Today was a special day – the 18th birthday of my daughter Hannah (left). How quickly time has passed. I am a very proud and happy dad.
After a late breakfast, I cycled into town to meet Nadine Gruner, the directrice of the Maison de Heidelberg in Montpellier, an institution of the University of Heidelberg founded in 1966.
During my last trip to Montpellier, a meeting had not worked out. For one because I simply had not known about this institution and hence had not prepared well. The other simple reason was, that in 2018 I had arrived on a Saturday. Bad timing.
Talking to Nadine Gruner, I learned a lot about the changing nature of the partnership between the two cities. Very interesting.
Afterwards, I did something that I was looking forward to for three weeks now: I went to a barber and got a proper haircut including a head massage. That felt so good!
Then I returned to the Maison de Heidelberg and met Dr. Rolf Friedrich Krause, the German Consul General in Marseille (last row middle) and other members of the partnership between Heidelberg and Montpellier. We talked about zis and the French counterpart Zellidja and it turned out that in fact Prof. Maurice Godé, member of the board (2nd from left) had a Zellidja scholarship when he was young. Small world. To the right: Dr. Wolfgang Meyer, Vice President, and Mrs. Rohre, employee of the German Consulate General in Marseille. To the left: Nadine Gruner, Directrice Maison de Heidelberg.
From there I went to the Hôtel de Ville and met the City Council Mustapha Majdoul for a handshake appointment. He is in charge for the energy change in Montpellier.
After all these official appointments, I had arranged for a sauna and massage in my hotel. Life is tough, you know. It was soooo good!
Insight of the day: Life is good!