Ah, the delights of the JEC World, Paris composites show. Wearily climbing aboard the Eurostar train out of Ebbsfleet (more of this later), I was whisked off at some 300km per hour towards Gard du Nord station to be transported into the heaving bosom of Paris, the romantic – and composite materials - capital of the world.

My arrival resulted in the usual confusion and panic regarding what type of Metro ticket I needed to get me far enough to Parc Des Expositions without having to pretend I was an ex-Grand National winner hurdling Becher’s Brook to get over the station exit barrier.

Any optimism that I’d succeeded in booking into a reasonably decent enough hotel right near the showground was soon shattered as my room door swung open to reveal something more akin to a white padded cell. Only the iron bars across the window were missing. Hmm, I may need to think about spending even more Euros on some better accommodation next year.

Victor Hugo once exhorted us to ‘breathe Paris in – it nourishes the soul’. I wished the same could be said about the soles of my feet. This was my ninth year of attending JEC World and as ever, it was a case of bringing a very comfortable pair of shoes – such is the magnitude of the event and its many aisles, avenues and alleyways. This year, I clocked nearly 15 miles of walking in two days.

Stands that deliver

The opening day of the show began serenely enough as I descended the stairs into Hall 6. Sigmatex had a very prominent stand positioned to catch some good footfall, and with its demonstration exhibits of custom weave patterns for cosmetic and performance-based applications, I expect the company garnered some healthy interest during the event.

Meanwhile, Sabic’s Gino Francato was sporting a much fancier pair of spectacles than me as he explained the progress of the company’s Digital Composites Manufacturing line via its partnership with Airborne. More appointments and chance meetings in the now-teeming show aisles followed with Web Industries, Magna Exteriors, Henkel, Olin, Huesker, Armacell, Gurit and Ascent Aerospace, among many others.

What’s that smell?

Back at the hotel, I squashed myself by reversing backwards into the room’s shower ‘capsule’ to soothe my aching feet and relax at dinner in the hotel restaurant with steak and chips. The mention of ‘bien cuit’ would normally guarantee your steak has been at least somewhere in the remote vicinity of a heat source, but mine came out mooing with a cowbell still stuck around its neck. Still, the French fries were tasty.

The hotel breakfast queue in the morning for one piece of toast and some orange juice of unknown origin was like an old Russian bread queue, and enough to convince me to give it a miss. So, thank god for Agence Apocope and JEC’s kindness towards its many press visitors by laying on some damn fine coffee and croissants to get us going for the day.

Famous last words

Indeed, it was going so well until I rocked up onto a well-known UK prepreg material supplier’s stand where my presence seemed to have the same effect as that of a very old and very ripe skunk. First, one company manager and then another made their excuses to avoid talking to me by quickly performing the Can-Can and hot-footing it off the stand. Was it something I said? In my role as an editor covering the UK composites industry, I also see myself as one of the good guys – an ex-engineer and an ambassador in helping to evangelise the good work that the main industry protagonists do to further the UK’s cause in building a New Jerusalem. Piers Morgan - or Pepe Le Pew for that matter - I am not!

Shrugging off this humiliation, I slunk off to meet a Meggitt spokesperson. Alas, the poor sales guy - who had flown all the way from San Diego – had lost his voice and was unable to utter a single word into my dictaphone. Thankfully, the TenCate team armed with their incredibly tasty stroopwafels are never short of a word or two, but it’s going to take me a while to get used to the new wording of ‘Toray Advanced Composites’ from now on.

Show me the way to go home

In summing up the visit, JEC World continues to pack the aisles at its Paris event, and Wednesday was especially busy - as evinced by the number of jostling elbows I had to dodge and weave through to find my way from A to B. I still haven’t got the hang of JEC’s stand and aisle signage either – an ‘exit’ sign would have been most helpful, but I think the big green (or was it yellow) stripe on the floor had some directional significance – or perhaps I was still getting over my skunk experience as previously mentioned.

The end of the show’s second day signalled a return home for me, but after a mostly successful business trip (skunk-related incident aside), my problems began at the end. Industrial action by French customs staff at the Eurostar concourse meant a three-hour wait to board a train that at first threatened not to stop at my Ebbsfleet destination, then fortunately changed its mind once it started moving. Well, some light then at the end of the (channel) tunnel then! Adieu JEC World, I'm already looking forward to seeing you again next year.

Mike Richardson, editor