semaine onze.

     I spent the evening before my exam cleaning and ironing my uniform so that it would be spotless for inspection. On Thursday I woke up early to go over all of the recipes again to make sure that I was prepared regardless of what cake they threw at me. I had my favorites and my "not so excited if I have to make that dish" picks, but I wanted to be ready and optimistic. I packed up all of my things and walked to campus so I could clear my head and calm my nerves before the exam. The final counts for 45% of our grade for the term, so this one cake and technical dish was the equivalent of the previous 19...oh the pressure.


My Final exam dishes

     Hopeful and expectant for our dishes and our favorite Chef, my group made our way to the 2nd floor and anxiously waiting to enter the kitchen. Thankfully, we had our choice of kitchen, and two cakes that we were fully prepared for (for the majority at least). Half of our kitchen would make the Moka, and the other half (myself included) would make the Dacquoise. It's not extremely difficult from a technical standpoint, but since the cake has a meringue-y component to it and a buttercream frosting, it's insanely labor intensive due to the lack of machines. I would whisk my life away, but it was nothing I hadn't already done or could not handle. Once the initial nerves of the first 5 minutes passed, I had my technical dish together and the cake came together nicely. At the end of the day, I didn't love my decoration (piping wasn't perfect and I had made a better flower at home) but Chef gave me a side hug, said it was good, and I exhaled feeling confident that I had at least passed.
     We all left the kitchen, changed, I emptied my locker, and a group of us decided to head to the student bar for a couple of beers to celebrate. We had a really phenomenal group for our kitchen so it was fitting to cheers and celebrate a little together all that we had accomplished; phase one complete! Joana still had her Cuisine exam, so after a couple of drinks we left the bar and walked home together chatting and enjoying the stroll.
     I spent the next day helping a friend who'd had some troubles with her apartment and then worked on laundry and such after the exam. That evening, I met up with Nora and her friend visiting from Finland to bike over to a fellow student's apartment for a lovely, relaxed evening with a potluck and a little champagne to unwind. Cuisine and Pastry for Basic were complete so we could all breathe a sigh of relief, swap stories, and bond over our shared love, food. We said our goodnights and biked home before our adventures the next day.


Tagine from the Marais market

     I spent Saturday with Nora and her friend Mimi wandering the city. We went to the Marais and discovered a food market that had been closed in our previous visits. It has a bunch of restaurant stands; overwhelming and wonderful all at once. After settling on Moroccan, we ordered our food and settled in at a table to enjoy our meal. Needless to say it was amazing, and just the fuel we needed for the day ahead. We walked all over, shopping, window shopping, stopping for the obligatory eclairs so that Mimi could try them, and eventually parted ways for the evening.


Éclair Genie, round 2. Still worth it.

     On Sunday, Goni wanted us all to try an Israeli restaurant in the Marais with the fluffiest pitas I have ever tried. A large group of us feasted and enjoyed everyone's company with a few extra visitors from out of town. It was nice to not have to fret or stress over school at all. We all were in the mood for ice cream after our meal, so we slowly made our way to Berthillon for some cones (best in the city). Afterwards, Mimi Nora and I broke off from the group, wandered along the Seine a bit, and then I finally got to explore Shakespeare and Co. I had done a good job avoiding spending money in the previous days shopping, but books are impossible to resist. I have no shame in that. After fully appreciating and taking in the charm and history of the shop, I settled on three books and we all checked out with our purchases. (I'm not the only one unable to resist the draw of a good book).
     We continued to wander and window shopping a bit (a complete French favorite, they call it lèche-vitrine, or "licking the windows") before realizing we were wanting a warm beverage and treat, and we had landed ourselves back in Saint-Germain des Pres. Of course, our first thought was to head to Les Deux Magot for some Chocolat Chaud. Also quite famed and revered, the creamy delicious concoction was exactly what I needed and wanted. While Angelina is still my favorite, Les Deux Magots is up there for a close second.


Finnish cinnamon rolls

      We all went home for a couple of hours before everyone was coming to my place for a nice dinner in. Joana also had a friend in town from Portugal, so that evening the Joana's, Nora, and Mimi arrived and we had a salad, garlic bread, and Finnish cinnamon and vanilla rolls (we ate so many!). The meal was awesome, but mainly because of the company; it was lovely to host and have my friends over for a low key night together.


Love me some Laduree

     The next day, I slept in and lazily got ready at my place before I headed to the 6th to meet up with the girls. The four of them were wrapping up lunch at Cosi, and we decided to head to the nearby Laduree tea room for coffee. It was fun showing the visiting friends the charm of the area and the beauty of Paris...eating your way through the city one fabulous place to the next. Mimi had to leave to catch her flight, so she and Nora headed home but I stuck with the Joana's and wandered to the Luxembourg Gardens. We then spent the next couple of hours window shopping and slowly making our way to the Eiffel Tower because the girls had tickets to go to the top at 5:30.

