Last day at Thonon lab

My last day in Thonon was very busy. I ate breakfast and then I had to finish cleaning my apartment. I walked to the lab and spent some time on a PowerPoint talk that I gave at the lab about preliminary findings of our research. Before my talk, I visited the office of Eric and Valentine. They have an amazing collection of unique artifacts in their office. For example, they attached baskets to legs of a doll  so they could pass back and forth a tennis ball. The legs of the ball are the handles. They call it "doll ball". They had several strange items and each one had a funny story. Crazy PhD candidates. They envision a website where people with strange offices could share pictures and stories. It is a good idea.

 My talk was at 11 am. It was so wonderful for the students to have attended my talk in such big numbers. Almost everyone was there. Several people said I did a good job. After the talk we gathered for a group photo. Can you find Dan? I look like Waldo. Thanks for taking the photo Agnes. Also missing is Severine. So later a photo of just the two of us was taken. Severine was missing from the group photo because she had to go to the rail station to change my tickets for the trip to Paris because the train workers have been striking.

 It is strange because some trains continue to run, but the one I was scheduled to use was cancelled. So now I'm writing as I ride a bus to Bellegarde. The rest of my trains are supposed to run. I hope so. I want to get to my Paris hotel without incident. Friday I fly back to the USA.

 The students play a very cool ping-pong game that was new to me. It is a game of round robin elimination. It starts with 8-10 or 4-5 per table side. The ball is served and people move around the table returning the volley when it is their turn. There is actually a fair amount of strategy, but explaining all the complicated nuances could take days. Suffice is the to say, if you screw up your turn, you must exit. The others play on until only two are left. The round championship is decided by a quick game to three points. Then the 6-8 players join in for a second game. It is truly a ton of fun. Normally I am quickly eliminated, but in the video I lasted longer than I normally do. I think the students were trying to give me my first win, but I messed it up. I had so much fun with the students. It's a great group of young adults. So I hope my travel to Paris is uneventful. That is the best kind of travel.