Muenchen

We've now returned from a trip to Munich for the ESCAR conference and Lebkuchen hunt, both of which were a success in the end. The highlight was a trip to the BMW factory - like something out of a sci-fi film with hardly any people and just huge orange robots throwing car bodies and chassis around like matchwood, twisting them in front of cameras for the QA guys to check over, sparks flying from the spot-welding, enourmous noise from the steel presses, oil smell in the engine shop, it was all great. The lowlight was when a group of ignorant, sub-human Bolton Wanderers supporters entered the bar where I was having a post-conference beer, abused the waitress, chanted 'German scum!' at the bemused bystanders, pushed a waiter's tray of empties on to the floor, treated him to a few minutes of shouted abuse, before mercifully leaving to be ambassadors for our great island race elsewhere. I was glad to be flying back to Paris and not back to England.