ASM Clermont Auvergne Rugby Vercingetorix

UPDATE: Clermont Auvergne Wins The European Rugby Challenge Cup Again

    There’s a huge party in Clermont-Ferrand this weekend.  Yesterday the players of the ASM Clermont Auvergne rugby team came home from England to celebrate their victory over La Rochelle (by a dominating score of 36 – 16) to claim this year’s Challenge Cup.  The annual tournament brings together 18 of the best clubs from three major leagues — England’s Premiership Rugby, France’s Top 14, and the international Pro 14 — plus 2 more teams from the Contintental Shield tournament representing the second tier of European Clubs. It was an exciting match for Clermont Auvergne fans.  Greig Laidlaw (from Scotland) accounted for half of all the ASM’s points, and the Guardian newspaper described the action as ” a Barbarians-style […]

Rugby Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand Vercingetorix

The Champions of Rugby – from the Deep Heart of France!

One of the things I missed most when we first moved to France was watching college football every weekend in the autumn.  (This was in the days before Slingboxes and other solutions to seeing American television.)  It didn’t take long, though, before I found a most satisfying substitute:  rugby.  More specifically, French “Top 14” league rugby, and our local team, the ASM Clermont Auvergne club.  And all this came rushing back to me last Sunday, as the team from Clermont-Ferrand was crowned once again as the national champion of France! For an American football fan, it takes some work to understand the different rules and rhythms of rugby… but it’s worth the effort. These are guys that make American pro […]

Michelin Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne

“The Michelin Adventure” – A Museum Worth a Detour in the Center of France

Long-time readers know this is not a “commercial” blog, and this post is not meant to be an advertisement.  Still, I confess: I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Groupe Michelin – my corporate home for the 19 best years of my career in I.T.  Yes, it’s a well-managed company (better than anywhere else I ever worked), and yes, they make the best high-performance tires in the world, but there’s more to it.  Michelin has one of the longest, most remarkable stories in business history.  And you can see some of that history through the particular lens of one of the most interesting museums in central France:  L’Aventure Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand.