Under the Tuscan sun

Not the book! Not the movie either! Not even the rise in real estate prices in this medieval village of Cortona, the location of the film's plot... I want to talk more generally about all these cities and countryside that we visit on vacation and I wondered why we like holidays...

Certainly, because we all need to rest, to breathe a fresh air, to talk about something else than work. But there is another refined pleasure, discreet and strong at the same time.

We are impressed by the giant and so regular stacking of the bricks of Urbino (okay, it is not in Tuscany but in the Marche). We are impressed by the tenacity to continue the building of this or that "duomo" for more than a century. We are impressed as much by the quantity as by the precision of a Signorelli or a Martini...

And at the end of the afternoon, an aperitif in front of the vineyards and olive trees, dotted with cypresses... Here again, the landscape impresses. In many parts of the world, nature itself impresses (the Rhine Falls in Switzerland, like the Bromo in Indonesia). But here, it is the work of man on the landscape which impresses. It is as much the rigor of the plantations as the overall beauty that makes us feel good. But I leave it to François Cheng to explain beauty.

As for the dinner, at night in these nice Italian hotels, everything is beautiful and good; everything is straightly organized.

So I tell myself that I spent good holidays. But why? Well, because, in the three illustrations mentioned, the common point is the major place of quality requirement. Requirement in techniques, requirement in services, requirement in beauty. What is good about a vacation is that we are immersed in a world of high standards, which brings everything close to a certain perfection, or at least to a certain completion.

So let's continue this adventure of requirement, here in Paris, at Akeance. We already know that requirement is unconfined! Let's set our standards high so that everyone, consultants and clients alike, can enjoy the pleasure of having done a good and beautiful job!