One Night In Paris

Two blogs in one day...can you believe it?? 

Translation: I have a TON of other things to be doing, and these are the times when I am feeling the most creative and inspired to write!  I did, however, run along the Seine today, and it was the first really good run that I've had in Paris so far.  Maybe there is hope for me yet with this whole ten mile race thing...doubtful.  It's in t-minus 6 days, and aside from running today, the most exercise I have had recently is picking up an eclair (or croissant, or baguette, or rose) and putting it in my mouth. 

I can say with confidence that I have learned some very important things since I have been over here.  Most have them have pertained to adjusting to living the urban life and exploring a completely new city, language, and culture . 

The most crucial thing that I have learned, thus far:

Be sure to arrive at the metro at least 30 minutes before it closes...especially if you are hanging around on the complete OPPOSITE side of the city from the arrondissement in which you reside. 

How did I learn this very tough lesson, you ask?  Well, sit back, and I'll paint you a little picture of how it all went down.

If you recall, Saturday started out with my 08:30 cuisine practical, the last one --- yeahh!!!!  We made roasted chicken with au jus and garden vegetables. Easy, right?  As always, WRONG!  I am just going to start assuming every practical is really, really difficult, and then maybe it will be a cinch!  Wishful thinking.  Anyway, it wasn't as if the dish was all that complicated, it was just a complete mess for everyone in the kitchen.  It started off with people grabbing saucepans that had been hangin' out in a 200 degrees Celsius oven, subsequently burning the living daylights out of their hands.  I have been lucky, thus far, (PLEASE KNOCK ON WOOD!) that all ten fingers are fully in tact, and the only minor burn I have is from the baby bottle fondue place that Nicole and I visited on Saturday night (more to come on that later!).  We also had to turn two artichokes in practical, and they let us know that we will definitely have to do that (x2) on the exam.  All I am going to say about that is that I will be purchasing a LOT of artichokes between now and November.  Anyway, 3.5 hours later -- practicals are only supposed to last 2.5 -- I was brain dead and headed home to enjoy the weekend.

Two chicken breasts with au jus, with garden vegetables that took approx 29384 years to cut into uniform rectangles, sitting on top of a cooked artichoke - Voila!

Nicole and I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon shopping and walking around the city, and then we decided to head up to Montmartre to take her to the infamous baby bottle fondue restaurant!  It was completely packed when we arrived, so we waited around for a while and eventually got a table in the teeny, tiny restaurant.  We had a great time, and I fell in love with that place all over again...now that I had been there twice and was a regular!!  We enjoyed baby bottles of wine, steak fondue, and the company of a French couple next to us who gave us some good places to visit in France and a potentially free pass to Euro Disney.  The girl worked at Pirates of the Caribbean, so Nicole and I fully intend to take her up on her offer of getting us in -- free of charge.  Also, Pascal (so French, right?!) told us that the baby bottle restaurant is so old that his mom used to frequent it on the regular...and he was no spring chicken!  Nuts, huh??

My finger was a casualty of the fondue!  I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to grab a plate that had been resting up against the vat of hot oil...

After dinner, we weren't ready to head back home yet, so we decided to sit on the steps of Sacre Coeur and chat while overlooking the night sky and the incredible view of the city.

Now the fun really begins (insert somber violin music here).  We had a great time sitting on the steps and enjoying the evening,  but we eventually realized it was probably time to head back to the Metro.  After getting our tickets, we sat in the station and patiently awaited the next train to take us home.  It wasn't until that a group of girls across the track yelled over and kindly let us know that they had made a few announcements that the line we were waiting for was finished running for the night (I'm pretty sure they were actually laughing at us, but I'm not positive).  I would assume it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 01:30 at this point, but it hadn't even occurred to us that we needed to get back in order to catch the train...ugh, sometimes I curse growing up in suburbia!  If I lived in a city with a thriving subway system, then maybe this stuff would come naturally. In our defense, however, the stupid RATP website says that the trains run until 02:20 on Saturday nights...

