Is there a pastry chef in the house?

Saturday has been pretty much rainy all day here in Paris; a good day to run some errands, do some shopping for staples that sort of thing. And a good day to get caught up with all of you.

Friday afternoon we left the apartment a little after 2 p.m. and walked to the metro at Jussieu, about 10 minutes away. We hopped on the no. 10, transferred to the no. 12 at Sevres-Babylone and got off at Vaugirard. Another 5 minutes later and we walked through the doors of Le Cordon Bleu. The notice Susie got from school said that the graduation ceremonies were to begin at 3:30 -- in fact they didn’t begin until after 4. We arrived early so that I could set up for both video and still photos, both of which turned out rather poorly I’m afraid; plus Susan wanted to wrap up a few administrative details. (For the photos I was able to capture, click here.)

Soon afterwards other students began arriving and the picture-taking began in earnest. We got a chance to meet Ann’s mom (she had come from Houston to be at her daughter’s graduation) and Susie introduced me to a couple of her classmates whom I had not met before: Aylin from Turkey, whose smile nearly rivals Tatiana’s and who will eventually be going to Colombia where she hopes to open her own shop someday, Yoshi and Mika, both from Japan, and Roberto from Spain. And of course it was nice to see Tan again as well as Ann, Tatiana and Yannie. (photo below: Ann and Susie.)


Aylin:


The ceremonies began late, as I said, and frankly, after two of these already we’ve pretty much heard it all before. The chefs all sit in a row up on the stage, and two women from the front office kick things off by introducing the head chef(s). The way this worked was one woman spoke first in French and the other woman translated; the woman speaking in French used a cordless hand-held mike, which carried her remarks everywhere, while her associate standing right next to her did not use the mike and could hardly be heard. Odd, but French I suppose. Anyway, the chefs were introduced one-by-one, their specialties and accomplishments, that sort of thing.





Then came the moment we all were waiting for, the handing out of the certificates. First came the students from Intermediate Pastry and Intermediate Cuisine, and then the Superior Pastry (Susan’s group) followed by Superior Cuisine and finally three Grand Diplomas (those students who did both Superior pastry and Cuisine).


By this time it was nearly 5:30 and time for champagne! Everyone cleared out of the “winter garden” and moved into the nearby demo kitchen where the champagne was poured while the staff set up the winter garden with the food. And boy what food it was! All prepared by the chefs of the school: creative, delicious and oh so good for you! (photo below: Ann, Susie, Tan and Mika.)


Mika, Kwon-Baek and Tan:


Everyone jockeyed for positions close to one of the numerous food tables but there was so much food that no one had much difficulty in satiating their craving for more of such scrumptious treats. It still makes me hungry just to think about it! And of course they kept pouring the champagne – one of the benefits of being in Paris I suppose. (photo below: a guest chef who was just happy to be there!)


Eventually of course we had to stop eating, say goodbye and, well, leave. Notes were exchanged, email addresses scrawled on napkins and swapped back and forth; promises to stay in touch seemed to be on everyone’s lips. And in this small world of cuisine much of it probably rings true. Some, like Susie and Roberto were staying in Paris, others like Ann were heading back home to family and others like Aylin were off to far-flung destinations to seek their way in the world.

Susie and I headed off for the metro and were soon back in the apartment – but not for long. We dropped off our stuff and headed back out, this time to check the lights and decorations on the Champs Elysees. We walked up to Jussieu (pretty much our departure point of choice for either the 10 or 7 line), jumped on the no, 7 and got off at Palais Royale, where we switched to the no. 1 and got off at Franklin Roosevelt (that’s right FDR has his own Metro stop). The metros, at least the ones we use regularly, have been packed lately and this past Friday night was no exception. Everybody was going downtown or uptown (the terms seem meaningless here for some reason) and we wedged our way toward what has to be one of the most well-lit streets in the world. (photo below: looking toward the Place de la Concorde.)



As we left the subterranean passages of the metro, we stumbled out into what at first seemed like daytime at night. The trees lining the entire Champs Elysees are covered, indeed festooned (what a great word) with lights; in fact each tree is literally covered with a web of lightbulbs. From the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, two enormous walls of white light; occasionally down one of the side boulevards you could get a glimpse of rows of trees covered with red and green lights. And across the Seine from the Place de la Concorde the National Assembly was all awash in an almost hypnotic blue light; the entire building! Imagine the US Capitol bathed in blue light!

Fantastic! Pictures fail to do it justice. . . .

Wish you were here,

Buon natale, joyeux noël et joyeuses fetes!

Steve and Susan