semaine quatre.

     The Musee de la Mode at the Palais Galeria currently has a display of 1950's couture on display, and I was not about to pass up the opportunity to take in some of those beautiful designs. Allie and I met up in the afternoon to wander the fashion museum, and it did not disappoint.

Vintage Elle covers from the 50's

Vintage Dior, YSL, Balenciaga, all stunning pieces from suits, to everyday dresses, swimwear to evening wear, the exhibit had it all. I was drooling over some Givenchy turquoise flowing evening dresses from the 50's; I would have nowhere to wear them, but I wanted them. Absolutely incredible.
     Naturally, we had worked up an appetite staring at all of those stunning clothes, (on dress forms with waists only a Parisian woman could squeeze into) so accepting and embracing our forms and foodie selves, we wandered across the street to a farmer's market. Neither of us had had a crepe from a street vendor yet, so we decided that there was no time like the present. I was craving savory, (so many sweets!) so I ordered a Ratatouille galette (savory buckwheat crepe filled with cheese, vegetables, and tomato sauce,) and it was exactly what I had hoped for. We carried our crepes back across the street into the park surrounding the museum and for the second day in a row, I picnicked in full view of the Eiffel.
     I spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping and wandering until my practical at 6:30 that evening, where I made apple turnovers and Palms, puff pastry cookies. It had been a sunny, lovely, warm day; which meant that the third floor kitchen was piping hot while we prepared our pastry; not ideal conditions for creating a perfect puff pastry. After sweating our way through the practical, with butter oozing from the batter while we completed our turns (a.k.a. rolling out the dough,) we ended up with some solid finished products and experience to help us improve in our next puff pastry venture.

Coating our fresh out of the oven pastries w/simple syrup in the steamy kitchen

The next day, I had demo where we learned to make the Gateau Basque (Butter cake with pastry cream and cherry gelee) and the Diplomate (a pudding dish). We got to watch Chef plate the desserts for some of the puddings which was a lot of fun; a room full of foodies geeking out over a beautifully plated dessert, I'm surrounded by my people.

My Gateau Basque

     The next day was the practical for this lesson where we were making the Gateau Basque. It wasn't my favorite recipe to eat thus far, and the sweet pastry dough for the crust was not my favorite to work with either. It's so sticky that we all quickly learned that the freezer was our best friend in managing the fickle dough (which came to pass after about 3/4 of us failed to properly roll out the dough into our tart rings on the first round.) In the end, I was pleased with the finished product but left the cake out in the Winter Garden at the school for others to enjoy. I still had puff pastry treats at home to work through, no sense keeping a cake around that I didn't love. Plus, up next was the demo that we were all really excited about.

Covering the nutritional bases.

     Saturday was choux pastry day, where we would learn all about making Éclairs, Choquettes, Glands, Salambos, and Choux Chantilly. Yum. Our demo was in the evening, and with so many different pastries being covered, you guessed it, we had the pastry student dinner of champions.
     During demo, Chef mentioned that Fauchon, a bakery known for their éclairs, was currently celebrating éclair week and had a bunch of varieties available for purchase. Sold. A pilgrimage would have to happen, for you know, research purposes.
     That evening, a bunch of the students from class were meeting up at Notre Dame before heading out for some drinks. Allie and I met up with our friend Alex from class, who walked us to an apartment of another fellow classmate. We bonded with about 15 of our LCB fellows over vino, tequila, and music; and we also learned that Alex and another Alex from our class would also be attending Oktoberfest in Munich the next weekend. We made plans to coordinate and meet up at the festival.
    After a lazy Sunday, I decided to wander the city on Monday and check out some more sights on my list of to do's. I window shopped at some vintage shops, and wandered until I got the the Galerie Vivienne, an indoor shopping plaza courtesy of the 19th century. Walking the hall brings you back t0 the days of corsets where ladies of leisure could shop and dine rain or shine. My favorite was the book shop at the end of the Galerie, which had beautiful books old and new, and even some English novels! Resisting the urge to spend more money on books, I was feeling peckish and decided that in order to set a standard for my practical the next day, I would head to Fauchon to see what all of the fuss was about. Oh. My. Goodness. I was going to go for something classic like a chocolate or coffee éclair, but the moment that I saw the Salted Butter Caramel Éclair on the menu I knew that my decision was made, and I did not regret it. I sat outside at a table to people watch and enjoy my éclair and proceeded to devour and savor the best éclair I have ever had. Seriously, the caramel was so smooth and flavorful; the bar was set.