Anyway, let me remind y'all that we were up in Montmartre, and for those of you who are not familiar with Parisian geography...MONTMARTRE IS REALLY FAR AWAY FROM EVERYTHING!!!!  So, we had a few choice words for the RATP and started the long journey home...8.1 km later, we were at my building.  All I can say is that it was a really, really long and COLD walk.  On the bright side, however, I did get to see some of Paris at night, which I haven't really done because I am usually bundled up in my apartment by nightfall.  Here is the best part...we were constantly scouring the skyline for the Tower (as in Eiffel,  we feel it is appropriate to be on a first name basis now that we have been in Paris for a month) to act as our North Star and give us the motivation to keep on going, and it wasn't until we were crossing the Seine that we noticed the night sky was unusually dark.  All we could see were 3 tiny red lights at the top, and a very faint outline of our beloved extinguished beacon of light.  In case you were ever laying in bed at night wondering what happens after the last light show of the evening, I am here to let you know that they shut the Tower off somewhere between 01:00 and 04:00 AM.  Also, I do want to say for the concerned folks out there, Nicole and I were together the entire time and walked on VERY well-lit streets.  At no point in the 9903488945 mile walk home did I ever feel like we were in a compromising situation...and actually, there were a lot more people out and about at that hour than I would have imagined.  Maybe they missed their trains too?

So, that is the end of my sob story about Saturday night and learning the hard way that even though the Metro SAYS it runs until the wee hours of Sunday morning, it doesn't because the French just really don't like to work that hard.  Speaking of which, there is a metro strike on Thursday (shocker)...the second since I have been here.  The first was pretty anticlimatic.  I was really hoping to cross a picket line or something (or hell, even picket with them!  I'm always down for supporting the cause --- I think it's retirement age or something), but there was none of that...only less trains and more people.  AND they announce them days in advance!  What is the fun in that??  I thought rebelling against Big Brother was supposed to be a little bit more exciting and spontaneous.  Maybe that's just in my fantasy land.  Anyway, I may go in search of the picketlines on Thursday and try to find at least one protester...what is a strike without some action?!  That is...if I can find time between my 12+ hours of class.  I'll report back and let y'all know how it goes.

And just for fun!  These pictures were taken in the exact same spot on Friday afternoon (the Tower is directly in front of me in the top picture).  Parisian weather is very sporadic.

- à tout à l’heure! 

"Add three letters to Paris and it's...

PARADISE" (Thanks, Jules Renard!)

Totally cheese quote, I know, but it is SO TRUE at the same time!  Yes, I would agree that most people imagine paradise as a more idyllic scene, complete with pastoral landscape gardens or white sandy beaches...definitely not a cramped and (sometimes) stinky concrete jungle, BUT once you have a chance to get lost in this amazing city, you realize it really is paradise.

My old friend, Nicole, and I each bought Unexplored Paris, and, I am very excited to share with y'all some of the interesting sites that we have come upon thanks to this really great book!

Before we get started, however, I wanted to tell y'all that I was able to cross something off of my Parisian bucket list -- sit on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower at night and enjoy a bottle of wine...it was absolutely incredible!!  Today is my month anniversary, and the Tower never gets old!!

One beautiful Sunday afternoon, we set off on a long walk from my apartment to Sainte-Chapelle cathedral.  We had Unexplored Paris with us, however, we weren't immediately planning on jumping right into it until Nicole spotted one of the sites depicted in the book!

This is what started it all!  The 4 street lamps on the Pont du Carrousel were started in the early 20th Century, but construction ceased when WWII broke out.  The designer ended up working on them in secret and they were installed when the war was over.  Pretty cool, huh?

We were thrilled that we found our first site, so we decided to look for just one more place before heading back in the direction of Sainte-Chapelle.  Five hours later, we were still wandering around this very small area of the city --- checking out everything it had to offer, and searching for more undiscovered sites of Paris! (By the way, Sunday came and went, and we never actually made it over to Sainte-Chapelle because there was so much to see in between!)  The book is like a scavenger hunt because it lists the address and a metro stop for each site, but the street numbers in Paris are pretty screwy, so we would end up wandering around until suddenly one of us spotted what we were looking for! 

We stumbled upon a MONSTROUS church with an interesting statue in front of it...

Saint Eustache - check out the flying buttresses on that beauty!

Kinda random, huh??

There was a "Little Italy" section of town behind the church, so we stopped for some DELICIOUS pizza and ice cream!

This was not even 1/3 of the flavors they had

Trying to be artistic...

It was soooo good!!  Half espresso and half chocolate chip!