Sooo much ramennn

     When we got to the base of the tower, Nora arrived at the exact same moment, so the two of us said our goodbyes to the Joana's and decided to head to Alex's to hang out for a bit before we all got together for dinner later in the evening. After a couple of hours catching up with Alex and making plans for a movie night the next day, we grabbed the metro to the 1st to meet up with Albert and the Joana's to try out a Japanese ramen restaurant that Albert wanted to show us. There was a pretty big queue to get into the restaurant (good sign for the food!) so Albert very sweetly went and bought all of us bubble tea to drink while we waited. The others had never had it before, so it was fun watching them enjoy their tea. Once we finally got inside, we enjoyed our massive portions of ramen. It was so good, and I was so sad that getting a doggy-bag was not an option, I definitely over ate to take in as much as possible but it was totally worth it. We'd be back, but next time we'd be smarter and split our meals. Sufficiently stuffed, we decided to walk to the Seine to enjoy the evening and digest our meal a little more. Once we crossed the river and got back to the Latin quarter, we said our goodbyes and called it a night.


Cemitiere Pere Lachaise

     Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day and so I met up with the Joana's and we explored the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It perhaps most famously has Jim Morrison's grave, but it also is the final resting place for Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Proust, Chopin, and countless others including some haunting WWII memorials. It's extremely large and can be tricky to navigate, but it was well worth the visit. While it can seem morbid, in an odd way it humanized these great people and it was a great way to honor their memory, especially since it was a holiday here in France and Veteran's Day at home. It seemed fitting and lovely as we wandered the cobblestones in the fall light. After about 3 hours of meandering, we hopped on the metro and made our way to Canal Saint Martin.


Pizza pizza!

     We showed Joana the charm of the neighborhood before heading to an Italian place where we each enjoyed our own personal Nora joined in and was so enticed, she ordered a pie for herself as well. We chatted and hung out awhile longer and then Nora and I stopped at a grocery store to pick up some supplies for our movie night at Alex's.
     I went home to prep the salad I was bringing for our dinner and then biked up to join the team for some wine cheese and charcuterie to go with our meal. We devoured our salads while laughing along to the Producer's (Alex's favorite) only taking a brief intermission for some chocolate bananas courtesy of Nora for dessert. When the movie ended, we cleaned up, chatted, and said our goodbyes with plans for more movie nights in the future.
     I spent most of today at home relaxing and reading after a busy few days. Tomorrow is the graduation ceremony for Basic, and then it's all free time until January! With so much in just these last few days of break, who knows what the next two months will bring. Madness.






semaine dix.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake

     Last Thursday, I was able to sleep in before heading to campus for my Pistachio Chocolate cake prac. We had a different Chef that we had never had before for Practical and I found him to be very helpful. He gave us lots of great tips and tricks about how to prepare for the final exam, checking on and removing cakes from the oven in a professional kitchen, and time management. Making the cakes went pretty smoothly, and once they were assembled and in the freezer, we began to set up the two stations for glazing. Chef had a very particular system that he wanted us to use, and also photo examples from other students of to do's and not to do's on his iPad. With trepidation, we all nervously stepped up and took our turns glazing. There were some hiccups and bumps in the road, but overall it went fairly smoothly. We all had to remind ourselves that we were just glazing cakes, no one's life was on the line, the nerves could wait. I was actually quite pleased with my final product, I managed to glaze without any major mishaps. I'd also been pretty sick all week, and by the end of prac had essentially no voice. My friend Albert promised to bring me Chinese herb candies for my throat the next day. So sweet this LCB bunch!
     Since it was evening when we were done and my cold had forced me to live like a hermit all week, Joana and I changed and met up with Nora in the Winter Garden (she had also had practical that afternoon) and decided to check out the infamous student bar a few blocks from campus. Aptly named, it's essentially the McClaren's (HIMYM anyone?) of LCB students. Cheap beer, friendly staff, and a constant influx of fellow students make it the perfect place to unwind at the end of the day. The moment we walked in we were greeted by the smiling owner announcing in French, "The girls, champagne for the girls please!" I was sold. (We didn't really get champs on the house, but with a welcome and intro including bubbles, I knew this was a good spot, he got us.) Nora, Joana, and I sat with our friend Gretel chatting about life and school for a couple of hours before parting ways and heading home.
     We had early morning demo the next day (which also happened to be Halloween!) where we would be learning how to make Alhambra, another layered and chocolate glazed cake. Before heading into demo, true to his word Albert called me over and offered me the Chinese herbs as promised. Not only did they help, my spirit was lifted by my incredibly thoughtful friends who were looking out for me and helping to take care of me. Pretty spoiled by this bunch, what can I say?


Chef's personalized B-Day cake :D

     The demo continued to restore my faith in humanity when we all wished and sang one of the girls a Happy Birthday (standard practice and tradition with our group,) but Chef proceeded to decorate one of the cakes especially for her. It may seem small, but we were all incredibly touched by his thoughtfulness while watching him put that together. So much kindness.


Halloween hijinks w.Goni

     After demo a big group of us changed and walked over to a little Lebanese sandwich shop to pick up some lunch. The wait was fairly long (mainly due to us taking over, we tend to mob places and it was only one guy working) but the sandwiches were cheap, delicious, and exactly what we needed. Once we were fed, the most of the group returned for class (Cuisine) and I went to a little shop to pick up some necessities for our Orange and Black themed Halloween shindig later that night (easier than costumes on short notice). I met up with Joana in the evening to get ready and we trammed up to Alex's for the party. We had a good time hanging out and playing games, and ventured out a little later to meet up with some other friends from school, but pretty soon after Joana, Nora, and I called it a night and crashed back at Nora's place which was nearby.


