginning (Scotland dominated the first half)... Left to right are Ian and Iain...

Other supporter and mediators were (left to right) Frederic (French), Felipe (Spanish/Basque) and Pipa (Argentina)...

Fontainebleau and PSG (March 11th)

2007-03-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

The day was just amazing and we spent the whole afternoon walking around the grounds of the Chateau de Fontainebleau...

We then headed to Paris to watch Paris-St-Germain (PSG) face Auxerre in a French D1 game... Exciting atmosphere but unfortunately, PSG lost 1-0...

Notice that we were a bit late and I literally left the car in the middle of the street... :-)

Visiting Beaune/Burgundy (March 10th)

2007-03-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

We got to Beaune just in time for lunch and had one of our best meals of the week in a little wine bar serving wine by the glass with a cold cuts and cheese plater...

We then went on to visit the famous Hospices de Beaune: l'Hotel-Dieu...

We continued with a wine testing session in the wine market... Beaune is still considered by many to be the wine capital of Burgundy, ahead of Dijon. Some centuries ago, both were the same size: around 20,000 people...

We concluded the tour with a little walk around the old town...

Visiting Reims/Champagne (March 9th)

2007-03-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

It took a bit less than two hours to get to Reims and it rained the whole way there but, luckily, we did not have any rain once we got there. We first spent the afternoon tasting the champagne of Taittinger... notice that they sell to the SAQ!

We then went on to Piper-Heidsieck, enjoyed the tasty bubbles and the comfortable Piper lounge...

Finally, we could not miss the beautiful and famous cathedral, where most kings of France were baptized and crowned...

Visiting Paris (March 8th)

2007-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Exams are over, P1 and 20% of INSEAD is now behind me! On a beautiful Thursday, Tanya, who had arrived a couple of days ago from Montreal, and I went to spend the day in Paris... We spent a good portion of the morning and early afternoon visiting a fraction of the Louvre...

Hungry, we headed for Montmartre and had lunch just behind Sacre Coeur... And yes, we climbed all the steps we faced: in the metro and to get to the church... Proofs available below:

We concluded the day walking around the Marais and the Bastille areas before heading back to Fontainebleau with the train...

Football Section Cup (Feb 24th)

2007-02-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

A little bit of background information on this one... INSEAD's December intake is currently divided into 4 sections: E6, E7, E8 and E9. The football club organized a little competition this Saturday between the different sections. My section, E8, played E6 in one of the semi-finals and we managed to win the tight game 1-0...

We then went on to play the powerful section E7 winners 3-2 over E9... E7 took the lead 1-0 then again 2-1 but we managed to tie them after regular time and overtime... We went on to penalty kick: no one was scoring on the kicks until the 4th shoot were we scored and they didn't... When I managed to block their last shoot, championship was ours!!! Some great fun in spite of the rain!!! A HUGE thanks to the guys from the July intake that gave us a hand because we were missing a couple of players!!!

Chinese New Year's Eve (Feb 17th)

2007-02-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

I forgot to bring my camera to the party but I managed to find one picture of the group from Shangri-La that did go... Bonnie's friend Trina (next to Ian) came from London and they both cooked a fantastic Chinese meal the day before (Friday)... My friend Laurent, visiting from Montreal, is the one taking the picture...

And now, the party! Of course, since it was Chinese New Year, we had to GAMBLE... Poker found its way in the middle of the traditional Chinese games...

Happy New Year!!!

I'm sure that the INSEAD guests (my friend from Montreal and Bonnie's friend from London) were talking about their impressions of the student body... Laurent is a bit red... Did you like the wine my friend? :o)

All in all, very cool/fun party!

Brazilian Carnival (Feb 16th)

2007-02-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

All the house went and we were the Brazilian soccer team from the 70's... with their cheerleaders!

The stars: Gopinho, Felipao, Ronaldian, Ze Armando and Carlos-Albertano...

Decor for this party was amazing! 20 people worked hard all week and it showed... Most people came disguised and the evening was quite colorful...

Visite chez Suzon et Victor (Feb 11th)

2007-02-20T15:55:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I went to Paris for a short visit to my aunt and uncle... They are convinced that I don't do any work at INSEAD... lol

Jungle Party (Feb 10th)

2007-02-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

Another "wild" night... Notice that I could afford to wear shorts and sandals in the middle of the winter... I don't miss Montreal's winter that much!!! On both sides of the group we have Armando's cousin and friend visiting from Mallorca!!!

Pimps and Whores Party (Feb 9th)

2007-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

As you can see on the pictures, I enjoyed the company of the cutest man-whores out there... Do you recognize the "leaders of tomorrow"? :-)

Cholesterol Wednesday (Feb 7th)

2007-02-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

The title speaks for itself... This was one of the usual dinner parties that are held every Wednesday at the house but the menu was a little more fancy than usual... Menu was foie gras to start, magret with raspberries coulis and chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert... A DELIGHT!!!

Ski trip to Tignes (Jan 26th - Jan 28th)

2007-01-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

BY FAR THE BEST DECISION OF THE TERM SO FAR... I think the pictures will speak for themselves... As you can see, it's hard to beat skiing in the Alps... It took me the whole week to recover (study wise) but taking a break from Fontainebleau was very refreshing...