Post ice cream, we were walking up and down this quaint little street, when all of a sudden we came upon a patisserie that has the #1 chocolate eclair in town --- and we just had to have one!!

Posing with our eclair.  Of course, it was incredible and number 1 for a reason!

The picture below is of an old restaurant that was in our book.  It opened in 1796 and closed in 1936, but during it's prime, it was a pretty happenin' spot!  It was called Le Boeuf a la Mode because of the carving of an ox above the door, and apparently there was a statue of an on in the main dining room that would be dressed up in various garb. The book says that now the space is an art gallery, but it looked pretty run down when we were there, so who knows what it is. 

Right down the street, we found what used to be the tallest building in Paris -- towering over the city at only 9 stories high.

Nowadays it blends in pretty well with the rest of the buildings around it, but it was really cool to find anyway.

Funny side story -- this building apparently has a secret passageway that is now closed to the public. We were trying to figure out where exactly the passageway was located, so we decided to walk around to the other side of the building, which happened to be a part of the Banque of France.  We stood outside the gates to the highly guarded Banque for a few minutes, minding our own business, and trying to sort out the configuration of the building to figure out where the passageway was located...when all of a sudden a guard came out and started yelling at us in French, and managed get out (in very broken English) "Vhat are you doing 'ere????"  We stared at him like a couple of deer in headlights and held up our book.  All of a sudden, his demeanor changed and he became incredibly excited and animated, explaining to us (in French, mind you, so I assume this is what he was saying to us...) all about the building that we were stalking so interested in.  Anyway, long story long, it was a pretty hysterical experience.  Of course, after that mess, we got a little bit turned around and ended up having to walk around almost the entire perimeter of the Banque, so I'm willing to bet that we had 8389475 eyes on us, making sure the two "innocent" American tourists weren't really trying to plan a hostel takeover or something.

The scene of the crime!

While wandering around that day, we also found a MEXICAN restaurant that looked like it served ACTUAL sweaty, greasy Mexican food!!  I have been searching for a Mexican restaurant pretty much since day 1 in Paris because my body was starting to go through La Fonda withdrawals.  When we spotted this place, it was like the clouds parted and the angels above were singing heavenly praise.  Later that week, we were actually able to try it out, and it was really good (it could have been the margaritas and sangria that we enjoyed, but it doesn't matter because it temporarily satisfied my craving!).

Yummm!

Us posing with the owner, Tony!

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, but Nicole and I have continued to search for the hidden treasures around Paris every chance we get (we have only seen a very small fraction of everything in the book, so it is definitely going to take a while to see it all).  Also, looking at these pictures has definitely given me a craving for our "authentic" French Mexican restaurant, so we are going to have to plan a trip back pretty soon!!!

- à tout à l’heure! 

Culinary Highs and Lows

I know I said that I was super busy, and I actually do have fair amount of other constructive activities that I could be partaking in right about now (i.e. rewriting recipes, flashcards, running (that 10 mile race is in t-minus 9 days - ha)...), but writing the blog is so much more fun!  I just woke up from a nap because the 08:30 practicals are killing me, and I have class at 08:30 AGAIN tomorrow morning (yes, that's Saturday)...BUT it is my last weekend class in the kitchen!! WOO!!!  I did, however, sign up for French classes at the school that will be turning some 10 hour days into 12 hour days and take up 3 hours on a few, otherwise free, Saturdays, but that's okay because it's all for the cause!

This week has been a crazy mix of ups and downs in the kitchen, and I am quickly starting to realize that that is just how it is.  I feel like everyday at school is a new hump on this insane roller coaster that I am on.  You either have it all together, or you don't.  Obviously, I would prefer more highs than lows, but I guess this is all part of the learning process.  The school says that you aren't required to have any previous culinary knowledge in order to go through the Basic Cuisine or Pastry classes, but I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like trying to survive this experience without at least having basic knowledge around the kitchen.

So, without further adieu, I will share with y'all some of my culinary highs and lows from this week!

I started out at 08:30 on Monday morning with a Pastry practical on puff pastry (which we had already made in Cuisine, so I was a puff pastry pro -- ha, wishful thinking) where we made apple turnovers and palmiers.  As always, the pastries that the chef made were perfect and beautiful and delicious!!!

Filling the apple turnovers

YUM!!