Obligatory bike selfie.

View from Belleville <3

Our delish & healthy picnic

Who could resist?

     We woke up the next day to a beautiful sunny, warm day and decided to take advantage. We had also made a pact the night before that we would make this month "Get it Together November", a.k.a., less fattening foods and more biking everywhere to get back in shape. So after parting ways to shower and get ready, we coordinated at my place, rented bikes, and set off for a healthy picnic at Parc de Belleville which has a fabulous view overlooking the city (and bonus, and uphill bike ride to get there, more exercise, yay!). After a lovely ride (seriously, it was in the high 60s, low 70s in November!!) and amazing picnic, we biked into the Marais to wander around. We spent an epic evening shopping, drinking cappuccino, and allowing ourselves a stop at the éclair genie, (we'd stumbled upon it and biked over 25k, one éclair that we'd been hearing about for weeks couldn't hurt!). After our treats and a bit more window shopping, we were in need of some real food, so we biked to the 6th for our favorite delicious cheap eats at Cosi. After devouring our salads, we biked back home and said our goodbyes until the next day. (If we weren't already, our epic day and pact had solidified our friendship and we were now conjoined at the hip.)

Cosi salad yummmm.

     Sunday we woke up with plans to meet and bike to Canal Saint Martin (where Amelie skips rocks in the film), an area of the city none of us had yet explored but had wanted to for quite some time. Our final exam was coming up the next week and I had read about a café in the neighborhood that was a "must visit" so we grabbed our notes and biked there. Alex was going to meet us at the café, so while he metro'd our way, we did a little shopping and wandering taking in the charm of the Canal. It's quaint and wonderful and full of charm, just like the rest of the city, but with it's own identity (just like the rest of the neighborhoods, yay Paris!).


Craft Noisette.

     We finally settled in at Craft with delicious coffees that tasted like home (excellent coffee, Hallelujah!) and started going over our notes once Alex joined. We studied for a couple of hours until the place closed, and then decided that we should finish up our study session somewhere with space and good eats. Which is how we convinced Alex to join us on the bikes and had dinner at Cosi for the second night in a row. Yay salads, they'll know us by name by the end of this thing.


My Alhambra

    Monday I had my last normal practical of Basic (where does the time go!?) and made my Alhambra. We had the same Chef that we'd had for the Pistachio log cake and had even more of a rhythm. He was pleased with our time management, and despite the added trickiness of glazing a square shaped cake evenly, it went better than the time before (a few less nerves). Chef gave me a solid score and appreciated the décor which felt like a good way to end before the exam. After snapping a few pics to commemorate the occasion in the Winter Garden with friends and giving away my cake, (Get it Together November) I headed home before the final demo the next day.


Cheers! Final demo with my loves.

     Tuesday afternoon I arrived at campus to find my friends in a post-celebratory-final-Cuisine-demo-champagne-toast jovial mood. There was definite excitement in the air as we wandered into the demo room for our last class before the exam. Chef would be making a Chocolate-Bergamot mousse cake with orange crisp (the list of ingredients alone took up an entire page) but we wouldn't be making the cake ourselves in practical since the exam would be our 20th and final time in the kitchen for Basic. Once Chef completed the recipes, we all enjoyed the spoils as well as our own champagne toast taking pictures and soaking it all in. It was fun to celebrate a bit before the stress of the exam fully set in.


Final demo of Basic!

    Once we'd changed, a group of us met up in the Winter Garden and headed over to Chipotle (my first American fair since the move, sue me, sometimes you just need a burrito!) to finish up comparing notes and studying for the final exam. The school gives you a list of 10 potential dishes from the course and on the day of the exam, you will have to make one of them without notes. While the ingredients and quantities are provided, knowing how to execute is all on us, so studying consists of talking through the recipes while giving each other tips and tricks.
    A few hours later, we were sufficiently full and the restaurant was closing, so we said our goodbyes until Thursday (tomorrow) which is exam day. Today, I stayed home, practicing a couple of the trickier recipes I hadn't gone over in a bit, some piping and decorating techniques, and practiced making marzipan roses just in case. Tomorrow, exam day!!










semaine neuf.

