In September Hubs, Ryan Goodman and I had the privilege of travelling to France to attend the Alltech Global 500 Beef and Dairy conference. While I have had the opportunity to attend several Alltech events, this conference was by far my favorite. While the location certainly made the trip all the better, what really made this conference the best for me was the chance it gave me to expand my world view of agriculture.
The conference was held in conjunction with the 2014 World Equestrian games. While the games were going on in Caen, the conference was in the beach town of Deauville. With over 700 attendees from 43 different countries it was, once again, everything you would expect from a conference put on by a company that is a leader in agriculture across the globe.
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- We made it to Paris! And we were tired!
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- Ryan is digging the cafe.
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- Ryan really, really liked the coffee.
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- It seemed appropriate that our first meal in France was crepes.
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- It quickly became apparent that Hubs was not sized correctly for France. But he covered his hurt feelings with layers of pastry.
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- I may not be a sweets lover but I certainly enjoyed the skill that the French pastry chefs brought to this experience!
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- Our good friend David Butler from Alltech stopped to pose for a photo with Ryan and I.
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- Dr. Lyons, Founder and CEO of Alltech was an entertaining and gracious host as always!
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- Aiden Connolly, CIO of Alltech welcoming us to the conference.
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- Every Alltech event is a diverse and multicultural collevtion of people from around the globe.
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- While much of the conference was about networking and learning from one another, many experts in the dairy and beef industry were on hand to share their knowledge with us as well.
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- You never know who you will sit next to and learn from at an Alltech Event!
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- Sunset on our first day of the Alltech Global 500 Dairy and Beef Conference.
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- In Normandy they fly the American flag as a show of appreciation for our efforts in World War I.
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- Our hotel was right on the beach. This was very exciting to Ryan.
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- A beautiful, sunny day!
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- The boys were checking out the view.
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- We were so worried about leaving the farm but by the time this photo was snapped I think you can see that the stress had melted away!
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- The beach in Trouville-sur-Mer was quiet and serene in September.
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- Beautiful homes built along the beach.
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- I may have brought a few of these shells home!
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- This was the first morning that we woke up in France.
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- Walking the streets of Deauville and checking out the local flavors.
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- Such a beautiful little beach town.
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- This photo just seems to sum up everything I imagined the streets of France to be like.
If you would like to see more of what Alltech Global 500 is all about, check out this short video recap!
For those of you interested in being agvocates for agriculture, check out this video of David Butler talking about his 49 person challenge!
That is great. I am especially fond of the advocates for agriculture idea. Were you able to take in any history while you were there? I been reading about the invasion of Francy in WWII. Some pretty amazing things took place right where you were at.