🥟 School Trip to the Dumpling Factory

Before this visit, I'd actually bought some of Saint Jean's products —their ravioles (especially the truffle flavor!) are often on sale at Super U. When our school coordinator emailed about touring their Rhône factory on the 28th , I was intrigued! This year, we’ve already visited IKEA (kinda boring 🥱) and STEF (freezer warehouse—so cold I got sick 🥶), so this was a fun change. We went to Saint Jean’s facility in Romans-sur-Isère —they’ve acquired several nearby companies, so it’s a huge complex of production lines and warehouses. My group got lucky: we toured with the Supply Chain Director ! 🎙️ He gave us a super detailed walkthrough , from raw ingredients (eggs, oil, flour) to packaging automation. At one point, we all got distracted by a palette moving along the conveyor belt—five curious students + parents just *stopped* to stare 😂. The director patiently waited while we geeked out. Pretty textbook Saint Jean —just like our lectures described! Before the tour, the director gave a 30-minute intro on the company’s history, values, and brands (like their partnerships with Carrefour and Picard ). Interesting stuff! While waiting for our bus back to Lyon, we shopped at the factory store . My supervisor bought a noodle strainer , and when asked how she’d use it, she deadpanned: *"Cook dumplings. Or noodles. Or… discipline noisy students."* 💀 Speaking of students—our coordinators have *stories*. One said: *"When I saw my M2 class roster, I froze. All the loudest M1 students are in this group."* (Yep, foreigners included 😆). The two supervisors? One’s perpetually exasperated; the other’s zen (*"Can I write my thesis on this?"* Me: *"Sure, why not?"*). Friday was my last day of classes —and I finally locked in my master’s thesis topic ! After overthinking, I chose something simple and doable (no ChatGPT needed 🤓). Now just waiting on my advisor’s approval... but no worries, I’ll *persuade* them if needed. 😈 Monday: Back to the office. Colleagues, brace yourselves—the loudest intern is returning ! 🎉 #LyonLife #UniversitéLyon2 #SupplyChain #ApprenticeLife #FrenchWorkCulture