     After a couple of quiet days at home, I woke up (dark) and early and trekked up to campus for demo. We were going to learn how to make a Mogador, a layered and imbibed chocolate and raspberry cake. The demo was pretty interesting because not only did we learn how to make chocolate mousse, Chef also prepared some chocolate decorations, which we sadly would not be prepping for practical ourselves, but it gave us a preview of things soon to come in intermediate and superior. The cakes were simply but beautifully decorated, and I must also say, delicious (of course)!
     I'm not usually a huge chocolate and fruit fan, but I did appreciate the Mogador. After demo, I changed and headed home to study since our written exam was the next day. I also had my practical to make the Mogador immediately after the test, but the exam was my main focus.
     After some procrastination (whoops) I got a few hours of studying in, mainly focusing on the methods, terminology, etc. that were all a part of it. I woke up early on Friday to study some more before my 12:30 exam and then walked up to campus to clear my head and calm down a bit before the test. Once I was changed into my uniform, I joined the rest of the team in the Winter Garden to go over our notes once more. It was insanely crowded because the entire Basic Pastry program would all be taking the test that day. Generally, our half of about 60 students (A-D) are together, and the other half (E-H) meet up at alternate times. Today, we were all in it together.
     One of the administrative staff made an announcement that they would be splitting the group in two, the first half taking the exam the first hour, and then the rest of us would be let in to take the exam the second. There was a severe lack of organization (unfortunately not a first for the staff) but eventually half of the class made it into the room for the test and myself and my good friends were in the latter group who had to hang out for another hour before we could get our chance.
     We did our best to pass the time, but the first group ran over so we were waiting longer than expected, (about an hour and a half, joy!) but finally got our chance to enter the room and take the test. I felt prepared before hand, but the second I opened the exam, there was a collective hush in the room (it was already silent obviously, but the tension and vibe in the room definitely shifted) and we suddenly felt unprepared. The questions were very specifically aimed at quantities and weights for specific recipes, some of which we had only seen in Demo and had never made ourselves. I was all set for the few questions on terminology and such, but felt slightly hoodwinked since we had been told to not worry on the specifics of recipes since we would always have them provided. Oh well. The exam was (luckily) only worth 10% of the grade and we only needed to get 50% to pass (I landed with a C+, normally I'd be pissed, but this time I'll take it!) and now had the knowledge to better prepare for the written during Intermediate.
      In not the best of moods, our group prepped and made our way upstairs to make our Mogadors. We were hoping for our favorite Chef, or at least our 2nd favorite, since we could seriously use a break after our long and rough morning. Luckily, our wishes were granted, unluckily, Chef had to leave 20 minutes in because he had lost his voice due to a cold, so another Chef stepped in. While
he's also very nice, he tends to be a bit more strict and regimented, particularly with decorations. At the end of the day, the cake came together (I now know how to make a fool proof chocolate mousse, score!) and my decoration wasn't Chef's favorite (surprise, surprise) but the day was over, hoorah!
      Since the previous weekend's shenanigans had left many of our budgets a bit busted, we decided that this Saturday called for a lovely movie night in together. What do a group of Culinary students in Paris watch for movie night, why Ratatouille of course! It was actually a lot of fun to watch after a couple of months of school and getting to know the city better; we watched it through a totally different lens and suddenly lines like "Oui Chef!" are funny. Good times. We also shared a mini potluck, Nora made banana pancakes and Joana made us some delicious Portuguese rice pudding. Overall, the night was a delicious and comforting success. Paris felt that much more like home.
      Once the movie was over, it was pretty late so since Joana and I lived the farthest away, we decided to crash at Goni's on the couch. When we woke up on Sunday, we all enjoyed our additional hours of sleep due to daylight savings starting up the night before and more of Joana's rice pudding for breakfast. We parted ways with plans to try and meet up later to venture out in the afternoon, but after a long week we all ended up staying home and chilling before school the next day.

My Sacristains and Pithivier

Our kitchen's final products

     On Monday, I had another double day with Demo and Practical back to back. It was a puff pastry day, where Chef made all sorts of delicious concoctions including almond cream filled delights. Our dishes for Prac included a Pithivier (Three Kings Cake) and Sacristains (puff pastry twists). The demo dishes were all delicious, and after a small break and grabbing my things for practical I headed upstairs to start baking. The Cake is fairly ornately scored, and puff pastry can be temperamental, but I was very pleased with the final product. The cake is essentially an almond-rum cream filled puff
pastry cake, and it's awesome. We had never had this particular Chef for practical, but he was also pleased and impressed with my cake and made sure to give me an extra thumbs up during grading time. It was nice to have a solid day in the kitchen after a rough couple of days the previous week.
     Today I only had my demo for the Pistachio Chocolate log cake. The recipe itself is fairly straight forward, but the assembly of the cake itself is more tricky so we have been forewarned! The hardest bit will be glazing the cake without cracking or messing up the presentation, so tomorrow I have that to look forward to. Guess I have some piping to practice before tomorrow!

la huitième semaine.

     Following croissant and brioche day, I enjoyed a quiet day at home on Thursday. Originally, we thought that that practical was the only class that we would have for the week because a theory class was not highlighted or well marked on our schedules. Luckily, some of the students caught the error and notified us on our Facebook group so that we wouldn't be counted as absent.

     So, Friday afternoon I made my way up to campus for theory class. After figuring out the weirdness of the scheduling with the Chef and translator, we listened to lecture for about an hour and headed down to the Winter Gardens. Nora asked if I wanted to join her and Joana to Angelina, a tea house infamous for it's incredible Chocolat Chaud, and I of course decided to join. Angelina's has been on my Paris list of to do's for awhile, and with the weather starting to turn I couldn't think of a better time to make the pilgrimage.