Yep, the resort is HUGE... Over 300 km of slopes... We were staying at around 1500 m (bottom right hand corner of the picture) and we went all the way to around 3500 m (top center of the picture)...

Here are a few pictures of the top, us a the top... and the Mont Blanc!!! (tallest on the last picture, right mountain)...

Finally, a few pictures of the little breaks we took... First, at the top to have lunch... Then at the very bottom on Saturday evening to relax and recuperate... Finally, the last meal on Sunday around 1:30 PM just before heading back to Fontainebleau...

Introduction Party in Chateau de Tavers (Jan 20th)

2007-01-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, 3rd party in a row for poor us... Got to admit that I was very tired that night, hence I didn't take many pictures. However, I did take a few pictures of the underground lounge area... Check it out!

Heaven & Hell in Shangri-La (Jan 19th)

2007-01-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

By far the beast party of the year!!! According to the hosts (us) and the guests (close to 200 people)... Decorations took so much time but the result was well worth it...

Can you now find me on the pictures... I the cute demon...

Eyes Wide Shut Party in Chateau Fleury (Jan 18th)

2007-01-23T03:36:00.000-08:00

Don't have a lot of pictures of this one because I left my digital camera home... But I have a couple of pictures to help illustrate the theme...

Bain&Co. Party in Chateau de Vaux le Penil (Jan 13th)

2007-01-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

Short summary: one hell of a party!!! Besides, an image is worth a thousand words... I came home at 5:30 am with a strong champagne overdose (unlimited champagne can have that effect)... Not to worry, I wasn't driving...
Yes, those are the people living with me this year... All of them on the picture this time...
The chateau has a very impressive website: www.chateaudevauxlepenil.com

Outward Bound (Jan 12th)

2007-01-23T03:26:00.000-08:00

Finally got the pictures from our bonding day in the Fontainebleau forest... You had to be there to fully grasp the intensity of it. Below is only one of the many team-oriented exercises we were challenged with... Let's just say that we all had a lot of fun and, obviously, met some new and very interesting people...

MBA Opening Ceremony (Jan 9th)

2007-01-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

Don't we all look very handsome? The ceremony started at school with a speech from the dean of Insead, the dean of the MBA programme and a couple of alumni... Then we went for champagne!!!
Unfortunately, we ended up running out of champagne and we had to move the party in the city... "Aussie Bar" offered some very good options: beers!!!

My little trip in France (Dec 29th - Jan 7th)

2007-01-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

After a very long a quite costly flight (5okg overweight, i.e. $500 penalty), Tanya and I made it to France on Friday the 29th... It took quite a bit of effort to get from CDG airport to Gare Montparnasse given the enormous suitcases that we were carrying...

We spent the evening at my aunt's after a very long TGV ride from Paris to Orthez... I was able to see my cousin's daughter (my godchild) for the first time...

The next day, Tanya and I visited beautiful Orthez... I hadn't been in a while and it was great to walk around and rediscover the old castle tower, the old bridge...

We then went to enjoy some delicious "basque cake" and after an afternoon of further walking, we spent the evening and had supper with my cousin and her "little family"...

On the 31st, we took the TGV back to Paris to spend New Year's Eve with my aunt and uncle. The meal was amazing and we left quite late... so much so that we barely made it for the midnight lightning of the Eiffel tower and some nice champagne... We then walked a bit on the Champs Elysees and rapped up the evening in a club nearby where my cousin works: Le Milliardaire... thank God for Audrey (my cousin) because drinks were at 20 EUROS!!! Du vol!!!

On the 1st, everything was closed so we just walked around... We saw the Eiffel tower again, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre (next to which I had my yearly McDonald's!!!), City Town (next to which they skate outdoors!!!) and the Champs Elysees again (by night)...

On the 2nd we picked up my car in Compiegne - more train and suitcases :o( - and drove to a little town next to Charleroi (Belgium) to visit Tanya's cousins... Very nice people of which I had met a few... The big sandwich is called a "mitraillette"...

On the third I did some beer tasting (had to in Belgium), was the king at lunch, drove back to Compiegne to have supper with friends of the family: les Salins (unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures). We drove to Fontainebleau right after and made it around 2:30 am... Quite a long day!

On the 4th, we simply walked around Barbizon, a very nice little town nearby, birthplace of the impressionist movement (explains the expensive restaurants)... Check out the picture of my French ride!!!

On the 5th, we went to Paris for some serious shopping and came back to prepare the first little party at Shangri-La for Felipe's birthday (he is the one struggling with the champagne)... About 60 people came and we broke a minimum amount of stuff (just kidding)... All in all a lot of fun and a good kick-off to the party season...

On Saturday (the 6th) we visited the surroundings a bit further, drove to Chateau Fleury where a few (around 15) students live (impressive when you look at the pictures). I'll take some more pictures when I go for dinner... We also took a few pictures of the place (Shangri-La)... Finally on the 7th I drove Tanya to the airport... very, very :o(