      Tuesday I had my éclair and Choquette practical, and while I had a long way to go before I could reach the level of the éclair specialists o

f the city, I felt pretty good about my first effort. Regardless of their less than uniform appearance, the eclairs were delicious.
     I had another demo the next morning bright and early where Chef would be making a variety of Petits-Fours (assorted cookies essentially). We would be making Palets Aux Raisins and Batons de Marechaux for our practical, but we got to watch the chef demonstate Cigarettes, and to all of our excitement, macarons. We would not be able to make macarons until intermediate, but it was fun to see the Chef whip out four varieties and give us his tricks of the trade. Tres magnifique!
     After a short lunch break, our group went up to the kitchens to make our Marshal's Batons and Raisin cookies. Once again, I left most of the treats behind for others to enjoy since I had a kitchen full of choux pastry back home.

Somebody pinch me.

     That evening, one of our fellow students was celebrating her birthday at a picnic along the Seine, so Allie and I decided to be social and join in the fun. Unfortunately, once we got to the water, the rain started. Since the weather was uncooperative, we decided to relocate to the birthday girl's apartment, which has the most unreal view of the Eiffel. It's a 6th (or was it 7?) floor walk up to a studio shared by three people, but when you've got that unfiltered beauty of a view, what's there to be upset about?
     We had a lovely evening getting to know some new friends, noshing on cheese, bread, and other snacks while sipping on red wine and talked about everything from good reads, politics, travel and school; a very Parisian evening indeed.
     After saying our goodbyes and goodnights, we jumped on the metro and called it a night. I had shopping adventures planned for the next day with Sara.

trois semaines.

     Each morning last week started bright and early with 8:30am classes, so in total I had three demonstration classes learning recipes and two practical's where I actually baked. On Wednesday, I started my morning by baking my apple tart, which went pretty smoothly, and I found that I was less nervous in the kitchen the second time around which was a relief since I'll be spending lots of time there for the next few months.
     After making my tart, I went back to my apartment and had a quiet afternoon at home since it had been a busy few days. On Thursday, I trekked up to school for our morning demo where we were learning all about choux pastry and primarily learned to make a Saint Honore. It's a cake with a sweet pastry crust surrounded with caramelized choux or puff pastry mounds and filled and decorated with Chantilly whipped cream. Delicious, to say the least. After demo, we had class photos so we waited around and arranged ourselves as the photographer coordinated two group photos for our group of 150 pastry students.
    After the pictures, Sara and I decided to venture out and check out some second hand and vintage stores that we had read about online. We found one in the 17th that was extremely reasonable, and managed to both walk away with some treasures (including wool sweaters, winter coats, and even a pair of Italian leather heels for Sara) and both of our tabs were less than €15. Score. It was such a lovely afternoon and we decided to indulge in our favorite activity; people watching and eating at a café. We found one that suited us (table in the sunshine, good foot traffic, decently busy) and looked over our options on the menu. Realizing that the most cost efficient option would be to split a carafe of wine rather than simply have individual glasses, we decided to be thrifty and split the carafe along with a flatbread pizza. Rough life, I know, but what are two girls in Paris to do?

Parisian lunch hour

     Realizing that we weren't too far of a walk from Montmarte, we decided to stroll over and wander the charming streets since Sara had not yet visited that part of the city and I was game to explore a little more. While wandering, we found some great little shops to look around in for window shopping, but our spidey-senses went off simultaneously and we both gravitated towards this lovely vintage shop. From the outside it looks super tiny, but the two small rooms upstairs with racks full of reasonably priced recently acquired items was only the beginning. The spiral staircase that led to the basement is where the real treasure hunt began. We spent almost a solid hour scouring racks and bins in the two room basement where we scored dresses, tops, leggings, and boots. Again, both of our tabs were less that €20. We realized that this would be our new go to shopping locale and got the card from the owner; we would definitely be back.