     We changed and headed to the metro to make our way to the 1st and then waited in the thankfully short (for Angelina) line anticipating out treat. The tea room is so much larger than I imagined, incredibly beautiful; we chatted and took it all in while waiting to be seated (we were cut in line a couple of times, obnoxious, but we tried to remain patient. Tough when chocolate is involved.) Finally, the hostess led us to the very back of the restaurant/tea room where we got out own table in the corner looking out at the whole place.

     Our very friendly waiter arrived and with a knowing smile took our order for troix Chocolat Chaud. A few minutes later he arrived with our mugs, the pot of Chocolat, and a bowl of Chantilly cream. We distributed the beverages and took our first sip. We all paused for a moment and looked at each other; definitely worth the hype. I had been coming down with a cold and the warm, rich liquid was exactly what I needed to soothe my throat. The chocolate was just the right balance of bitter and sweet with a wonderfully thick and smooth texture; this was definitely not the instant from back home. We spent the next couple of hours enjoying our warm beverages and chatting. Completely content and knowing that we would all be back again, we wandered back to the metro and said our farewells for the evening.



Just some of our Moroccan feast

    Saturday we all had plans to meet up to celebrate Nora and Alex's birthdays (they had been on Wednesday.) Alex texted me in the afternoon and invited me to a group dinner for Moroccan food before we met up with the rest of the team in Bastille at a wine bar. Seven of us met up at the restaurant around 8pm and immediately were impressed with the décor; it was elaborate and beautifully tiled, like being transported right into Morocco. A couple of the girls mentioned that one of their Cuisine Chefs (who is also Moroccan) had recommended the place, so I was looking forward to the food. We ate family style and tried a bunch of starters and tagines, each better than the last.

It was a feast, and I was stuffed by the end but ready to meet up with the rest of the group in Bastille.
    When we made it to Barbat, the birthday girl and a couple others were waiting for us in the lounge. We ordered some wine and made space for everyone as the rest of the group trickled in and we sat around swapping stories. After a couple of hours, we decided to move venues since we were in the mood for dancing and went down the street to a little hole in the wall we had seen on our way to le Barbat. We danced and hung out for a bit but Nora wanted to try out a real club made for dancing; so after striking out in Bastille we hailed a cab (after quite a bit of effort; where are all the cabs when you need them?) and went to a club called Showcase that Nora's friend had told her about. It's right on the Seine under a bridge, and while the cover was a little steep, the music and venue did not disappoint. I was along for the ride with the birthday girl, and we had a ton of fun dancing for the next 2-3 hours to the great music provided by the live DJ. We finally decided to call it a night and walked and talked the whole way back to my apartment to crash.

Our "Brunch" of Indian cuisine

    We had plans to meet up with Joana and Goni for Indian food the next day, so after sleeping in a little we got ready and metro'd over to the 6th to meet up with the other girls. The food was delicious and exactly what we were in the mood for (we'd been craving Indian and talking about it for most of the weekend). After swapping stories about the rest of our nights, we decided to take advantage of the incredible weather (sunny and 75 degrees in late October!) and walk around for a bit. We window shopped at a couple Patisseries that Goni's Paris food guide book suggested and then wandered over to the Rue de Seine to get some gelato from Grom. We wanted to enjoy our treats and relax in the Jardin de Luxembourg to fully embrace the sunshine. After waiting in the 30 minute line, we finally got our ice cream and wandered to the park.

     We found a cluster of four chairs near the grass (after unintentionally scaring a poor man away who was going for one of the chairs until he saw us, whoops) and

sat for a couple of hours seizing the day. The clouds were starting to roll in so we played it safe, headed for the metro and parted ways.

Pear Charlotte

     Monday I had class first thing where I demo and practical back to back to learn how to make a Pear Charlotte. The recipe didn't have any components that we hadn't done something similar for already, but the construction and process to make the cake was pretty involved and had lots of little steps. Chef was in a fun and jokey mood for demo which made it light hearted and fun, but we knew we were in for a bit of work during practical.
     The practical wasn't my strongest day in the kitchen (Murphy's law at work, couldn't find things etc.) but in the end I was still able to create and assemble my cake fairly well and felt good about checking the recipe of the list.

View from my window yesterday after some Autumn weather.

     Yesterday and today I had no class, so I took advantage by laying low after an eventful few days to work on chores around the house and start studying for our exam coming up this Friday. Tomorrow morning I have another demo, so for this evening studying is the name of the game. Crazy to think that I'm already only four lessons away from completing Basic, time flies!

semaine de sept.