These are the palmiers, pretty much puff pastry rolled in lots of sugar and then folded up so they make the cute little heart shape

I had my shot at these pastries in my 12:30 practical, and they actually turned out pretty well!  It was a little touch-and-go for a while because the butter had not completely melted in my dough like it should have, so while everyone else was rolling out beautiful cream colored, homogeneous dough, my dough looked like it had leprosy.  That oven works magic though, because both pastries came out looking decent!

My palmiers!  The chef said I needed to work on folding them better, BUT he said that they could be displayed in a shop window!

Apple turnovers!  I don't think my dough rose as much as it should have, but they certainly were delicious and did not stand a chance in my apartment

 My last class of the day was a Cuisine demo, and we got to watch the chef make crab bisque...with live crab...

All of the little suckers awaiting their sauna...

Meet a velvety swimming crab

The above picture is somewhat disturbing...after we threw all of the little crabs and vegetables into screamin' hot oil, we had to smash them with a rolling pin to break them all up.  Now, this was nowhere near as disgusting as filleting the fish, but I'm not going to lie, it was pretty gnarly.  The bisque simmers for 45 minutes or so, and then it is passed through a chinois (sieve), so all of the guts and shell and stuff stay behind. 

The finished product

Now that you understand the process, let me just go ahead and tell you that my crab bisque was failure pile in a sadness bowl.  (I wish I could take credit for that, but it is from a skit by comedian Jim Gaffigan about those ridiculous KFC bowls with the chicken and corn and mashed potatoes...check it out sometime because it is hilarious!!!!)  You don't even get to see a picture of my bisque because it was not pretty.  All was going well until some of the crab/veggies browned on the bottom of the pan (which I still never really saw, even when the chef pointed it out) when it was simmering, therefore, he said it was bitter...the best part is, he tells me while he is tasting the bisque that I should have transferred pots to avoid the bitter taste...and add MORE cream to cover it up...why didn't he tell me this stuff when the incident occurred so I could fix it?!  How am I supposed to know?!  He also said I got carried away with the cayenne pepper because it was too spicy, and I am cooking for other people not myself, so it shouldn't be spicy.  Whatever, he just couldn't handle it...Cajun is in my blood!!  Oh well, I guess I will know for next time.  I did eat it for dinner that night and lunch the next day, and I thought it tasted pretty good...but I guess that's just me.  I also ate an entire baguette on my walk home because I was upset --- yikes!

After that culinary disaster, my spirits were pretty low, and I kept questioning why I was here in the first.  It's funny how I can get a compliment from the chef and it makes me happy for a little bit, and then I move on to something else; however, if I am constructively criticized, it stews in my mind for the rest of the day.  Why does that always happen?  My goal for myself is to not cry over bitter crab bisque and really try to not get so worked up about the little stuff.  After all, this is my first time ever making most of this stuff, so it definitely isn't going to be easy or perfect at the beginning.

The rest of the week went well.  I made beef consomme on Thursday, which was a whole lotta work for nothing, really.  You start with a big pot of stew, and strain it to remove the beef and bones.  Then, you make a clarification that consists of ground beef, egg whites, and aromatic veggies, and drop it in the stew broth to simmer.  It's pretty nuts because you start out with a cloudy mixture, and the egg whites and blood from the beef purify the liquid until it is completely clear!  Somehow I got stuck cutting and grinding the nasty beef while everyone else was chopping their vegetables (I am still not sure how I got suckered into that job...), but it gave me an opportunity to talk to the chef!  He is an older gentleman with grown kids, and he kindly let me know (in very broken English) that the French have a lot to learn when it comes to hamburgers and that his favorite song is Georgia on My Mind.  Isn't that adorable?!  My consomme clarified properly and came out crystal clear, thank the Lord!!

We added all of the veggies to work on our knife skills

The week rounded out with chocolate eclairs and chouquettes that I made this morning.  The chouquettes looked good, but the chef said my eclairs needed to be a little bit bigger.

School hasn't consumed ALL of my free time this week (only the majority of it), and Nicole and I went to a one man comedy show on Wednesday night called, "How To Be Parisian in an Hour".  He pretty much made fun of Parisians, Americans, and everyone in between, and it was hysterical!  We had a perfect little French dinner before at a cafe down the street, and it was delicious!

I had the veal Piccata and Nicole had a beef dish with mashed potatoes

Waiting outside the theater to go in

Nicole went up on stage and passed the test on "How to Become Parisian in an Hour!"