My haul for the day of shopping, all for less than €30.

     We wanted to take in the view of the city from Sacre Cour cathedral after our self indulgent afternoon, and being the dedicated students that we are, purchased a couple of pastries to enjoy while taking in the sites.

Pastries and Paris <3

          Once we reached the peak, we settled on a staircase to enjoy our treats and the view while listening to a string quartet entertaining the masses. What is this life I'm living? The clouds were starting to come in so we wandered back to the metro and called it a day before our early morning of class making our Saint Honore's the next day.

Saint Honore

   At practical the next morning, I slightly messed up my choux pastry (not enough salt, shoot) but still managed to complete my cake.
    I spent my afternoon at home and then met up with Allie in the evening for dinner. She had a couple of friends in town for the weekend and we decided to go on a food crawl so they could take in as much French cuisine as possible. We started at a pretty famous café in the 6th where poets and writers once used to dine and split some starters and a bottle of wine. We had a lovely mozzarella and tomato salad and I tried escargot for the first time. It was prepped in a pesto sauce, and I must say, I actually quite enjoyed it!

Starters at Café Flore

Steak Frites

     Since this was only our first stop, we moved on to a restaurant that only serves steak frites. The waitress comes to the table, asks how you would like your steak cooked, (rare and medium are the only options) marks your choice on the table, and returns with your plates prepared with their "secret sauce". I'm a big steak fan so I quite enjoyed the meal; while not the fanciest, it was a great place to try out.


The wine "cave".

     We moved on to a wine bar that Allie had read about, which is a standard bar upstairs, but a wine cave in the basement. The place is literally a stone tunnel bathed in red light and it's frequented by tons of locals around our age. We got a bottle of wine and found a spot in the corner to take in the music, people watch, and chat.

    Time crept up on us, and with an early start the next morning for our next demo, it was time to get home for a few hours of sleep. Saturday I packed my things and prepped for the day before heading to class to learn how to make Cake aux Fruits (way better than an American fruitcake, trust), lemon pound cake, and Madeleines. Sara and Allie had read about a techno parade that was happening later in the day in our school newsletter, so we had decided earlier in the week to check it out.
    After demo, we metro'd over to Sara's adorable neighborhood and got ready at her place. We walked over to the start point and went to a café to enjoy a beverage while we waited for some friends of Sara's that we were meeting (both named Tim, it was a tale of two Tim's) and for the parade to catch up to us.
     We had occasionally heard shouts and seen waves of people, but we knew that we weren't in the heart of it yet since techno music and 300k people would be pretty difficult to miss. Just as we suspected, we knew when we had found it; madness to say the least. The five of us spent an hour or two wandering with the parade, people watching as people climbed light posts, danced on bus stops, and enjoyed the festivities. We were surprised by how young most of the crowd was, it was a lot of young teenagers, but it was all entertaining and mesmerizing.

     Feeling like we had experienced the parade amongst the masses, we settled in the another café in the center of Republique and enjoyed a drink while watching the shenanigans continue. We spent a good chunk of the afternoon this way, until finally the parade continued without us and left the square. The most impressive thing was watching the clean up crew immediately making it look as if nothing had ever happened. No less than 30 street cleaning trucks swept up the area, and within an hour you would have had no idea that 300k techno lovers had been parading through the previously shut down street.
    It was hitting dinner time, and Tim 1 had to head into work (he's a chef, we all bonded over food, what else?) and the remaining four of us wandered over to a charming little walking street full of restaurants and cafes to enjoy some dinner. It was 6:45 and the kitchen wouldn't open until 7:30, so we enjoyed a basket of bread, cheese plate, and a bottle of wine. After a lovely meal and our long day, we said our goodbyes and headed to our respective homes.