     I made my way up to school for Stag on Thursday to learn all about the internships. Since we generally have all of our Demos with the Grand Diplome students (Cuisine and Patisserie) it was odd, quiet, and calm to have only half of us in the classroom for a meeting. Two of the administrators and one Chef explained what the timeline looks like for obtaining internships, what types of establishments we can work with, and the expectations that must be met to secure an internship. Speaking French is pretty high on the list along with the obvious skill, responsibility, and work ethic necessary to be placed. I will have to work with the chefs a bit on the timeline for my placement since I have obligations state side next summer, but I'll cross those bridges when I get there.
     After Stag, I went home, relaxed a bit and got ready because our student party was being hosted by the school that night. Every session they rent out a club for all of the students to attend and enjoy some food and drinks and socialize with one another. Coincidentally, my friend Joana's birthday was also the next day so it was an opportunity for all of us to get together and celebrate with her a bit as well.
     The party was from 7-Midnight, so Sara and I met up around 7:30 in the same district as the party to get a glass of wine before heading over to the party together. When we wandered to find the party, we found the street but the club had changed names since the event was originally planned by the school, so after about five minutes of strolling up and down the street, we recognized a face from school and followed them into the club. We arrived around at 8:15 and hardly anyone had arrived yet. We grabbed some food and found a table of girls that we knew from school and chatted and enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres for about an hour until the rest of our friends started trickling in.

Some of the LCB team

     Pretty soon, the whole team arrived and we were all bunched into our booth enjoying the free food, drinks, and music. About an hour later we were all on the dance floor to the eclectic mix of middle school era hip hop, Beyoncé, and Michael Jackson. At midnight, we all sang Happy Birthday and toasted Joana.
    The LCB party was ending, so a few of us decided to head over to the bar with the wine cave that Allie and I had gone to a few weeks back for a night cap and to continue the birthday celebration.


Wine cave adventures.

    An hour or so later after some good chats and entertaining people watching we decided to call it a night and piled into an Uber to take us all home. The driver was friendly but his navigation was not working so well, so what should have been about a 20-30 minute ride to get five of us home turned into an hour long adventure with me as the last stop. Oh well, it made for a good story and we all made it home safely which was the important thing.

Caramelized Pear Tart

     The next afternoon I had my practical to make the Caramalized pear and crisp almond crust tart. the meringue topping meant another day whisking our lives away but in the end I was pretty pleased with my piping and the finished product. Since I the recipe wasn't my favorite (not a huge raisin fan) and I was holding out for the next days demo (Croissant and Brioche, yay!) I left my tart in the Winter Garden for others to enjoy.
     I woke up early on Saturday and trekked through some light rain in the darkness super excited about demo, it was a double class schedule to allow enough time to prep and proof the croissant and brioche dough. Our practical was also going to be a double so a lot of the demo involved covering the organization and timing of the day to accomplish everything in time (we'd be prepping four different recipes).

Chef's incredible Croissants et Pain aux Chocolat

    The demo was amazing. Chef had prepped the dough the night before for us so that it would be super flavorful and had come in two hours early to let the most of the croissants proof so that we could all enjoy the highest quality product possible. He said that he didn't want to be pretentious, but that the croissants would be the best that we had ever had and may even be the best we will have while we're in Paris. He didn't lie. The pastries were not only beautiful, they were so delicious. They were flaky on the outside, and buttery and melt in your mouth amazing in the center. He and the assistant cut up the pastries and laid them out on the demo counter, which our entire class promptly devoured. Best early morning breakfast demo ever.
    We had a break in between the croissants demo and completion of the brioche, so we all hung out in the winter garden until it was time to head back. Chef prepared at least 6 different types of brioche presentations and variations, and once again we devoured the spoils pretty quickly at the end of demo.

Falafel and Fries

     After class, Sara wanted to head back to E.Dehllerin to purchase a rolling pin to practice and we both were in the mood for a little vintage shopping for presents etc. We spent the afternoon wandering and shopping, and suddenly it was dinner time. We were in the Marais (adorable area of Paris with tons of shops and cafes, etc.) and Sara knew that we were near the place boasting the best falafel in Paris. We stopped in and enjoyed some spicy and delicious falafel and a bowl of French fries that we'd been craving.
    After our meal, we were re-fueled for a couple more hours of wandering, and eventually found ourselves back on the lovely Rue Montorgueil. We'd been walking around for about 6 or 7 hours by then, and once again, were craving something sweet. We went on a mission to find some ice cream and eventually found a sweet little DIY Fro-Yo place. I was super excited because it felt familiar and Sara was excited because she had never been to a frozen yogurt place like it before. We made our yogurt sundaes and sat on some stools outside people watching before calling it a night, heading to the metro, and saying our goodbyes for the evening.
   On Sunday I slept in and made plans to walk to a vintage shop that Sara and I had wanted to check out the day before but was closed. After about an hour of walking in the rain, I made it to the shop to find a handwritten sign noting that it would also be closed for the day despite its regular hours. Joy. I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up with friends at a restaurant for Joana's birthday round two, so I headed to the neighborhood near the restaurant and walked around a bit more before deciding to warm up and dry off in a Starbucks for a bit to kill some time. Slightly lame, I'm aware, but it was nice to have some familiarity on a rainy Sunday. I enjoyed my Machiatto and a book for a couple of hours before meeting everyone at Candelaria, a cantina and bar that I had been wanting to try out since I read about it in the school gazette.
     While it was small and we were extra close and cozy with our large group (a common occurrence for our mob), the bar itself was awesome. The front looks like a typical hole in the wall cantina, but the tacos are amazing. through the door in the back all speak-easy like you're transported into the hip décor and dim lighting of the bar area which had some delicious cocktails. What I was most excited about though, was that they had Pisco, which I had not had in over 2 years since Peru. After I ordered a Pisco sour, it became a trend and suddenly everyone seemed to have one in their hand. Delicious. After a few hours and a couple of drinks, we said our goodbyes and called it a night.
     On Tuesday I ventured out the financial district of Paris and had an appointment to open a bank account. My advisor was amazingly helpful, spoke English, (the reason I chose the bank, I didn't trust my French enough to operate my finances successfully) and had my account all set up and ready to go in less than an hour. I wandered home enjoying my small victory.