Tomorrow morning we are making roasted chicken with garden vegetables, so I will make sure to let y'all know how that goes!

Gooooooooooooo Dawgs!  Sic 'em! Woof, woof, woof, woof!!!!!

- à tout à l’heure!

Louis XIV (and XV and XVI...) Welcomes You

So, after an exhausting Friday, I was pretty excited for Saturday because Mom and I were plan to visit Versailles...but wait! I had class at 08:30 in the morning!  Ah!!!

06:45 came waaaaayyy too soon, and I was not the least bit excited to go run around a kitchen for 3 hours in my cuisine practical.  As I was groggily stumbling around my apartment, dreading the cool chilly air that awaited me outside, I noticed something peeking out from the bottom of a stack of clothes in my armoire.  What was it, you ask??  My big, red, comfy Georgia hoodie!!!!!  When I packed it in my suitcase, I promised myself that it would not see the light of day, and I was only allowed to wear it around my apartment...but I absolutely could not resist!  I rationalized wearing it because A.  It was Saturday in Athens and I'm feeling particularly nostalgic this football season (even though I think it was technically still Friday night in Athens when I put it on, but whatev) and B.  I figured I was the only moron out at 07:30 on a Saturday morning, so who would see me wearing it anyway?!

Woo!  Go Dawgs!!!  Although, according to my sources,  I don't think it wasn't a very good weekend to be a Georgia Bulldawg...but oh well, there's always this weekend! 

In practical, we made a dish of puff pastry with leeks and poached eggs with Albufera sauce (pretty much lots of butter and cream, of course!) that we observed in demo the day before, and it was definitely an interesting experience.  The dish wasn't hard, per se, there were just about a million and one things going on at the same time that needed to all come together simultaneously at the end...a typical day in the kitchen!  I was doing pretty well keeping everything organized up until the stupid poached eggs.  I have never poached an egg in my life, and it is pretty difficult!  Rather than ask the chef for help like most people were doing, my stubborn self decided it was best to poach my eggs by trial and error.  I honestly have no idea how many eggs I went through in order to get 4 decent looking ones, but I ended up having to run down to the basement kitchen and get another rack of eggs because I had used so many!  The kicker is, we only had to plate one for the chef to try,  but the recipe called for 4, so I kept on poaching until I had 4 (I hate to admit it, but they all ended up in the trash because I am pretty sure they would not have passed health code...).  Three hours later, I was finished and I got a positive review from the chef --- poached eggs and all (she did say my leeks needed more salt.  They use A LOT of salt here...and butter...and cream....it's disturbing).

Voila!

Another cuisine practical under my belt, and Mom and I were on the RER headed to Versailles!

Because we didn't get there until after 14:00, and it was such a beautiful day, we decided to just tour the gardens and save the Chateau for another time when we had the strength to fight the crowd.

In front of a statue of Louis XIV --- can you spot the Starbucks cup and Rick Steves tour book in my hand?? Don't judge!!

The front gates to the Chateau.  Rick Steves says that it is real gold...I don't know if I believe that...

The gardens were absolutely incredible!!!  The entire place was packed with a 940385098354 people, but it didn't feel like it at all because they are SO HUGE (except for the people who ruined our picture below...)!

We ended the day at a really good Chinese restaurant because it is pretty easy to get burnt out on French food when you are surrounded by it every second!

Mom left on Sunday, and Nicole and I started on lots of homework for school.  Who knew you had homework in culinary school, BUT we are diligently working to get caught up on rewriting recipes and learning vocabulary for our final so we aren't trying to cram it all in the week before.  Our study sessions usually involve baguettes, cheese, wine, and classical music...how French!  On Sunday, however, we had wine and potato chips because the fantastic boulangerie by my apartment is closed on Sundays.

Everything is better with rose!

We saw these rotisserie chicken and thyme chips at the store and had to try them...I don't really know how to describe the flavor, except they taste strangely like rotisserie chicken and thyme...

Well, that was my weekend in a rather large nutshell!!  I feel like ever since school started I have been constantly playing catch up to get everything done, but I will continue to try and post as soon as I have a free moment.  Also, I signed up for weekly French classes...woo!  They start on Thursday and they are at the school, so I will let y'all know how they go!!

- à tout à l’heure!