Madeleine's and Cake aux Fruits

     I relaxed at home and did boring laundry on Sunday (school uniform included, necessary,) to take advantage of my only day off from class for another five days and woke Monday morning early to bake my Cake aux Fruit and Madeleine's.
     Yesterday was another demo day where we learned several puff pastry recipes. After class, Sara and I decided that we were going to take advantage of the sunshine while it lasted (81 degrees and not a cloud in sight!) and enjoyed a picnic at the Champ de Mars (the park at the base of the Eiffel). We stopped at a grocery store and picked up a baguette, a couple types of cheese, an eggplant spread, some figs, and a mini bottle of wine at the bargain price of €5 each. Ridiculous, and amazing, I know. Sara and I have decided to start a list of all the things in France that are more expensive than wine here. So far, we have Coca Cola (at a restaurant) and a pack of gum on the list. So silly. We hopped on the metro, wandered until we found a lovely spot near the base of the tower in the shade, and enjoyed our meal.

Hotel Plaza de Athenee

    After a lazy time at the park, we decided to venture around the city and perhaps stop for some ice cream. We never did find any ice cream that suited our fancy, but the beauty of living in this city is that you never know what treasures you'll stumble upon as you go and where your day might lead you. We ended up walking all over, finding exclusive designer shops to peruse and window shop, the Hotel Plaza de Athenee, (where Carrie stayed in the finale of SATC, total fan-girl nerd out moment for me) and up the Champs-Elysees. We ended our afternoon at a quiet café for a cup of café au lait and said our goodbyes until later this evening.

  I have a practical this evening making apple turnovers, and Palms (puff pastry heart shaped cookies) so this afternoon I'll take in the Fashion Museum with Allie and go for a run. Loving life, what more can I say?

Deux Semaines.

     It seems crazy that I've only been here about two weeks because the last week or so has been a bit of a whirlwind! After my Sunday Funday last week (yes, I did find Laduree, but I went to the kiosk at the Carrousel du Louvre, because why not?)

and the macarons were delicious and worth it. Coconut was probably my favorite, but I haven't tried them all yet, but I have nine more months! After purchasing my macarons, I walked around along the Pont des Arts, saw the love lock bridge where a lovely man was playing the accordion (so Parisian).

   




    I kept wandering to the Luxembourg Gardens to enjoy my treats, the sunshine, and read a good book; my own personal nirvana.



    The next day was my first day at school for orientation. I slept in late and then trekked up to school where I had a tour, got my uniform and supplies, and met some of the girls in my class,(It's mostly females). There are 150 people who started the Basic Patisserie total and in our segment alone there's 37 nationalities represented, with over 65 at the school currently, which is pretty awesome.
     The next day, I had my first class about safety and sanitation, which was a fairly short and to the point session, but it was my first time suiting up in uniform and learning more specifics about the school. It also helped me to get to know some of the girls in my class a little better, and after class we went to lunch and witnessed a lovely scene at a restaurant. Apparently, a woman was displeased for whatever reason, started yelling with the staff, and threw her glass full of water and ice at the bartender (she missed). Viva la France! We all decided that was a good a time as any to head out, and me and one of my new friends trekked to the Champs-Elysses to get our French phones. New friends and a French number, slowly but surely I was figuring this out!
    The next day I had no class to I took advantage by laying low in the morning and then meeting my friend Sara in the 6th for a pastry walk, in the name of "research." We're dedicated students, what can we say? Sara found a great route online, some of the places were closed but we enjoyed the stroll nonetheless. We started at Pierre Herme and enjoyed some infiniment tarts (I got Citron, Sara Vanille, and we shared and each tried half.) We wandered out to the fountain across the street and devoured and enjoyed our amazing treats. We took a moment to take in the day, here we were, in Paris, on a beautiful sunny day, by a lovely fountain, eating arguably some of the best pastries in the world. Could life get much better?

     After Pierre Herme, we wandered the streets a bit more (super charming area, lots of cafes, people watching, and all around Parisian goodness) and then went to Laduree. After admiring the beautiful display of pastries, we decided to head up the stairs to the tea room to enjoy some croissants and coffee.