Brioche and Croissants galore.

     Bright (or dark in reality) and early Wednesday I made my way to school for Brioche and Croissant practical. I had been stressed and slightly worried about the challenge and all of the work that went into the double day, but was pleasantly surprised. The day proved to be much more relaxed and enjoyable then I originally expected and ended up being one of my favorite practicals. (The delicious finished product helped as well). In the end, there was definite room for improvement and my croissants definitely could be flakier, but overall I felt good about the results and learned enough to improve on them next time.
    

semaine de six.

     Thursday I woke up and got ready to head to the Eiffel for our class boat tour. It was fun to see everyone all dolled up and out of chef's whites. We boarded the boat which was insanely stuffy and warm and enjoyed a glass of bubbly while chatting and fanning ourselves at our table before we took off.
    The Chefs and administration welcomed us to the boat, talked about the menu they had selected for the day, and gave us a handout to fill out and return with questions about the menu. With required attendance, there had to be some scholarly portion right?


First Course, Scallops

    Pretty soon, our first course was arriving and we all enjoyed our scallops served in coral sauce. Some of those who chose the vegetarian option or n seafood menu also shared their first course with us, and in classic foodie fashion we all dissected and discussed the dishes. Since wine pairings were included with every course as well, some of my friends who are taking the first wine course module currently also impressed us with their knowledge and abilities in sharing the finer points of the white wine we were enjoying.

Second course, Duck Rossini

     Still in need of fresh air, we all wandered outside to cool down a bit before the second course arrived. We took in the sights along the Seine and took cheesy tourist-y photos together and some took selfies with the Chefs who had joined us for the cruise. The second course was being delivered so we returned to the table to enjoy our Rossini duck with turnips. Mine was prepared well, but some people said that their meat was a little over done (the crew was cooking for a lot of people); we all agreed that the mashed potatoes were a hit. More warm food in the warm environment meant that we were in need of more fresh air though, so as the boat was turning around to head back, we stepped outside again to enjoy the sights some more before our dessert showed up.
     For dessert, the Chefs from school decided to go with the classic Crepes Suzette. They were good,

Dessert, Crepes Suzette

but since we were all still sweltering, we all made plans to get some ice cream together after we docked. What can I say, we're foodies? Also, there's always room for ice cream!
     After we docked, our group wandered up to the Champs de Mars to be precious and tourist-y and take a group photo in front of the Eiffel while we were all dolled up. Once we accomplished our mission, we trekked to the metro to head over to Cite for the best ice cream in the city at Berthillon. I got a Caramel nougat cone which did not disappoint, but we all shared little bites to try the other delectable offerings as well. We then stopped for some wine and headed to our friends apartment nearby to hang out for a few more hours. Sara and I were chatting and since we had no class until Monday, we decided that the following day would be the perfect opportunity to take a day trip to somewhere in the French countryside. She left to head home and a few of us realized that the day had escaped and we were hungry for dinner. (Yes, it sounds like all we do is eat, which is partially true, but there's plenty of walking etc. in between meals...most of the time haha). My friends Joana and Nora told us all about a place that apparently has amazing sandwiches on focaccia bread in Saint Germain de Pres in the 6th, so we ventured away from Cite and began walking to the 6th. About halfway there, we lost part of the group who no longer wanted to walk, so Nora, Joana, Alex and I continued on our mission for sandwiches.
    They were worth the walk. The girls had not lied, I had a salmon sandwich with walnuts and arugula and it was amazing focaccia bread. I'm sure I'll be back. Saint Germain des Pres is also home to Grom, a gelato place just down the street from our sandwich shop. For the second time that day, we decided to stop for a little gelato on our way to the metro. I enjoyed my Tiramisu and salted caramel all the way home when I finally got there at about 11pm.

