My company had recently been successful in opening a number of branch offices in northern France, and the idea now was to look at one or two premises in the southwest to see whether further expansion was possible. I hadn’t been involved in reconnoitring the first venture, but now my boss had decided that I was the person to fly out there for five days and see whether any of the contacts that had been suggested to us were seriously worthy of consideration. So there it was: cheap flights to and from provincial airports in France, and a hire car for five days and four nights to be spent in French hotels. I had deliberately suggested not booking anything in advance since my route and progress might depend upon the success, or lack of it, of any of the contacts. Having no advance reservations would allow me to vary my route according to decisions taken in the field. It would also mean that nobody would know where I was going to be, except for my formal appointments, and that suited me very well.