View of the lovely Laduree tea room from our table

I









     I had a Pistache et Chocolat Croissant (pistachio and chocolate, amazing) and Sara had the original, also awesome. We sipped our coffee, enjoyed our treats, and made up stories about our fellow diners while people watching. After a little more wandering and window shopping at a few more Patisseries (research, remember). We went our separate ways to head home before class the next day.
     Thursday, I had my first official demo class, where we learned all about shortbread cookies and learned a number of great recipes. The French chefs who are our instructors are exactly what you would expect, and we all learned that each "Daccord" should be met with "Oui Chef." Somehow, all of this made everything feel that much more real, and I'm excited to see everything to come in the next nine months.


First practical finished, whoop!

    Friday I had my first official Practical, which is when we actually make one of the recipes from class. We made Diamants, a simple shortbread cookie that is actually quite delicious. One down, 19 to go!
    Amazingly, we had the next four days off from school, so I filled up my calendar with adventures with some of my new friends from class. Friday, my friend Allie and I had an amazing dinner at a restaurant she suggested, and it was delicious. We split a few small platters and some great wine (culinary friends have similar interests, a.k.a. food, it's pretty great.)


1.Vin 2.Tomato herb and feta salad
3. Trout with curried cauliflower 4. Duck with
potatoes and fig 5. Rosemary Panna Cota with
honey comb crumbles 6. Dessert wine (on the house!) 

     We followed up our amazing meal with a night of burning calories dancing. We met some fun people and had a really great night, the first of many Parisian adventures to come. 

   I laid low most of the next day, cleaning my apartment, streaming Netflix, and getting things in order. Allie and I then met up to go to a group dinner/birthday party at an African restaurant in northern Paris. The guest of honor's aunt owned the restaurant, so we enjoyed an awesome family style meal with a great group of fun people, and then went out to dance and celebrate. We made some friends and stories, all in all a really great night!

      Sunday, Sara and I went to a really amazing supper club that Sara had learned about online. Every Sunday for the past 30+ years our host has held dinner parties for 60-70 people at his home. The party attracts locals and expats alike, and we spent our evening talking to some really interesting people from all over the world and ate some delicious food. We got some suggestions to improve our French, for live music venues, and of course, food and other activities to enjoy in Paris. We left incredibly pleased, with some new potential friends in the city, and a plan to go back to Jim's once a month. He even requested that we cook the desserts for dinner one night as the new resident culinary students.
     Yesterday, I decided to enjoy my day off with some grocery shopping and wandering the city and checking out some more touristy sites. I figure for now I'll enjoy some of the larger attractions so that I can explore and find my own little treasures for my remaining time here. I started by walking to the Jardin Tuileries, where I people watched, enjoyed the sunshine, and imagined that I lived in the time of Marie Antoinette as she used to wander the same lovely grounds. The most surreal is that while you stand in the center, in the 360 degree view, you can see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, etc. from varying angles. How am I so fortunate? this could not be real life.

 I decided that I wanted to wander to take in Notre Dame from there, and took a leisurely stroll along the Seine to get there; (again, really, somebody pinch me.)

Taking in the Seine

 When I made it the Notre Dame (albeit with plenty of  tourists), I was still excited to take in the insane architecture and appreciate the history of such an amazing site. I took my time to fully enjoy appreciate the intricacies and phenomenal magnificence of the building, and sat for a moment to say a prayer of thanks that this was really my life.

     Today, I had my next demo class where we learned a few new apple tart recipes. After watching the demo, the school had a welcome lunch, consisting of wine and cheese. Sara, Allie and I laughed an appreciated the fact that this was a part of our schooling; learning and trying out lots of amazing French cheeses with a glass of wine before entering our next class.
  
  Tomorrow, I will make my apple tart for my next practical and we shall see where the day leads from there! For now, I'm loving exploring the city, learning great recipes and meeting wonderful people at school, and fully embracing this phase of life. I honestly don't know how I'm so fortunate to be here and enjoy all of this right now, but I'm not questioning it and taking it all in. Another novel I know, but like I said, it was an adventure filled week!