     The next day I woke up and started chatting with Sara and researching different day trips that we could do. We both decided that a trip to Giverny to see Claude Monet's home and garden's and the impressionist museum sounded like the perfect sunny Friday. We met up at about 12:30 and caught the train which was only about an hour ride. We love Paris, but we were super excited to get into the countryside for a bit to take in some of the charms it had to offer. We stepped off of the train and decided to walk the 5km to the Museum and Garden to fully enjoy and appreciate the day.
    Walking through the quaint streets and across the Seine I felt like I was walking through a fairy tale since the buildings and foliage were exactly as you would imagine them. It was easy to see how and why an artist such as Monet would reside and find so much inspiration here.
     Along our walk, we saw a charming restaurant in a garden with amazing smells wafting from the kitchens and decided
that we were definitely going to return there for lunch/dinner later.
     We went to the ticketing office, purchased our combined house/garden and museum tour tickets, and entered into Monet's garden oasis. We were here in early fall, I can only imagine the grounds in spring and summer; I'll definitely have to come back, because why not?
     We wandered through the flowers for awhile and then headed down to the Japanese garden and pond to see what we were in-a-very-cliché-but-not-ashamed-way excited to see; Monet's water lilies. We walked down the stairs and through the tunnel to the water garden and instantly understood the attraction and inspiration.
     Despite the fellow tourists, the garden is so serene and beautiful; we were pinching ourselves that we were actually there.
    After taking a bazillion pictures and fully appreciating the water garden, we worked our way back up to the house to tour that as well. The old country house is extremely vibrant and colorful; the walls are covered with Asian art that must have inspired him and brought him joy. We toured the upstairs first and then found ourselves in his studio, which to both of our shock, has a bunch of his original paintings hanging about, including a couple of my favorites since I was a little girl.

View from Monet's bedroom

The trip just kept getting better and better. We both loved the charm of his bright yellow dining
room and dreamed of cooking in the large country kitchen. We wandered the gardens a little more and then decided to go back to the garden restaurant before checking out the Impressionist Museum.
     We split a carafe of Rose with our 3 course meal and split and enjoyed our tartine and walnut salad appetizers. Sara had Salmon for her entrée and I had lamb. We then split and shared our desserts, mine was the apple crumble and hers a caramel cream parfait. It was a decadent way to spend the day, but we were loving it.
   After our meal we wandered down the road back to the Museum, and since it was closing in about 30 minutes, we essentially had the run of it to fully take in the art, which was wonderful. It was a very cultured evening, and as they shut down the museum we made our way to the shuttle back to the train station. We had a couple of hours to kill before our train so we wandered some more around the town to take all of it in.
    We made it back into the city about 9pm, and decided that on Sunday we would keep the culture train running and take advantage of the free museum day and check out the Louvre. After a quiet Saturday. we knew that the queue for the museum would be madness, so we wanted to make it to the Louvre as close to when it opened as possible. We met up right as the museum was opening at 9am, and waiting in line for 30-40 minutes before making it inside.

Even the ceilings in the Louvre are stunning

    In need of food and caffeine, we stopped for a coffee and pastry before heading into the amazing maze that is the Louvre. We decided that our best bet was to start with the Mona Lisa to get there before the massive crowds formed and then leisurely go from there. Our plan worked pretty well, and after checking out Mona, we spent the next 6 hours with a brief lunch break wandering around the halls and taking in as much as possible.

    I knew that the place was massive, but it was so incredible to go from room to room, seeing Raphael's masterpieces one minute and ancient Greek and roman sculptures the next. We would start in Ancient Egypt and turn a corner into Marie Antoinette's travelling tea set. Down the steps we were in a Medieval dungeon and then we were faced with Hammurabi's Code of Laws. I fell in Louvre with the place (pun intended) and made a plan to make a monthly pilgrimage on the free Sundays to cover as much ground as possible and take in as much as it has to offer. It's fairly overwhelming and after a few hours you become over saturated with the immensity and grandeur of it all.
     After we left, we thought that we might try heading to Angelina for the famous Chocolat Chaud, but the line was massive so we headed for the metro and said our goodbyes.
    Monday morning I had a demo for all kinds of delicious tartelettes. Chef prepared six different kinds of tarts, all delicious, but we would only be making two in our practical the following evening; orange and chocolate. I was surprised after the demo to find that the citron (lemon) and orange tarts were my absolute favorites from demo. The orange especially was creamy and delicious; the orange wasn't too overpowering but just enough to flavor the tartelettes. Needless to say, I was excited to get in the kitchen the next day to make them myself. After demo, Allie and I decided to wander up to the 7th to check out an American Library that she had read about. While we walked we were able to correctly give a family of tourists directions somewhere and were pretty pleased with ourselves.
     Unfortunately, the library was closed when we got there, but in typical Paris fashion there was little treasures and plenty to see as we wandered. I swear there's something surprising and exciting to stumble upon every day, whether it's the façade on a building, some street art graffiti, or another little café to try out for another excellent meal. After meandering around the 7th and along the Seine a bit more, we walked back to our respective homes for the evening, planning to check out the library another time.
     On Tuesday, the practical went well and I was pleased with the final product, and the flavors were still delicious.
     Today we had a demo for a caramelized pear tart and Chef also made honey filled barquettes, which was the class favorite of the two recipes. We'll be making the pear tart in practical on Friday though, which is good since I won't bring the pear tart home and I still have a bunch of tarts and orange pastry cream in my fridge at home.
     After demo, two of the groups hung around to have our one on one meetings with Chef since we're now halfway through the basic course. Basically, the Chef gave us a copy of our grades and our class average so that we can compare our progress and see what we've been doing well and where we need to improve. Overall, our group's average was very high and I was right on par, so the Chef said that I was doing well and French Chefs are harsh graders; all of this was good news, I was doing well and I need not worry. Whew!
    Tomorrow we have Stag, where we will get to learn more about the internships following graduation from Superior next summer; so I'm excited to hear what options might be available!